“You two are the worst.” Vera looped her arm through Virginia’s free side. “Don’t be friends with them. They don’t deserve you.”
“Did you really write me letters?” Virginia asked in wonder.
Vera nodded. “Every night. They won’t admit it, but they did, too.” She gave Virginia a mischievous smile. “I peeked.”
“Come along,” Viveca called. “We’re missing the start of the quadrille!”
As Virginia and Theodore took their places, she squeezed his hands.
“I love you,” she whispered. “Without you, none of this would have happened.”
“I believe you have that backward.” He gestured at his knee brace, then the ballroom around them. “None of this would have happened withoutyou, Lady Ormondton. You tamed my heart and complete my soul.”
Epilogue
One year later
Searching for Virginia, Theo dashed up one side of the folly overlooking the family pond with a basket dangling under one arm. Just as he reached the top, her head rose from the other side.
“The heart has only four chambers, but its capacity to love is infinite.” She grinned at him. “Looking for me?”
He answered by taking her mouth in a kiss.
“I brought you something,” he murmured.
“So did I.” Her eyes sparkled. “You first.”
He set the basket on the wide balustrade and began unloading small, frost-covered dishes.
She burst out laughing. “Ice cream?”
“Start with the chocolate,” he suggested, and handed her a spoon.
Virginia dipped the spoon into the dish and frowned. “Remind me to talk to the chef. Parts of this are frozen solid. It feels like—”
Her head jerked up toward his, eyes round.
He blinked back at her innocently.
“There’s a key in my ice cream.” She dug through the dish to retrieve her prize. “Why is there a key in my ice cream?”
He lifted his shoulders.
With a squeal, she set down the dish and launched herself into his arms. “We got the property?”
“Youhave the property.” He held her tight. “The one you wanted, halfway between here and Christmas. Now you’ll never be more than a few hours away from one of your many animal sanatoriums.”
“Many?” She pulled away with a laugh. “First there was one, and now there’s two.”
“That’s how the aviary started,” he replied with a straight face. “Go ask Dancer how many birds there are now.”
Virginia spun around in joy. “This is everything I dreamed! The London sanatorium can concentrate on pets and strays, and our new country location can specialize in wildlife.”
“Be sure to save a few hours in your busy day for me,” he growled as he pulled her back into his arms.
“Nights,” she corrected wickedly. “I promised you my nights.”
He wiggled his brows. “At least I was clever enough not to promise there’d be time to sleep.”
