Without being extraordinary.
Epilogue
This writer is pleased to not only report success as regards their porcine endeavours, but equally that this year’s favourite earl and countess have descended upon London yet again. So whilst we may never know the true conclusion of their tale, one is rather intrigued and delighted to note that thus far any lucky enough to have met them qualified the two as sickeningly amorous and determined to make their mark on the town, and indeed the country. Whether Lord and Lady Gadmin shall be, as I hoped at the beginning of this great tale remains to be seen, though I am sufficed that it would be a rather good wager to make.
Jack the Cat, Londoner’s Chronicle, November 1839
‘Finally, I get to see this dress on you,’ Thorn said, sliding up behind her as she finished pinning his iron rose to her belt. Glancing up at him in the mirror, she watched his hungry, once again sparkling eyes devour her whole, before sliding his arms around her, and resting his chin on her bare shoulder. ‘I thought I’d never get the chance.’
‘It would’ve been your own doing,’ she pointed out wryly, and he chuckled, dropping a kiss where her neck met her shoulder.
‘I’m never going to hear the end of that one, am I? We’ll be eighty, sitting in our garden at Gadmin Hall, having a lovely spotof tea while Truffél’s great-grandchildren run amok between our feet, and I’ll be reminded of having tried to leave you.’
‘Yes.’
‘I suppose I’ll deserve it, though I’ll remind you, I was trying to do the right thing.’
‘I might be persuaded to not bring it up in fifty years,’ she sighed, tipping her head back just so she could lean against him, head, body, heart and soul. ‘If you do something even more idiotic in the meantime, then I will hold that against you instead.’
‘Very wise, and fair of you, my lady,’ he grinned. ‘I’ll see what I can come up with.’
They stood there, rocking gently for a moment, their eyes connected through the glass; repeatingI love you, as she could now see they did.
‘Are you sure you’re up for seeing your family?’
‘Yes,’ she reassured him, tangling her fingers in his as they held the sides of her waist. ‘I think it’s time. The first step at least, they seemed…much changed in their last letters. Being in public will help, assuage any awkwardness that may be present for any of us.’
‘Good,’ Thorn nodded.
‘What about you? How are you feeling about your first Society soirée as a married man, and reputable pig farmer?’
‘With my wife by my side, looking as tempting as you do, I am very much looking forward to it. And thanks to Henry’s help, I shouldn’t make too much of a fool of myself with the dancing. The only thing marring my mood is that damned Jack’s last piece, though he seems to be done with us at last, and I am glad of it.’
‘We cannot dispute that they helped us remain intriguing to many, and though neither of us like it, I think, considering the world as it is, it cannot hurt us in this next chapter.’
‘Much as I am loath to admit it, I fear you are correct. I doubt that investigator would’ve offered such a rate for his services had it not been for the Cat’s pieces.’
‘And you thought going from blacksmith to earl-farmer was unusual.’
‘Yes, sailor to investigator is rather unconventional.’
‘He’ll find Warren, won’t he?’
‘If not him, then the others we’ll hire when we can, if we must.’
Nodding, Hypatia melted into him again, drawing as ever, more reassurance and strength, and pleasure from him, and Thorn returned to the important business of devouring her with his gaze, and fingers, and lips.
‘Do remind me I must send Mrs Wilson a thank-you basket. The things that woman can do with green velvet…incandescently indecent. I should like all your gowns to be velvet.’
‘They wouldn’t fare well at the farm.’
‘Fine… Then cut just as this one is.’
He showed his appreciation of the low-cut bodice again, torturing them both, for there wasn’t time for such business; which he promptly realised with a sigh as the clock on the mantel of their little suite of rooms chimed the hour.
‘They’ll be all right,’ she half-asked, half-stated, turning in his arms, winding her own about his neck. ‘It’s all well under control, especially with Danny and Fred taking over the management of it all. And we’ll be back in December, perhaps even before, for a quick visit.’
‘They’ll be fine,’ Thorn reassured her, kissing her forehead, and then her lips. ‘So long as Henry doesn’t feed Malek to the pigs in punishment for trying to befriend him, and Mary doesn’t do the same to the new butler, and Niamh doesn’t offer to help Langton too much, and Theo doesn’t drive Danny and Fred topandemonium with his management suggestions, they’ll all be fine.’
