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Epilogue
It was a beautiful spring day. The sky was a deep blue, and the sun shone down on the verdant green of the grass. Overhead, a pair of swallows flew, wheeling about in the soft April breeze.
Jasper and Selina walked, together, just along the edge of Gillingham Manor. He glanced over at her. She was dressed in a simple blue muslin, her hair arranged in a low bun, with gentle curls around her face. Her straw bonnet was on her head, with a black silk ribbon tied beneath her chin. One of her hands was tucked into the crook of his arm, while the other rested on her stomach, which was softly rounding as their first child grew inside of her. They had been married for eleven months. It was the happiest year that Jasper could recall.
They stopped in the paddock by the stables so that Selina could give Aphrodite an apple. The delicate mare made her way over to Selina, knowing full well that her mistress had brought her treats.
“Oh, I do miss you,” she said to her favorite horse, scratching her on the forehead with her nails. Aphrodite tossed her head, clearly wanting to be taken out for a ride.
As his wife greeted her horse, Jasper’s eyes caught a horse and rider, coming down the long drive to Gillingham Manor. The horse was unfamiliar, but the rider looked a little bit like Stephen.
“We’ve got a visitor,” he said. Selina turned, squinting.
“Who could that be?” she wondered. “Is that Lord Sandbourne, come all the way back from Italy?”
“I believe it is,” he said, offering her his arm. Stephen had warned him, in a recent letter, that he might be returning to Gillingham County for a short time.
“Come! Let’s go and welcome him back!” Selina said, excitedly.
They both met Stephen, just as he stopped his horse in front of the house. Stephen looked well for the first time in a very long time. He had a little bit of golden color to his skin, and it looked as though he’d put on a little bit of weight.
“It appears that Italy has treated you well, Lord Sandbourne,” Selina said.
Stephen dismounted. “So it has, Your Grace.” He handed the reins over to one of the grooms.
“Please,” Selina said. “We’re old friends, My Lord, call me Selina.”
“Of course, but only if you call me Stephen,” he replied jovially.
Jasper smiled. Stephen hadn’t been this genuinely content since their school days.
“Come, let’s head inside,” he said. “My mother will want to see you, as well.”
They were all settled in the parlor and had ordered tea to be brought. They had also sent word up to the Dowager Duchess, who had retired to her rooms.
“Tell me what’s been going in the countryside since I’ve been gone?” Stephen asked, taking a sip of his tea.
“Not much,” Jasper replied. “Thankfully. Things are back to their usual, boring state.”
“Indeed,” Selina agreed, her arms hugging her belly, as though she were cradling their baby. “I think that we’ve had enough suspense for a long while.”
“Agreed,” Stephen said, nodding, his eyebrows raised.
They were all silent for a long moment. In the space of it, Jasper considered what they were all leaving out, for delicacy’s sake. Reuben was in prison up in the North, where he would remain for the rest of his days.
As Duke, Jasper had been required to attend his brother’s trial. He recalled the cold individual whom he had faced in the courtroom. Gone was the glowing, happy Reuben who he had grown up with. The mask had been torn away to reveal the true version. Jasper had looked his brother in the eyes, as he’d asked the magistrate not to sentence his brother to be hanged.
“He’s my blood, as such,” Jasper had said. “I would not see him put to death.”
“Too weak in the stomach, Your Grace?” Reuben had demanded, haranguing him. “Can’t bear to see me swing? You know, Lady Langley begged for her life. I don’t plan to do the same.”
Jasper had turned to the white-wigged and dark-robed Magistrate, ignoring his brother’s cruel words. “It would be the easy way out for him, Your Honor,” he’d explained. “He needs time to sit and contemplate his pathetic existence.”
He’d been required to attend Lady Leah’s trial, as well. She’d looked frail and frightened—her hands shook. She had lost significant weight. Even for her, he’d asked for a little lenience. Thus, Lady Leah had served her six-month sentence in prison, and then had been returned to the care of her parents.
Her constitution had been declared fragile by the local physician, and no one had seen or heard anything more of her. It was rumored that her parents had purchased a remote cottage in the countryside for her, where she’d been sent to live alone with only a housekeeper.
Lord and Lady Kirby themselves had become very retired, not going out among society quite so often as they had done previously. Lord Kirby had sold most of his horses, keeping only what was necessary. Selina visited them both. From what she said, it was as though they were both still mourning the downfall of their only daughter.
