‘That’s not all I’ve done. My new steward has arrived, along with your housekeeper, and the house is completely different. As for the estate, I’ve made lots of plans. The new cottages are finished and we’re building some more. We’re also planting different crops and expanding the herd.’
‘Oh.’ She closed her mouth, aware that she was still gaping.
‘I know that not everything will work. Some of my ideas will fail, but I can live with that.’ He moved closer, until they were standing only a foot apart. ‘What I can’t live with is failing you.’
‘Leo…’ She felt a lump swell in her throat.
‘I know I hurt you,’ he went on. ‘I was an arrogant, close-minded fool. I don’t expect you to forgive me for the way I acted, but if you come back I promise I’ll never make you feel bad about yourself ever again. I’ll be the man you deserve, if you’ll just give me one more chance…’ He crouched down on one knee.
‘Stop! Leo, you’ll get covered in dirt!’ She grabbed at his shoulders, trying to hoist him back up again.
‘I already am.’ He reached for her hands, folding his own around them. ‘Florence, I’ve never done anything like this before. I’ve never had any kind of emotional outburst. Honestly, I didn’t think I was capable of one, but I need to ask, will you marry me?’
‘Marry you?’ She shook her head in bewilderment, her heart pounding with a combination of nerves and excitement. ‘We’re already married.’
‘No, we’re not.’ He paused and made a face. ‘Well, all right, officially we are. But that was the old me. This is the new one. And if you say yes we’ll do it again, properly this time, so your family can be there too. I’ll put an announcement in the newspapers telling everyone I’m marrying the woman I love.’
She bit her lip, laughing and crying at the same time. ‘Just inviting my family will be enough.’
His face lit up. ‘Is that a yes?’
She nodded, a wide smile spreading over her face. ‘Yes. I’ve thought about what happened a lot over the past few weeks, and I can understand why you assumed I was the villain, but from now on I want to be the heroine of my story.’
‘You will be. I promise.’
‘Good. Because when I left Rainton, I didn’t know which would be stronger, anger or love, but as it turns out, love won.’
‘Florence…’ He stood up and took her in his arms. ‘I know we had a bad start, but I promise you, we’re going to have a wonderful future.’
She closed her eyes as their lips met and all her fears and worries fell away. Because now she knew who she was and where she wanted to be. She was the scandalous Marchioness of Rainton and in a few days, once she’d properly introduced her husband to her family, she would go home.
Epilogue
The first Saturday in August, eleven months later…
‘Anthony! Patrick!’ Cassie bellowed over the lawn, making her now three-year-old, Edgar, give a startled yelp and drop a piece of cheese pie onto the picnic blanket.
‘I’d leave them to it, if I were you.’ George chuckled, picking it up again.
‘But they’re running Florence’s poor brothers completely ragged!’
‘I think they’re enjoying themselves,’ Florence replied, turning towards her mother for confirmation. ‘Don’t you think, Mama?’
‘I know they are.’ Her mother rolled her eyes fondly. ‘They’ll still be playing football when it gets dark, if we let them. Besides, it’s not just them. There are some local children playing too.’
‘Well, if you’re certain…’ Cassie sounded appeased. ‘I don’t know how I ever came to have such energetic children.’
Florence smiled, angling her head towards Leo, sitting nestled beside her. ‘Wouldn’t you like to join in?’
‘No, I’m saving myself for the cricket match tomorrow.’ He grinned. ‘Anyway, I’m much too comfortable here.’
‘Me too.’ She leaned back into his arms, tipping her face up to the sky with a sigh of contentment. The lawn in front of the house was a sea of picnic blankets and people. Unlike last year, the weather for today’s summer fair was perfect. Everything wasperfect. The prize-giving, which had taken place in a tent beside the lake, was over, she and Leo had both made speeches, and now everyone was basking in the August sunshine. Everyone including her parents, the three brothers who were now playing football, Samuel, sitting on an adjacent blanket with Hannah, and their ten-month-old baby, Laura, and Thomas, who’d just gone for a stroll with his new bride, the former Miss Ogden. Now that she thought of it, a walk sounded like an exceptionally good idea. It would give her an opportunity to discuss a recent and somewhat important piece of news with her husband.
‘Come on.’ She pushed herself to her feet and reached for Leo’s hand. ‘Let’s go for a walk.’
‘Didn’t we just agree we were comfortable?’
‘Yes, but if I don’t move now, I’ll fall asleep.’
