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In the dark light of a late fall evening, the private cottage of Lord William found itself aglow within the study as its owner sat, comfortably, in a new wingback chair, reading a letter aloud to his wife. Lady Annabelle smiled at William lovingly as he narrated from a letter just arrived from his parents. By the light of two candles flickering, he was just able to discern the words by his mother’s shaky handwriting.
“Why, this is rather curious.” William coughed after reading the introductory greeting. His eyes showed great interest in the written words.
“What is it, my love?” Annabelle looked up from her sewing with great interest herself.
“Edward has informed my parents, along with information gleaned by Margaret, that the story of Lady Katherine running off with Marcus Stirling was somewhat skewed in its initial rendition. As it turns out, Lady Katherine did, in fact, toss herself without care in Marcus Stirling’s direction. However, he was simply offering her transport in her quest to run away from everything. Naturally, this was frowned upon by all in the ton, as Marcus Stirling is a married man, and Lady Katherine was unsupervised.”
“Ah, I see now. That is a very delectable development in the story, then.” Annabelle nodded slowly. “And what else is clarified by Edward and Margaret’s information?”
“Quite simple enough. Marcus Stirling is not a good man. He is a cad of great proportions. The story now goes that he has such little care for the feelings of his wife, with his galavanting around and spending her money here and there. Edward adds that since Marcus and his wife have no children together, it is only somewhat less terrible within the gossip network in the ton.”
“Having not met that woman, I feel very sorry for her, having to deal with Marcus at all, in fact.” Annabelle pulled a face.
William nodded wisely, “It’s then continued on, however, to describe a new plan for Marcus Stirling and his wife. It sounds as if they are to move to Europe soon enough and start their life over. Perhaps that will provide them both with an opportunity to refresh and revitalize their priorities.”
“I want to argue that it is Marcus who requires such a reset, but that does sound like a better alternative for their family.” Annabelle shook her head and put her sewing down in her lap. “What a mess. That man was in the past and continues to be now.”
“You will get no arguments on that point from me, my beautiful wife.” William shared a soft smile with Annabelle, who returned the sentiment in full back to him. The candle light was playing her exquisite features to their maximum effect, and he found himself momentarily distracted although they had now been living together for some time as man and wife. Her beauty never failed to comfort him, as each turned into another day.
“I trust Edward’s take on the situation for Marcus and his wife. I have not a single doubt that he was carrying on in any which way that he pleased, despite the embarrassment to his wife for months on end. He only cares about his own immediate gratification and needs.” Annabelle’s face remained sour as she mentioned the name once more.
“He conducted great damage over many years from the sounds of things. And, the least of which, his damage to you, Annabelle, was most grievous. We can only hope for the proper shift in his life and relationship with this wife now that they will depart to Europe. This might take every bit of negative feeling surrounding him and store it far away from everyone else in the ton.” William rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes, for the mere thought of Marcus Stirling ever coming back to the ton was a very unpleasant one.
“And once again, we see eye to eye on the man. It isn’t difficult to do so, either.” Annabelle sniffed disapprovingly. “Is the whole of the letter to do with him, though?”
William indicated not as he added, “No, the letter continues on to the matter of Lady Katherine and her arranged marriage with the elderly earl in Scotland. She, too, is now many miles away from the ton. Her husband was intrinsically motivated by the size of her family’s dowry, Edward mentions. So, we can safely assume that, unfortunately, the strategic nature of the marriage was achieved in full.”
“That is a relief, as well, for everyone.” Annabelle sighed herself in comfort. “I am most happy to hear that Lady Katherine is so very far in literal miles and across the sea. It is rather sad to hear that she will never know the feeling of being married for love, however.” This statement brought her to carefully regard her husband with an unspoken indication of strong emotion.
William set the letter down on the table next to the chair and crossed his arms across his chest as he thought quietly for a moment on the entire story.
“You and I are incredibly lucky, Annabelle. We both recognize what we have with one another, and we both remember well how much sacrifice it took for us to be man and wife. Our love is a considerably more unique gift than most will ever know.” William fondly looked over as Annabelle resumed her sewing with glances back and forth between her work and him. More smiles and not as many words held the space between them for some moments as the candles burned down.
“Yes, I have no immediate plans to forget everything that we went through together, William. It was a powerful series of moments, each building on the other. And, we were also lucky enough to have our closest ones next to us for such an achievement after everything that we went through. I will always fondly think back on the lengths to which both Edward and Margaret went to assist and sometimes rescue us outright, won’t you?” Annabelle’s eyes held tears of appreciation for the presence that Sir Edward and Lady Margaret had held in the story of her love with her husband.
William was pensive. “Indeed, I care not to think of what could have happened had we not had them at the ready with each of the challenges that we face, Annabelle. You are in an absolutely correct place to mention how important they are to our love and life together to this very day. I can only go on to say what a magnificent turn it will be for them, as well, as they plan their life together in the ton. Edward, for his part, is beside himself with happiness from the other descriptions that he is giving here in the letter.”
“How wonderful. Only you and the constellations of the heavens would bring me to a more pleasant state aside from the happiness of my cousin with your best friend. It shall be a beautiful life for them, and they each understand the sacrifices that a great love must endure, having been front and center so prominently in our story. What a ride it was for all that happened! Surely, things could have easily traveled the other direction in which case, I wouldn’t even be sitting here right this moment- accidentally pricking my finger with a needle as I chatter on.” Annabelle’s laughter filled the room and brought William up from his chair to move over directly next to her on the settee.
As they held hands together and looked deeply in each other’s eyes, Annabelle murmured only one more brief opinion on the happenings of Lady Katherine.
“At the very least, that dangerous woman is far enough from the ton that the scandal itself can be buried and gone forevermore. I hope to never again hear tales of how I was once caught with the dashing Lord William, alone in a room at a great society event. Do you recall how my dress was so embarrassingly ripped? And see now, I can become a novice seamstress myself to prevent such a disaster from ever taking place again!” Her lips smiled broadly as William brought her face to his with both hands and fully shared a passionate kiss.
As they slowly pulled back from the kiss, William smiled at Annabelle’s observation. “You are remembering how it all began, and I can remember it now with more amusement than when it first all was developing at that party. Here we sit now, laughing on it all and celebrating not only our own love but the impending nuptials of our loved ones and your newly discovered seamstress skills. I do believe that everything has come quite a long way. And Lady Katherine will stay where she is; as far from a better life in the ton than there ever existed when she was a part of it.”
Annabelle grinned in relief, “I do not believe that the woman will be missed by anyone in the ton. Her legendary vile behavior and awful, sneering smile can become distant memories for each of us.” A small but discernible shudder made its way from her shoulders down through her body, and William wrapped his arms around her protectively.
“We needn’t worry about her any longer. Let us keep our focus on building our life together here and preparing to be of the greatest support to Edward and Margaret. Now that my parents and your parents are fully blessing us, as well, we can be truly free to breathe, love, and travel on our life’s path as man and wife. I can think of nothing that I want to keep my mind on more than that picture.” William’s voice caught slightly in his throat and Annabelle raised her face to his for a second deep kiss which went on for significantly longer than its predecessor.
“Lord William, you are a very dashing and tender-hearted man that I have ever known in my life, and I thank each day as I wake up that I can wake up next to you. How lucky we are to have one another and to have survived such trials and tribulations for so long. When I was feeling at my lowest on the entire matter, you never allowed me to stray very far from you.”
William’s amusement at his formal title shone on his face. “Lady Annabelle, you do me a great service with the words that will keep me smiling for the rest of this evening that we are enjoying together. Here with you- by candlelight and easy conversation, I find myself rather relaxed in comparison to how it felt fighting and battling our way in order to be a couple.”
Annabelle relaxed into his arms and said quietly, “William, it was worth every ounce of effort and travesty. Although, I can say that a little less drama would have also been acceptable for me. It was extremely up and down and to and fro. I was utterly exhausted by the time you reached the three of us at the inn. And, what a roundabout place to settle our feelings in finality for one another, too. Even that place holds a special place in my heart now. Perhaps one day we can travel back to it and partake once more in the dancing and fine dining experience?”
William squeezed her tightly and kissed the top of her head delicately. “Of course, Annabelle. We will build our future together as a family and plan for our upcoming days, which can certainly include a trip to the inn under considerably more relaxed circumstances this time. I concur that it is a place of great import to both of us, and undoubtedly to Edward and Margaret, as well.”
“I will still laugh until the end of my days at the picture of Edward, piling his plate so high with food that he could scarcely balance it successfully back to the table!” Annabelle let out a very Margaret-esque giggle, which brought an even wider smile to her husband’s face.
“Annabelle, we will continue on toward the future with the creation of an abundance of delightful memories for both of us and those we love the most. This promise I make to you in this study here tonight I shall honor until I pass on from this life.” With this quiet declaration, William tilted Annabelle’s face up ever so lovingly to his face and provided his wife with a third and most memorable kiss.
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OFFER: A BRAND NEW SERIES AND 5 FREEBIES FOR YOU!
Grab my new series, "Lust and Love in High Society", and get 5 FREE novels as a gift! Have a look here!
Hello my dear readers. I hope you enjoyed the book and this Extended Epilogue! I will be waiting for your comments below. Thank you so much! 🙂
The story itself is lovely and I enjoyed most of it. However, at the beginning you told us that William and Edward became friends a year ago and got close when their fathers died within a fortnight of each other and they each came into their title. You seem to have forgotten this since later in the story you introduce a duke and duchess as Williams parents. William is a wealthy viscount but normally the heir to the duke is a marques. I can even accept a viscounts father as a duke. However, you need to change the early chapter and not talk about the death of his father. At the end you talk about the wedding at his fathers home but shouldn’t the wedding be at the brides home? Even if the wedding is at his home, why are her parents not attending the wedding of their only daughter. I didn’t like the mythical story. It was too long and distracting from the main story.
Thank you so much for your feedback, dear Madhu! I truly appreciate it!
I agree completely with the the remarks from Madhu. I also do not like stories within stories because they seem to take space needed for an entire book. It did not hold my interest although I think the storyline was good.
Thank you so much, dear Betty. I will check again with my editor!