“Yes,” Liberty said battling the blush at her father’s words. “He has seen me in my glasses and still wishes to have a future with me,” she added.
Her mother sighed. “Perhaps I was wrong there.”
“Did you just admit you were wrong?” her husband asked. His wife poked out her tongue in a very un-Duchess of Talbot way.
“I’m glad you are to marry that man, daughter,” her father then said. “I always believed he would be your husband one day. Your mother and I never knew what happened between you two or why,but I’m glad you resolved it.
Liberty sniffed back the tears, pressing her face into her handkerchief.
“He will do fine as a brother-in-law, and with him comes Florence and Barnaby, who I will enjoy having in the family very much,” Edward added.
The carriage stopped then, and they stepped down and Liberty felt her excitement climb. Toby would be here; she knew he would.
“I always like to see it looking like this,” her father said as they took in the village of Bidham alive with activity before them. Color was everywhere they looked. People too, and most appeared to be laughing, unlike yesterday. Finally, the people of Bidham could once again be happy.
Toby and his friends did this.
“Good day to you, Your Graces. My lady. My lord.”
“Mr. Bridget.” Liberty acknowledged the man who came toward them wearing a flowing cape, as he always did at the event.
“It is a fine day for the Bidham fair.”
“Indeed, it is,” her mother said.
“I’ve never seen that man smile,” her father said, before wandering off to inspect a table laden with food he could buy.
The sounds of laughter and music filled the air as they walked down the cobbled streets.
“Does it feel different to you here today, Liberty?”
She looked at her brother, but his eyes were on the village before them.
“Happiness,” she whispered. “I can feel that today, when recently I have not.”
“Exactly that.”
Liberty and Edward smiled and stopped to chat with people who wanted to talk. Those who she hadn’t conversed with in some time wanted to spend time doing so today.
“They are free,” Edward said.
“They are,” Liberty said, choking back more tears.
“If you will all come this way!”
Liberty found Mr. Bridget now standing on a small platform. It was he who spoke.
Edward and she made their way to him along with everyone else who was attending the fair. So far, she’d not seen Toby, but knew he would be here. He’d shot Lord Michael last night to rescue her. Then he’d held her close while she’d sobbed out her fears.
The love inside her for that man was fierce. Once, it had been a childish love, but no more. Now it consumed her, and Liberty knew, always would.
“Today we have many reasons to celebrate,” Mr. Bridget began. “For so long, a cloud hung over our village, but no more, and the men responsible for removing the threat to Bidham are here today. For the first time in many years, a Lord Corbyn will now open our fair once more!”
She saw him then. His long legs took him up the steps to stand beside Mr. Bridget.
Liberty’s heart did a double beat as she looked at the man she loved. Tall, his curls fluttering in the breeze as he held his hat in one hand. Dressed in a deep-green jacket, and green-and-ivory waistcoat, his long legs were in white breeches and his large feet in polished black hessians. Every inch a gentleman… her gentleman.
“Welcome, everyone,” he said with a smile. “Before I continue, I would like to apologize for the years I was not here to open your fair. That is about to change from this day onward. You will see me in the village of Bidham frequently, as my ward, Miss Florence, has a taste for gingerbread now, as my brother and I once did.”
