She kissed him again, tasting of strawberries, and undid a few more buttons on his waistcoat. ‘Oh no, you terrible man. You are keeping the apartment. Or should I say, I am. I expect the keys for a wedding gift. If you promise to be very good… Or perhaps, if you are very, very bad, I will let you visit me there.’
‘An interesting proposition,’ he said, nuzzling her ear. ‘Tell me more.’ Then, he reached out to pull the shades on the carriage windows and shut out the world.
Epilogue
December
Though it was still several days until Christmas, the sanctuary of the little church in the village of Septon’s Wode had been greened for the season to celebrate the Christening of the Duke’s first child. The girl, named Georgiana to honour the duchess’s father, was swathed in a gown of linen and lace, her dark hair covered by a cap that had been tatted by her aunt and godmother, the Duchess of Westbridge.
The parents looked on with a mix of pride and nervousness as the vicar held their child over the marble font and murmured the prayers softly so as not to disturb the sleepy babe. Then, he dipped a silver shell into the water below her and poured it over her forehead, which undid his earlier good works.
Georgiana let out a lusty cry and was returned to her mother, who soothed her to silence again.
When the service was over, the vicar led parents and godparents to the church register to see that the details of the baptism were properly recorded.
‘Did you ever imagine that a day would come when you would see my name recorded as a potential guardian to your child, Septon?’ As he often did, Sebastian was hiding his true feelings behind a joke. But after eight months of marriage, Cassie knewhim well enough to understand how touched he’d been that his old friend had given him this honour.
Her brother responded in kind, with a wry smile and a taunt. ‘I am surprised enough that you were able to enter a church without turning to dust as you crossed the threshold. But I suppose, since you are married to my sister, I must make some allowances.’
‘And to ask you to watch over our little girl,’ Portia said, rolling her eyes.
‘Your father had a similarly bad idea when he set Julian to watch over you,’ Cassie said with a laugh.
‘Because men such as us have seen how gentlemen behave when there are no ladies to civilize them,’ Sebastian said with a knowing nod. ‘We cannot be fooled by scoundrels.’
‘Cassandra seems happy enough,’ Julian said with a shrug. ‘She was most particular when I was trying to find her a husband. If she was willing to settle for you, you cannot be all bad.’
‘It is not settling, Julian,’ she said with a smile. ‘Sebastian has made me a duchess. And he is so desperately grateful to have me that he lets me do whatever I please.’
‘Because I know how lucky I am,’ her husband said, taking her hand. Then, he smiled at her in a way that was very different from his usual, wicked grin. The look he gave her now was filled with such undisguised love that her eyes filled with tears.
She blinked them away and glanced at the church register, wondering if she had the nerve to ask the question that had weighed on her mind since she’d come to her brother’s property. ‘Julian,’ she said, biting her lip. ‘How familiar are you with the records of this parish?’
Her brother laughed. ‘I suppose I am listed in them somewhere. I was born at the manor, after all.’
‘Is there a chance I might be, as well?’
He looked surprised, as did Portia. Even little Georgiana turned her head as if sensing a change in the room.
She felt Sebastian’s hand tighten on her own.
‘I don’t know,’ Julian admitted. ‘But we shall look, if you wish.’
She nodded, and the vicar stepped aside so they could page back through the book until they got to the year of Cassie’s birth. And there, in a line halfway down the page she saw a record of the christening of Cassandra Perry, the natural born daughter of Margaret Perry, with no father listed.
She stared at the name for a moment, unsure of what she was to do with this information. While she’d never lacked for love in her life, there was room in her heart for more. She looked to the vicar, hoping he might remember the woman listed there.
He shook his head. ‘I am sorry to say, Margaret passed not long after you were born. But it is an old family in the village.’ He gave her an encouraging smile. ‘Your grandfather is a cabinet maker.’
‘The Fisks were both alone in the world, the last in their families. It was why they had been so eager to adopt me.’ She looked at Sebastian, amazed. ‘But now, I have a grandfather.’
‘You have other family, as well,’ the vicar added. ‘Aunts, uncles and many cousins.’
‘We must visit them,’ Sebastian said.
‘We were leaving for your home, this afternoon,’ she reminded him. ‘We wanted to arrive by Christmas Eve.’
‘It is our home,’ he reminded her. ‘And the Perrys will be my family, just as they are yours. If you wish to meet them, we will take all the time you like.’
