Epilogue
‘Shush, he’s coming,’ Lina said, trying to stop her cousin from squealing with excitement.
They were tucked away in a quiet corner at the Pottersdown County Fair and like the previous year the weather was glorious and the day already hot despite it still being an hour until noon.
‘I thought I’d find you here,’ Alex grumbled good-naturedly. ‘Although I was half suspecting you to be dressed in your old clothes and telling fortunes.’
‘Lina never was very good at telling fortunes,’ Sabina said with a grin. ‘She didn’t have the patience, although she can read people well...’
Alex took Lina by the hand, pulled her towards him and kissed her.
‘Lord Whitemore, behave yourself. We’re in public.’
‘I apologise, Lady Whitemore, I don’t know what came over me.’
‘There’s a queue building, Sabina,’ one of the men shouted over the noise of the fair.
‘I’ll be two minutes, Peter,’ Sabina yelled back. ‘Don’t leave without saying goodbye,’ she said, pulling Lina in close for a hug.
It was a few months since Lina had seen her cousin and Raul last. She made sure she visited every time they stopped somewhere close to Whitemore House and Sabina had been to stay on a couple of occasions, too. She missed them and missed the closeness of their family group, but never once had she regretted leaving to become Lady Whitemore, Alex’s wife.
‘This brings back good memories,’ Alex said as they strolled arm in arm around the fair. ‘Over there is where your brother punched me for the first time. And over here is where I made that awful wager with Georgina and Pentworthy.’
‘You’re still sore about losing that?’
‘Not at all. Who wants a perfect debutante anyway?’
Not surprisingly they had not received an invite to the Wilcox ball this year. In fact, their social calendar for the coming Season was looking rather bare. A few people had extended invitations to Lord Whitemore and his gypsy wife out of curiosity, but in the main they had been snubbed. Not that either Alex or Lina minded; much more fun could be had by staying at home anyway.
‘I thought I might find you two here,’ Georgina said as she came bustling over, herding her excited children in front of her. Georgina kissed them both warmly on the cheeks. ‘Revisiting where the romance started?’ she asked with a wicked glint in her eyes.
‘We have you to thank, dear sister. Without your wager Lina and I would never have been thrown together.’
‘Don’t tell the society ladies that,’ Georgina whispered. ‘Then I’ll be shunned, too.’
Despite her reservations about a marriage between two people of such different stations, Georgina had come around to the idea of a union between her brother and Lina surprisingly quickly. She was their staunch defender and even the most formidable society matron didn’t dare disparage Lina when Georgina was in earshot.
Whilst Georgina was distracted by her daughter asking if she could ride one of the ponies plodding around the fair, Lina tugged at Alex’s hand.
‘Come over here,’ she said, leading him to a quiet spot. ‘Care to know your fortune, good sir?’
‘You’re going to tell me my fortune?’
‘Cross my palm with silver and the secrets of the future will be revealed.’
Alex raised an eyebrow, but handed over a shiny coin all the same. A little distance away, Lina could see Sabina watching intently. She’d confided the details of her plan to her cousin and now Sabina was almost as excited as she was.
‘What a lucky man you are,’ Lina said, tracing her fingers over her palm. ‘A beautiful wife, kind and generous, skilled on horseback, the best companion a man could ask for.’
‘Are we talking about the same person?’ Alex asked, dodging as Lina tried to thump him on the shoulder.
‘You’re happy, that I can tell. You have a wonderful wife, a champion horse...and another little surprise on the way.’
‘Another surprise?’
Lina took Alex’s hand and turned the palm over so it was facing her and placed it on her abdomen.
‘Another surprise,’ she confirmed.
‘We’re going to have a baby?’
Lina nodded, squealing in surprise as Alex lifted her and spun her round again and again.
‘You’re sure?’
‘I’m sure.’
They’d been married for nine months, eager for a new addition to the family for the entirety of that time, and each month when Lina got her monthly courses she’d felt a little more worried, a little more unsure if it would ever happen. Of course, looking back, nine months was no time at all when trying for a baby, but whilst they were living through the experience of trying to conceive, it had felt like an eternity.
‘I’m going to be a father?’
‘You are. Soon there will be another little Whitemore to join our family.’
He kissed her then, wrapping his arms around her protectively and placing one hand on her stomach as if letting his son or daughter know he was right there.
‘You know what this means,’ Alex said, his voice serious. ‘No more horse riding.’
‘But we’ve got the new thoroughbred arriving next week.’
‘And you’ll be keeping well clear.’
Lina pulled a face, but nodded in agreement; she would do nothing to put their child at risk, even if it did mean leaving all the training of the new horse to Alex and the trainers he employed. It was a small price to pay.
As the music started somewhere towards the middle of the fair, Alex pulled Lina in close once again.
‘From now on I’m going to make sure you rest,’ Alex said, shaking his head as Lina pulled a face.
‘Perhaps one last dance, before I’m confined to gentle strolls and drinking tea?’
‘One last dance.’
Arm in arm, they walked towards the green space reserved for dancers, stepping out whilst it was still empty. Raul saw them coming and, just as Alex took Lina in his arms he whispered instructions to his fellow musicians, who instantly changed the tempo and timing.
‘They’re playing a waltz.’
It sounded odd played with fiddles, violins and the variety of other string instruments that made up their band, but it was a waltz all the same. Lina leaned back in Alex’s arms and soon they were twirling across the grass, the perfect combination of gypsy and gentleman.
* * * * *
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