Overcome with joy and relief, Eleanor threw her arms around her father’s neck and cried happy tears as he patted her back gently. Her father did not know about the many days she had cried in despair over her believed foolishness, nor did he know of the trouble that had been in these last few weeks as they had fought to find their happy future. Now, all the difficulty had come to an end, and Eleanor had never felt so much relief.
“Now, now, wipe your eyes, my dear, else we shall have you at the ball looking as if you despair over your engagement!”
Eleanor let out a quiet laugh, pulling out her handkerchief as she dabbed at her eyes. “I do not want that,” she said as her father smiled at her. “I am more than a little eager to make my way there now. Can we take our leave?”
“At once,” he promised her, walking to the door. “And we will find Lord Finchley the moment we step inside, I promise you.”
EPILOGUE
“Lord Finchley?”
Rupert turned on his heel, only for his eyes to flare at the sight of Lord Hereford standing near to him. “Lord Hereford.” Tensing inwardly, he bowed. “How good to see you this evening.” Why was Lord Hereford coming to speak with him with such a determined look on his face? Surely, Rupert thought to himself, it could not be that he was about to withdraw his permission for Eleanor’s hand in marriage?
“I have just spoken to my daughter,” Lord Hereford said, a smile beginning to spread across his face, relieving the tension that Rupert felt. “I have told her that I have no concerns whatsoever about your engagement and that, from this evening onward, you are more than welcome to tell whomever you wish.” Putting out one hand, he grasped Rupert’s and shook it firmly. “I know you will treat my daughter well, Lord Finchley. Your character, according to both my sister in law and my daughter, is impeccable.”
Relief swallowed Rupert whole as he shook Lord Hereford’s hand. “I thank you, Lord Hereford. You cannot know the joy that now fills me… and the relief, truth be told!”
“I should not have delayed,” Lord Hereford said, with a small frown darting across his expression for a moment. “I will not state as to why I did so but needless to say, I now quite regret it.”
“Pray, let us not consider it for another moment,” Rupert replied, looking over Lord Hereford’s shoulder. “Lady Eleanor, might I ask where she is?”
Lord Hereford smiled. “I believe she is in the gardens, alongside her aunt and cousin. She will be waiting for you.”
Without even a word of excusal, Rupert stepped away from Lord Hereford at once, half running, half walking to the door that led to the gardens. They were vast indeed, with paths going here and there, some with more light than others. Rupert began to search, going first to his right and then to his left, only for a hand to grasp his arm.
“Finchley?”
“Eleanor,” he breathed, sweeping her up into his arms and holding her close. He cared nothing for who else might be there nor who might see them, thinking only of her and of the joy that they now shared.
“You spoke to my father, then?” she asked, as he chuckled and leaned back, his hands running down her arms to hold her hands in his. “He told me only a few minutes before we came here in the carriage!”
“Yes, I did speak with him. Oh, Eleanor, if only I could find the words to express my sheer joy at this moment!”
She laughed softly. “My darling Rupert, I know precisely what you mean, for it is all that I feel myself.”
Throwing a glance around him and relieved that the darkness surrounded them well enough for him to steal a kiss, Rupert lowered his head and caught her lips with his. She sighed against him, and the urge to slant his head and deepen it became so great, he almost did so, only to force himself back. He did notwant to bring any sort of scandal or rumor to them, not when they were so near to happiness.
“When will we marry, my love?” she asked, her eyes searching his. “Tell me that it will be soon.”
“As soon as I can manage,” he swore, “for I want nothing more than to begin my life with you by my side. If I can have the first banns called this Sunday, then it need not be any more than a month before we can marry.”
Her hand pressed his. “A month seems like such a long time still,” she sighed, as Rupert pressed the back of her hand to his lips, wishing he could do more. “I want nothing more than to be yours forever.”
“And so you shall be,” he promised. “In only a short while, my love, we shall be husband and wife, and nothing shall ever keep us apart again.”
One monthlater
“I remember these woods.”
Rupert laughed as he walked hand in hand with Eleanor, their wedding only a few days past. “They are filled with sweet memories, are they not?” He took in a lungful of the fresh morning air as the birds sang around them.
“They are, and are made all the brighter now that we are here together without restraint or concern.” She smiled up at him, her eyes gentling. “I know that every moment of our life together will be naught but joy.”
“I promise I shall do all I can to make it so.” Turning to face her so that they no longer walked side by side, Rupert took her hands in his, looking deeply into her eyes. “The moment that Isaw you walking into the church to meet me, it felt as if every wrong in the world had been righted.”
“I confess I was a little nervous in that moment.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Nervous?”
