Epilogue
Summer 1820
One Year Later
“Hush, hush, hush,” Diana cooed as she gently rocked her newborn daughter in her arms. Bouncing in her step, she slowly moved around the nursery, humming under her breath as her eyes occasionally shifted to her son and her husband.
At almost two-and-a-half, Ben had grown tall, and his face had lost most of the adoring chubbiness that had given his face such a sweet roundness as a baby. Sitting on the floor in the middle of the large room, he slowly lifted his hand, picked up one of the many wooden blocks strewn about the room and carefully moved it to the top of the tall tower in front of him.
“Slowly now,” Arthur cautioned, his gaze narrowed as he held his breath watching their son as he worked, his little forehead scrunched up in concentration. “Yes, that’s it. Hold it steady.”
Smiling, Diana watched them as they sat together on the floor, heads bent toward each other as though they shared secrets with one another she was not privy to.
A lot had happened in the past year, and in rare quiet moments, Diana could still not believe the change her life had taken. Ever since that night at Lord Barrett’s ball, regret and misery had been emotions of the past, their absence allowing for the excitement and happiness she now felt whenever she awoke in the morning, remembering the many joys her new family brought her.
Yes, it had not been easy. Arthur’s mother had been beside herself with shocked rejection as she had not seen it coming. Never would she have imagined that her virtuous son would propose to a woman who had been at the centre of society’s gossip for the past years.
However, Arthur had been adamant in defending their relationship, making Diana’s dreams come true. Finally, she had found a man who truly loved her, who not only said so with his eyes when he caught sight of her across the room, but who would wake up every morning pulling her into his arms and whispering those very words into her ear.
And still, sometimes Diana wondered if she was only imagining her happiness as the past had clearly left its mark on her. Would her heart ever completely recover? Would she always feel this insecure when it came to believing that someone truly loved her?
Gazing down at her sleeping daughter, her little face completely at peace, Diana sighed, sinking into the upholstered armchair in the corner of the room.
Perhaps the remnants of insecurity she felt were not a curse after all, she realised as she once more lifted her gaze and felt her heart dance in her chest at the sight of her family. Perhaps it was the very means that helped her cherish her life and the happiness it brought, that helped her see that she never ought to take it for granted.
After all, she knew only too well that it could be different.
As her daughter continued to sleep peacefully in the crook of her right arm, Diana once more turned to the short list she had laid down on the small table beside her when her daughter had started crying. Reading through the names listed there, Diana opened her mouth to address her husband, but then hesitated as she lifted her gaze and found him beaming at her son.
“Well done, Ben,” he exclaimed, patting their son on the shoulder before brushing a hand through his wild curls. “I’m proud of you.”
His face aglow with accomplishment, Ben stared at the tall tower in front of him. For although the top block stood a little crookedly on the one below and the tower had swayed slightly when he had removed his steadying hand, it still stood, tall and proud.
“Wonderful, Darling,” Diana praised her son before her eyes shifted to her husband.
Meeting her gaze, Arthur smiled, a sense of blissful joy in his eyes as he smiled at her and their daughter. “Is she asleep?”
Diana nodded, then once more looked at their guest list for the dinner party a fortnight from today. “Lord Harrington and his wife will attend,” she mumbled, her eyes shifting over the names. “As well as Mr. and Mrs. Everett.”
Her husband nodded. “Yes, I received their confirmation this morning.”
“Good. Rose and her husband shall attend as well, now that their daughter finally sleeps through the night. However, she wasn’t certain yet if her brother-in-law and his wife would be back from Italy in time. We shall wait and see.” Lifting her gaze, Diana looked at her husband, a bit of apprehension in her eyes. “What about your mother?”
A touch of an apologetic smile on his face, Arthur nodded. “She confirmed.”
“Willingly?” Diana enquired, a smirk on her face.
Arthur laughed. “A lot has happened since last year,” he reminded her with a twinkle in his eyes. “For her as well. We’ve all changed.”
Diana nodded, remembering the previous summer and its rather tumultuous developments. “What about Eleanor and her husband?”
Again, her husband laughed. “You know that she would never miss an opportunity to see the children, especially now that she is expecting as well.”
Diana smiled. “She will be a wonderful mother.”
“Yes, she will,” her husband agreed as he rose from the floor and strode over. Stroking a gentle hand over his daughter’s head, he met Diana’s eyes and her heart skipped a beat at the unconditional devotion she could see there. “As are you.” Leaning down, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips, a promise of more passionate ones to come later that night.
Diana sighed happily, barely remembering that at one time in her life she had believed that she had wasted her heart on the wrong man, convinced that love would never find her again.
But it had.
And she would never take it for granted.