“Such as?” He slowly rolled toward her, pulling her into his chest. Daisy placed a kiss right over his heart.
“We’re free, Sam.”
“Free? What do you mean?”
She stared up at him. “Don’t be angry.”
His body stiffened. “About?”
“I went to the Den. Mrs. Dove-Lyon gave me the diary you stole, and I took it to Lady Claystone.”
He hissed out a curse. “Daisy, why would you—”
Daisy put a finger over his lips. “Hush. I need to finish. I told Cliffton and Lady Claystone that I’d never marry him. I told them our betrothal was officially over and there was nothing they could do, unless they wanted their disgusting secrets shared with the world.”
He frowned. “What was in the diary?”
“The truth. Cliffton is already married, and he has a son. They intended to erase the evidence and still have me marry him so that they could have my dowry.”
Sam’s forehead touched hers. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have had to do that alone.”
“I’m not. I needed to know how strong I could be. I was so... enraged. I think I frightened Cliffton.”
He kissed her forehead. “He never deserved you, but I am grateful he waited so long to marry you. It gave me the chance to steal your heart.”
“You cannot steal what is freely given.” Daisy smiled as he kissed her.
He pulled back. “You stole my heart, my breath, my wits. I was floundering in the dark and you stole that, too. You took it, and in return, you gave me light. I love you.”
“I love you, Sam.”
Epilogue
Six weeks later
The small chapelat Sam’s estate, Alston Abbey, burst with the lively voices of far more guests than Sam had anticipated. His new mother-in-law, Mrs. Cordelia Blakewood, filled the pews with her friends and family—absent Lady Claystone. He had Daisy, Amelia, and Blakewood, and that was all he truly needed to feel whole, but it was nice, if still a little strange, to think he had a mother and father once again. His children would have grandparents. He rubbed his chest at the thought, a peculiar sensation of warmth spreading there.
Amelia had left two spaces empty on the family pew. Reserved for their own mother and father, present in spirit. Aunt Ruth and Nelson had not been invited and, according to Sam’s man of business, had left London, as well. Wherever they intended to go, they wouldn’t be on Alston land. Sam didn’t have the heart to leave them destitute and still allotted Aunt Ruth a livable allowance, as he’d told Nelson he would, but they knew better now than to ever grace his doorstep again.
Candles lined the stained-glass windows and deep-pink rose petals, the color of Daisy’s blushes—his request—littered thefloor. Garlands of roses and leaves hung from the rafters, and there in front, Amelia and Blakewood sat together, smiling at him. Amelia dabbed at her eyes. Even Blakewood looked—
“By God, are those tears? Can statues cry?” Sam whispered.
Blakewood rolled his eyes. “Try to be serious on the day you wed my sister.”
“I’m deadly serious,” Sam said.
The organ began, music filling the rafters as the door at the front of the church opened, and there she stood. His Daisy, his dream, his sunshine, moon, and stars. The light of his life in every sense of the word. She wore a wreath of flowers around her head, a lace veil flowing down her back. Her pale pink gown glowed, the riot of colors from the stained-glass windows casting her in dreamy shimmers of light.
Had he died? Sam wondered. He must have. Because there was no other way that he could be standing here, about to marry the most beautiful woman alive, unless he was in heaven. Somehow, his soul had been deemed worthy of a woman like her. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve her, but as a wise doctor once said, every second is a gift, and he’d spend them worshiping her without question.
She now stood before him, and he couldn’t hear a single word uttered as her hand was placed in his. She was his. Finally. At last.
Mr. Blakewood patted him on the shoulder before taking his seat.
Sam couldn’t pull his gaze away from her radiant beauty as Reverend Eckles droned on and on about the Lord and some other things he couldn’t bother to hear. Not when his heart, his soul, his eyes, his ears, and every breath he took were all for Daisy.
He spoke when he needed to, stood, kneeled, stood, and finally, after all that bothersome nonsense, they werepronounced husband and wife. Their guests cheered as he tugged her down the aisle and pushed open the doors.
