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Two years later…
Alexander had fallen asleep in the chair. One month since their son’s birth and still, he didn’t want to leave their side for longer than just a few minutes. Their son was healthy and perfect, but he held the fear of a new father and would act upon it without question or reason.
Flora stared out of the window as she waited for their guests to arrive. It was summer and the English roses were in bloom, accompanied by Scottish heather to fill the gaps. It was one of her favourite views in the entire world.
Kate worked to change the sheets and refresh the room as they waited for their guests to arrive. Flora would be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous. A flutter rushed through her stomach as the hour of their arrival approached. Alexander only knew of some of the guests expected. Flora had not told him that his mother had been invited, too. She’s sent out the invitation in secret, knowing that he’d try to dissuade her if she told him.
She didn’t want him to feel the tension of her impending visit. So, instead, she decided that he would be surprised by it. Now that the time had come, she wasn’t entirely sure how he would react.
They’d not seen each other since the arrest of Lord Grant. However, years of distance had changed something in Flora. When she’d first laid eyes on her son, the heir to the Huxley estate, she knew that it was time for a change. She could not ask her son to grow up without his grandmother’s presence in her life. However, the dowager duchess had one chance to make things right. If she didn’t enter their lives respectfully, then Flora knew there could never be a chance at peace between them.
“Is the room ready for the dowager duchess?” Flora whispered.
Kate nodded. “Yes,” she whispered back. “I’ve put her in the furthest room away from here. Just in case.”
Flora chuckled and nodded that she agreed with that idea.
Mr Wright was tirelessly working through the books in Alexander’s study. He’d been handed the task after the baby was born, with Alexander insisting that he had enough time to be there to help Flora with the initial stages of motherhood.
The good news was that their breeding program had quickly made a name for them after Storm was presented at a show. There was a waiting list of farmers eager to get their hands on one of their foals. It being summer, and there being new foals on the farm, Mr Wright had his hands full.
The sound of carriage wheels approaching woke Alexander from his nap. He looked out the window.
“That must be your brother,” he said sleepily, brushing his hair out of his face.
Flora came to join him at the window just in time to see the coach arrive with the Huxley crest on the side.
“Kate,” he said. “Send my mother away, will you?”
“No,” Flora said. “I’ve invited her. It is only right.”
His head snapped to her. “Are you sure?” he asked nervously. “I don’t want anything to upset you at this time.”
Flora chuckled. “I’ll be alright,” she said. “There is an heir. It doesn’t seem right that she doesn’t get to meet him. Kate, will you show our guests to the library? It is quiet and dark in there; the baby will be calm.”
She walked to the library with Alexander following closely behind.
“Are you sure this was such a good idea?” he asked.
“We’ve made a success of things here,” Flora said. “We can’t hold onto the past forever. Besides, I want Henry to know his grandmother, don’t you?”
“I suppose,” he mumbled. “But did it have to be today?”
“I’ll not treat her like an outcast,” Flora said. “I’ve been on the receiving end of that, and it isn’t pleasant.”
On the table in the library lay a letter from Lady Caroline. She had written to congratulate them and inform them of the exciting news of her marriage. While there was no invitation, Flora knew an olive branch when she saw one. It was part of what had sparked her to try to make things right with her mother-in-law.
Time apart had changed things. The dowager duchess appeared in the doorway, aged and smaller than she’d been when they last saw her. Her eyes fell first on Henry, her grandson, then on Flora, and lastly, her son. The three stood united like a family.
“Mother,” Alexander said, and Flora heard the nervous quiver in his voice.
“It is good to see you again,” Flora said kindly, approaching her. “May I introduce you to Henry Robert Huxley.”
The dowager duchess stepped into the room to meet her halfway, her eyes glued to the child. Flora stretched out her arms and placed Henry in the arms of his grandmother. Kate rushed forward to ensure that the child was being held correctly, but there was no need. The dowager duchess had been a mother once, too.
Instinctively, the dowager duchess began to rock the child in her arms. She’d been completely softened.
“Oh, Alexander,” she said. “He looks just as you did as a newborn baby.”
She choked on her words as tears formed in her eyes.
“I think … I think I need to sit a moment,” the dowager duchess said, handing the child back to Flora.
Alexander helped his mother to the sofa, where she sat down, her eyes red with emotion. Flora sat across from her. For now, they were still alone, so it seemed as good a time as any. Alexander came to her and placed his hand gently on her shoulder, and she leaned into his touch, a symbol of their lasting closeness.
“I think it is time that all animosity is buried, don’t you?” Flora asked. “For the sake of our son. I want him to be raised in a family free of anger. I want you to be a part of his life, just like any other member of our family.”
The dowager duchess sniffed and nodded. “I’d like that very much,” she said. “I just wish your father were here to see him,” she said, looking up at her son.
For the first time since the three of them had met, they felt like a family. Baby Henry stretched out his arm and yawned, his eyes still tightly shut and fast asleep. Something changed in the dowager duchess at the sight of them as parents. She cared only for baby Henry then as she reached forward to stroke his face.
“Isn’t he beautiful?” Flora asked softly.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful,” the dowager duchess answered. “I look forward to getting to know him.”
Flora felt Alexander’s hand squeeze her shoulder, their secret sign of thanks to each other. She reached up and brushed her fingers over his hand to tell him that the message had been received.
“They’re in the library?” she heard her brother’s voice from the hallway.
It was followed by the sound of his running footsteps. It had been Flora’s idea to wait before officially announcing the birth of their child so that she and Alexander could have time alone with him before visitors started to pour in.
Robert’s flushed face appeared in the doorway as he came to a halt. He glanced at the baby and then at the dowager duchess, clearly puzzled. However, it seemed his questions would have to wait. He walked cautiously into the room.
“Don’t wake him,” Flora said with a chuckle.
Her brother sat down on the sofa next to her and stared at the child as if in disbelief.
“I can’t believe you waited this long to tell us,” he said. “I was starting to think he’d never be born.”
Flora laughed. “I knew you’d come running in here, that’s why I waited,” she explained. “You’ve been far too eager to be an uncle.”
Robert gave her a sheepish smile and nodded. “I know,” he said. “And now that the day is finally here, I’m afraid I don’t know what to do with myself.”
Even the dowager duchess couldn’t hold back her laughter then. Something was intriguing in the way men behaved when their eyes first landed on an infant. It seemed as if everything they’d always understood about the world became untethered the instant they knew that the child was under their care, regardless of how much responsibility they took.
“Would you like to hold him?” Flora answered.
“Not yet,” Robert said. “I’m far too excited. I’m afraid I would drop him if I took him now.”
However, he reached forward to touch him as if to make sure that he was real. Robert inspected his hand, and Henry closed his small fingers around his uncle’s large one. She heard Robert take a sharp breath and let it out in a strangled sigh.
“He’s in good health?” Robert asked.
“Of course,” Flora said. “He’s absolutely perfect.”
Ernest arrived next. However, his energy was far less careful and nervous. He entered the room with a beaming smile and headed straight for Alexander to offer him his greatest congratulations.
“You must stay for dinner, “Alexander said. “We will all sit around the same table this evening to celebrate the newest member of our family.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Ernest said.
Little did he know that soon Alexander would pull him aside and request that he be the child’s godfather. It was a conversation Flora wished she could be part of, but Alexander had requested that it happen in privacy.
“If all the guests would follow me,” Kate said. “I’ve arranged for cake and tea in the conservatory. Flora must put baby Henry to bed now. The mother and father will join you shortly.”
“Ernest,” Alexander interrupted. “If you’ll wait for me in my study. There is something we must discuss first. It will only take a minute.”
“Of course,” Ernest said, stealing one last glance at the child before leaving.
The guests hurried out of the room, eager to do anything that would please the baby. It hadn’t been part of the plan, but considering the wink Kate offered them on her way out, she’d decided that the couple needed time to discuss things.
“Thank you,” Alexander said. “If you’d have told me you would invite your mother, I would have talked you out of it. I think there might be a chance of reconciliation.”
“We have endured so much,” she said. “We can endure her, too. This baby might have Scottish blood, but it also has Huxley blood, and that is something she will fiercely protect until her last breath.”
“You’re right,” he said. “And perhaps all this time apart has done us good.”
Alexander came around and lifted his son from her arms. “Come with me. I’d like to put him to bed today,” he said.
She walked at his side, two parents against the world. They had support from their friends and family, who waited downstairs eagerly to celebrate with them.
Alexander straightened his son’s clothes before placing him gently in his crib. It could never be enough just to put him down and leave him. No, the couple stood side-by-side as the crib gently rocked, staring down at the life they had created: the boy who would one day grow into the man to carry on their legacy.
“I’ll take it from here,” Kate said. “You two go and enjoy yourselves.”
“We won’t be long,” Alexander said.
“Of course not,” Kate said with a laugh. “I didn’t expect you to.”
Arm-in-arm, they headed to the conservatory. When they entered, they were greeted with a warm cheer as family and friends rose to congratulate them.
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!
Hello my dears! I hope you enjoyed the Extended Epilogue of my new book! I can’t wait to read your lovely comments here. Thank you for being so wonderful! 🥰
intriguing & mysterious story! I enjoyed this fast moving plot . I was very eager to get to the end of the story. I love happily ever afters and reconciliations.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the story and found the pace engaging. It’s wonderful to hear the ending resonated with you, happy ever afters do have their own special magic.
This is the best book I’ve read in a long time and I read a lot. Not only is it a love story but a mystery also. I loved all the characters and enjoyed the epilogue.
I truly appreciate your kind words. I’m delighted the blend of love and mystery spoke to you, and that the characters and epilogue left a lasting impression.
I so enjoyed this wonderful book. I love stories that depict the heroine as not only a woman of strength but one who isn’t afraid to show her vulnerability. Although the story took place during another time in history we still today have families who still struggle with jealous mothers in law and families torn apart from outside interference. It was such a lovely story and a heart warming ending. I would certainly recommend this book as it is well written with a great love story surrounded by amazing friends helping to bring to justice the evil ones.
Thank you, Pat. I’m so pleased you enjoyed the story and its balance of strength, vulnerability, and enduring love. It’s wonderful to know the characters and themes resonated with you.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. What a trail of “What’s happening next?” Your character development was fantastic. I’m looking forward to reading another of your books.
Thank you! I’m thrilled you enjoyed the characters and the surprises. I can’t wait to share more stories with you soon!
Thoroughly enjoyed this book so much!
I enjoy happy ever after too!
Loved the part of story ,set in Scotland Thank you so much!
Thank you Dawn! I’m so glad you enjoyed the happy-ever-after and the Scottish setting. It’s wonderful to know it resonated with you!
I loved this story! I am partial to Scottish stories and locales as I lived there for almost three years in the nineties. It is a beautiful country. There is one thing I must correct. The national drink of Scotland is whiskey, not brandy. Just a reminder.
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed the story—and how wonderful that you lived in Scotland. And thank you for the correction; I appreciate you pointing that out!
I haven’t read a book that was so intriguing in a very long time. Once i started reading I couldn’t put it down. I gobbled it up in a single day, as it kept me on the edge of my seat.
The characters were very well developed and had broad range of personalities.
I loved the ending that tied up the story beautifully.
Thank you so much for this lovely review. I’m thrilled the story kept you hooked and that you enjoyed the characters and the ending. Your words truly mean a lot.