* * *
Heat bloomedin Juliana’s chest, and twin prickles of nervousness raced down the backs of her legs.Leo loves me!
Suddenly, her fears surrounding the reasons for his proposal seemed cruel and unwarranted. He mightn’t have asked with prose and professions of admiration, but the depth of his feelings meant more to her than flowery words.
Her pulse thrummed rapidly, and her abdomen hummed with energy. She clasped his lapels. “I love you, too, Leo.”
With a low groan, he pressed his lips to hers in a smouldering kiss.
“Please, Juliana,” he growled, trailing his lips along her jaw to her earlobe. “Please say that you’ll accept this reformed pirate as your husband.”
The breath rushed from her lungs with an audiblewhoosh. “Yes, I—”
Her words were cut off as he crushed his lips to hers once more. A laugh bubbled out of her, joyful, light, and entirely freeing, as though those few words of his had lifted a weight from upon her heart.
There was naught to fear any longer; Miles and Francis had been brought to the magistrate and locked in gaol, and she’d successfully completed her first test to become a Bow Street runner.
“Oh,” she breathed, pulling away slightly. “What will Elizabeth think? Do you know if she is returned to Woodhaven Hall?”
A grin tugged at Leo’s lips. “She is not. Percy brought her to London—for reasons he has yet to tell me.”
Juliana’s eyebrows lifted in response.
“Indeed. And rest assured, Lizzy is tremendously excited to have you in our family. I can only imagine how proud she will be once she learns of your position as a runner, solving problems and seeking justice.”
Another wave of warmth washed over her at the praise, and her smile grew. “Andyou, Leo? If my place is in town, where will yours be?”
“My place will always be next to you.” He squinted one eye in a cringe. “So long as you do not mind the gossip.”
Juliana huffed a laugh and raked her fingers through his shortened blond hair. “Love, I’m the daughter of a duke working on Bow Street. I am not worried about gossip.”
“My perfect match, then.”
She hummed and pressed a kiss to his jaw, the day’s growth of beard prickly against her lips. “Perfect, indeed.”
EPILOGUE
“Iam returning home, Grace,” Juliana said, rising from her new desk in the Bow Street house and striding across the room. “The paperwork for the Weston case is completed and ready for filing. I shall be ready for the next on the morrow.”
“Capital, Juliana.” Grace smiled. “Good evening to you.”
“And you,” Juliana called as she quit the room, donning her bonnet and gloves as she passed through the foyer.
Crisp early spring air encircled her, and she breathed it in deeply. As was the usual, the Livingston carriage awaited her out front. She waved to the driver and smiled at the footman as she entered. The ride was smooth, though her thoughts grew increasingly tumultuous.
It had been two months since her cousins had been apprehended, and one long month spent enduring a public trial and sentencing. But today, her cousins faced the hangman, and she could scarcely countenance it.
The carriage rolled to a halt, and she took a slow, deep breath before disembarking. Their home matched those along the row, but to her it stood out as the most beautiful. It was where love grew, and where their family took shape: her, Leo, and young Lizzy.
The past months had given them so much joy, and to Leo’s surprise, society rather adored their notoriety. They had not only accepted him but extolled his virtues after the story of their misadventure came to light. They thrived on the tale of the duke’s daughter finding unlikely aid in a reformed pirate hidden away at a snowy estate. The tale had brought in many clients for the Bow Street offices, as well.
She greeted the butler, handing him her bonnet, gloves, and cloak before following voices upstairs to the nursery. Her steps were muffled on the carpeted runner, and the moment she reached the doorway, she was grateful for her silence.
Inside, her dear new husband, Leo, and their niece, Elizabeth, sat upon the floor, sipping tea from miniature teacups and conversing about the latest fashions. Juliana’s heart swelled with affection, and her worries fell away.
The scent of cinnamon, coconut shaving soap, and trees teased her senses, and she sighed happily. She was home.
“Aunt Juliana!” Elizabeth exclaimed, rising and rushing forward for an embrace.
