"They weren't starting with lies and betrayal."
"No, but Dad did accidentally set Mum's hair on fire at their first meeting, so they had their own challenges."
"He what?"
"Candle incident. We don't talk about it. The point is, all love stories have disasters. Yours just has more dramatic ones because you're a duke."
By the time they left the hall, Alaric had a plan. Not a perfect plan, but a start. He sent Thomas home with instructions to spread the word that there would be an announcement at the Christmas dinner that evening.
"What kind of announcement?"
"The kind that will either fix things or make them irreparably worse."
"Those are the best kind!"
Alaric spent the afternoon with Grimsby, writing letters, drafting documents, and making arrangements. His solicitor in London would be appalled by the decisions he was making, but his mother would be proud, and right now, that mattered more.
"Your Grace is being rather generous," Grimsby observed as he reviewed the plans.
"I'm being rather overdue."
"The estate finances will need careful management to support all of this."
"Then I'll manage them carefully."
"From here? You're truly planning to stay?"
"Yes."
"For how long?"
"For good, if she'll have me. And even if she won't, long enough to see these changes through."
"Your Grace is gambling everything on a woman you've known less than a week."
"I'm gambling everything on the first person who's made me want to be better than I am. That seems worth any risk."
***
The church hall was packed for the Christmas dinner. Every family in the village was there, the long tables groaning under the weight of shared dishes. Alaric entered to a wave of whispers and stares, but he walked directly to the front of the room where the land steward usually held court.
"Your Grace," the land steward said, looking uncertain. "We weren't expecting..."
"I know. But I have some things that need saying, if you'll allow me?"
The land steward looked around at the assembled villagers, then nodded. "It's Christmas. Everyone deserves a hearing at Christmas."
Alaric stood before them all, these people he'd failed for so long, and tried to find the right words.
"I owe you all an apology," he began. "Not just for the deception of the past few days, but for the abandonment of the past twenty-three years. I've been a terrible landlord, a worse neighbour, and a completely absent part of this community that my family has been connected to for over two hundred years."
The room was silent, everyone listening.
"My mother loved this village. She loved the people, the traditions, the sense of community that made this place special. When she died, I ran from that love because it hurt too much to be reminded of what I'd lost. But in running from pain, I also ran from responsibility, from connection, from the very things that make life worth living."
He saw Marianne enter at the back of the room, stopping in the doorway but not leaving.
"I came here as Mr. Fletcher because I was too much of a coward to face you as myself. I thought I could review the books, fix the financial irregularities, and leave without getting involved. But you wouldn't let me. You pulled me into your fair preparations, your traditions, your lives. You showed me what I've been missing, what I've been too afraid to see."
