Arabella was shocked. “Why didn't you tell me about this? Why did you keep hiding secrets from me?”, Belle asked him while tears were streaming from her eyes.
“Because I was afraid. This was the reason I couldn’t claim you. This was the reason I couldn’t give you what you wanted. I hope you can forgive me. I hope we can start over.”
He wasn't waiting for another chance.
Watching Belle's face, Henry felt his heart sputter in his chest and feared it would come to a standstill if she did not answer soon. She was staring at him, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Her cheeks were burning with color, and the blue of her eyes was turning misty with tears.
"Lady Arabelle, I am dying here," he said.
Instead of answering, Belle simply dived forward to take him into her arms. Her warmth flooded him, the scent of her hair filled his nose, and it was impossible not to draw her close.
The most beautiful part was the single word she breathed into his ear.
"...Yes."
Three weeks later and Belle could breathe easy once more.
The agreement between the Hendersons and the Hunters had been ruled illegal, not that it mattered with the death of Laird Murdock Hunter. Killed in a battle of his own making.His nephew, Lachlan Hunter got imprisoned for abducting Arabella and Fransesca Henderson left the castle. No one ever heard about her. In the end, Alasdair Henderson had indeed passed on, in a quiet place, in his chamber, with his daughter and Elise right next to him. Laird Henderson was happy to reconnect with his old friend Laird Anderson, and to bestow his blessings upon Belle and Henry's union.
His funeral was grand. Lairds from all the Highlands came over to pay their respects to one of the most successful Lairds of the Highlands. Henry stood by Belle’s side comforting her and being proud of her progress. Arabella Henderson, used all the techniques and all the wisdom that she learned from Henry all these weeks. Arabella was finally a proper Lady. The Lairds bowed to her and paid their respects to her Ladyship.
After a few days, Arabella announced the marriage between her and Henry, in the balcony of the castle tower, with Henry by her side, holding her hand. The wedding shall take place when the mourning period will be over.
It was to his grave that Belle attended the morning of her wedding.
Standing in the family cemetery, in the eastern sector of the castle grounds, Belle thought it likely that she would appear like a ghost amidst the graves. Dressed in white, with peonies woven into her hair and white ribbons latticed over her arms, she would look like a specter to the unsuspecting passerby. Instead, she was simply a daughter wishing for her father to see her on her wedding day.
"Come, Belle..." The entreaty was her mother's. Belle glanced around to see the woman holding out a bouquet of peonies and lilies. "Come..."
Little else needed to be said between them.
Belle took her mother's arm, and they walked together across the grounds. They left through the main gates and followed the path to the west for a dozen steps. Beyond the trees was the church with its front pasture and its flowering beds. The pair continued to walk amidst the blooms, over the sacred threshold, and then down the aisle—to where Henry stood waiting patiently, with a look of pure joy upon his face. ”I love you”, he whispered as she saw her coming down the aisle. “I love you too, Sir Munro”, Arabella answered with a big smile on her face. Revenant Michael Jameson, gave the couple their vows and Arabella repeated every word that Henry was reading, while looking at each other, smiling, almost crying from happiness.
"Do you think we shall be good at this?" Belle asked as she danced with her new husband.
"Marriage?" Henry asked, raising his hand so that she could spin beneath his arm. Belle had vowed that she would not marry him before the physician pronounced his leg fully healed. She had wanted to dance with her husband at her wedding.
"No," Belle laughed. "At leading." She waved a hand to the people around them, all drinking and laughing. "They like us now because we are plying them with free food and wine. But do you think they will truly accept us? A herder's daughter and an aide as their laird and lady?"
Drawing her close and then swinging her back out, Henry was grinning when she took his other hand and made an arch for others to dance beneath.
"I think you underestimate the impression you made on your people by trying to save the life of a serving girl, Lady Arabelle." For a moment, his face paled, and he swallowed. "Much as that memory sends me into a fit of vapors, it roused the men and bought their loyalty. A lady that would die for a commoner is a lady they would trust to rule."
Smiling shyly, Belle rolled her eyes. It was part of her charm that she did not languish in her own triumph.
"And what of you?" she challenged. "You saved the life of their laird. He could have been killed in the work of a moment if you had not moved him. Not to mention you bringing the Anderson militia to our side."
"Toourside? Well, well, youareadopting this house as your own..."
Belle squealed with laughter as he spun her once more, danced a jig to the beat, and then pulled her close for the final beat in a dramatic kiss.
By the time the final drum peal ended, both of them were breathless.
"I think, my lady...it might be time for one final lesson."
Belle blinked in surprise, her eyes bright and curious. Her lips curled up into a laugh, and she simply smiled at him, entirely full of trust.
"Another lesson? Right now?"
