The Problem with Loving a Duke – Extended Epilogue

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Four years later…

The night was alive with the magic of the Season, and the Westondale annual ball was as twinkling and elegant as ever. Rachel stood in the grand entryway, looking up at the silver and gold edging, the white roses, and the chandelier strung with ribbon and filigree. She smiled softly to herself, remembering the first time she’d attended this ball—the time she’d met the man who was now her husband. 

“It is lovely, is it not?” Ruth asked at her side. 

Rachel turned and smiled at her sister. Ruth was beaming and fresh, wearing the same rose hues she’d loved as a girl, her hair up in a sophisticated arrangement. She came and slipped an arm through Rachel’s. 

“Is Colin outside?” she asked. 

“Yes,” Rachel responded. “He saw Quinton catching a bit of smoke on the balcony and wanted to greet him before coming in amongst all the merriment.”

“I thought you would have been here already, staying with his parents for the season,” Ruth said, looking around. “I was surprised to find you had not yet arrived.”

Rachel smiled back at her. “We wanted to stay in the country until Edward’s nanny could make the journey with us,” she said. “He’s three now, as you well know, but he still gets nervous with new people. I understood that we would not be able to bring him tonight, so I arranged for her to come and stay at his side all evening.”

“How is Edward?” Ruth said with a smile, looping her arm through Rachel’s and leading her sister into the grand ballroom. 

“He misses his cousins,” Rachel teased. “It feels as though it has been an age since you visited us.”

“To think my sister Rachel would ever be scolding me for not visiting,” Ruth said, pretending astonishment. “You are the one that always used to crave seclusion.” She shook her head, her teasing breaking into a pleasant smile. “Seriously, sister, we were only there a month ago.”

“I miss you when you are gone,” Rachel retorted, “and I shall not apologise for it. ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow.’” She thought about her little boy staying at her parents’ house for the evening. “In answer to your earlier question,” she said, “Edward is doing well. He has been trying to learn to ride, although you can imagine it is only a pony I allow at present—and even then he must always have a servant, or his father, in attendance. He does well. He is more outgoing than I, but I think it makes me better.”

“Perhaps he needs a sibling,” Ruth said, “to keep him company. Frederick and Elliot were lucky to be born twins, after all. They are always at each other’s beck and call.” Suddenly, her face froze. “I’m so sorry, Rachel,” she said softly. “I was not thinking.”

Rachel knew what she was referencing. After Edward’s birth, the doctor had declared the affair to be traumatic to Rachel’s womb and had told her gravely that she would not be able to conceive again. It was news that carried a special sorrow for Rachel and Colin, who had always wanted to have a big family, but over the years Rachel had come to peace with it. 

Now, looking at Ruth, she wanted to say something more but could not. The timing was not right. She looked away and patted Ruth’s hand on her arm. 

“What will be will be,” she said simply. “You meant no harm.” She turned back to Ruth and smiled broadly. “There is good news, for Edward. He will always have his cousins to keep him company.”

They walked into the grand ballroom and slipped their masks up over their faces. Ruth’s was a golden mask shaped in the visage of a queen. Rachel’s was a silvery bit of artistry, matching the silver of her dress, which was reminiscent of a swan. 

They walked slowly around the outer edge of the ballroom, their skirts brushing across the marble in a whispering wave. At the far end of the room, Rachel caught sight of Colin walking in at Quinton’s side. The two men were fast friends now. She laughed to think back about their initial meeting—how angry Quinton had been at Colin for stealing Ruth’s affections. All that was behind them, and they sought each other’s companionship as brothers would. 

Still, when they came into the room, Colin left his friend’s side and walked over towards his father, George, where the old man stood next to his wife. 

This warmed Rachel’s heart even more. The ties the father and son had begun to fasten at her wedding four years prior had only strengthened over the years. She felt that Edward, especially, had sealed the bond. George Weston was learning to be kind with his grandson in ways he had never been with Colin. 

Quinton walked over and bowed down in front of the two sisters. 

“May I ask you to dance, my dear wife?” he asked Ruth. 

Ruth laughed and leaned from behind her mask briefly to give him a hard stare. “Are you certain you do not wish to ask Rachel instead,” she teased, “and step upon her ankle during the course of the dance?”

Quinton sent her a teasing look in response. “Since you two have spared us all the disaster of dressing alike despite being twins, I have a chance at choosing the right sister this time.” He shot a look in Rachel’s direction. “You must admit it was rather unfair last time,” he said. 

“Entirely,” Rachel said with a smile. “Although if we had known all the confusion we would cause, we would hardly have both chosen blue. It brought about more disaster than was ever intended.”

“I don’t know,” Ruth said slowly. “I believe it brought about real happiness, although the route to that happiness was rather circuitous. If Quinton had not stepped upon your ankle, you would not have slipped out onto the terrace to recover. You might never have met Colin.”

Rachel had not thought of this. She heard the first strains of music and nodded towards the dance floor. “You will miss the waltz if you tarry here,” she said. “Be gone with you both.”

She saw the way Quinton leaned in to sweep Ruth onto the dance floor—the yearning still in his eyes, and the happiness in hers. Rachel sighed happily. It was good to see her sister still so happy and so in love, even after all these years. 

She saw Colin still speaking with his father and began walking across the ballroom towards the punch table as she had done all those years before. Something about Ruth’s words pulled her, almost as though by an unbidden force, out onto the balcony again. It was remarkable to stand in the same room where so much of her current happiness had begun. She wanted to see that terrace again, revelling in the strains of familiar music and the magic of the garden beyond. 

She stepped out onto the balcony and shut the door quietly behind her. A breeze moved the ivy against the wall. People moved to and fro in the garden below, twinkling lights dotting the path. She was alone. Rachel slipped over to the bench and sat down, curling her feet up underneath her and gazing pensively out into the darkness. 

“My Lady.” A deep, familiar voice came from the door at her side. Strains of music drifted through. 

She turned and saw Colin standing in the doorway. He stepped through and closed the door fast behind him. 

“I thought you would find me here,” she said. 

“I always find my way back to you,” he answered. 

She patted the seat beside her companionably, and he occupied it. She loved the way he stretched out comfortably beside her, his long limbs brushing against hers. 

“How is your father?” she asked. 

“He is well. He wants me to accompany him to Tattersall’s tomorrow.” He cast a sheepish sideways glance in her direction. “He thinks we should buy a proper mount for Edward.”

She shook her head. “He is too young.”

“That’s what I said.” Colin squinted his eyes out into the darkness of the garden below. “You will be surprised to hear that he listened. He amended his statement and suggested we buy a foal instead—Edward can help in its feeding and raising, and when it is old enough for proper training, he can have a hand in that as well. There will be no riding before he is properly prepared.”

Rachel smiled, a warm feeling of gratitude filling her heart. “It is good to hear your father respecting our wishes,” she said. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. 

“That is just how you looked,” Colin said quietly, an intensity creeping into his tone. 

Rachel turned and looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“When I first met you,” he said. “You were sitting just like that, on this bench, with your eyes closed. You were doing mathematics.”

“I remember,” she said with a smile. “And you were not shocked or frightened.”

“I was intrigued,” he said. “As I am now. It is strange, is it not, that so much life can pass between two people—so much love and understanding—and the feeling of mystery and attraction can still exist?” He reached out and took her hand. “I am still drawn to you, my love. The pull is as strong as that first night.”

She thought about the secret she carried and smiled to herself. “I have an equation for you now,” she said, “since you speak so highly of my mathematical acumen. I would not want to disappoint you by falling behind in my studies.”

He smiled back at her. “Very coyly put,” he said. He nodded. “Go on, then. Is it a mental problem, or shall I require a handkerchief and charcoal?”

She laughed at the memory. “I believe you can manage this one with your mind alone,” she assured him. 

She took his hand and flipped it over, tracing a shape in his palm. Her finger ran in a straight line, then, to the side, in a cross, and then another straight line. 

He squinted and then laughed. “One plus one?” he asked archly. “I believe that is rather rudimentary, my darling.”

“What is it?” she pressed, not allowing him to sidestep the answer. She tipped her face up to his, loving the way he looked down at her in the silvery moonlight. 

“Two,” he said softly, his eyes tracing gently along her face. “Why do you ask me something so simple?”

She looked back down at his hand and wrote the equation again, but this time when she drew the first “one” she said softly, “Edward … plus one more … equals—”

She felt Colin suck in his breath at her side. He closed his hand around hers and pulled her around so that he was looking directly into her eyes. “Are you speaking the truth?” he asked breathlessly. “Do we really have another child on the way?”

She smiled and nodded, her hand finding her belly gently through the satin of her gown. “It has been a few months now,” she said. “Any longer, and I fear you would have noticed.”

“The doctor assured us it was impossible,” Colin said, tears coming unbidden into his eyes. “I had given up hope.”

“I will always treasure how happy you were with our little family,” Rachel said. “A lesser man would have bemoaned the fact that his wife could give him only one heir, but you seemed blissfully delighted with Edward alone. Still, heaven has seen fit to grant us another.”

Colin’s face was so full of happiness, Rachel could hardly stand to look at it. She had known this would be his reaction, just as it would be Ruth’s when she finally told her later that evening. She just knew that she had to tell her husband first—let him treasure the secret at her side for a few moments without the rest of the world knowing. 

They sat there together in the silvery light, Rachel leaning her head against Colin’s shoulder, both looking out into the gathering darkness. After a long moment, Colin turned and, putting a finger gently under Rachel’s chin, tipped her head up to his. He looked deeply into her eyes. 

“I love you, Rachel,” he said. “It has always been you.”

“And it will always be,” she said, finishing the line that he had whispered throughout their four years of marriage. 

She leaned up and kissed him. It was a warm, sweet, gentle kiss—full of all the history of their past, and all the hope of their future. 

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OFFER: A BRAND NEW SERIES AND 2 FREEBIES FOR YOU!

Grab my new series, "Whispers of Regency Love", and get 2 FREE novels as a gift! Have a look here!

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