“I can hear you thinking it.”
She kissed him quickly, because she could, and because the expression on his face made her love him so acutely, she could not help it. He exhaled, collected himself, pressed a kiss to her forehead and then – after a moment's consideration – one to the top of her head as well.
“I'll go and arrange breakfast,” he said. “The sunroom. Join us when you're ready.”
He opened the door, pleased to find Reuben waiting patiently like an angel just outside, and he perked up when Thomas lowered himself down on one knee to press a kiss to the crown of the child's head.
“I am off to make breakfast arrangements for us, and you are welcome to join us. Would you like to come along?”
Reuben nodded, taking his father’s offered hand and Jane watched them go, her chest so full it ached.
She made her way back to her room, pleased to see that she had left behind some things that could serve her well in her current predicament. She got dressed in a simple dress and hurriedly brushed her hair, tying it back with a silk ribbon before she left her room.
She found Reuben again in the corridor outside her door – he had apparently circled back from the stairs rather than go all the way to the sunroom without her, and was waiting with his hands clasped behind his back. Utterly charmed, she leaned down to adjust his hair to look less messy and kissed his forehead once she was done, before standing straight.
“You did not have to wait,” she smiled down at him.
“I wanted to,” he replied simply. “I did not want to be away from you for too long, mama.”
It was startling, the way he had just addressed her and the surprise burned pleasantly within her, causing tears to fill her eyes.
“Thank you, darling. You are quite the sweetheart, are you not?”
He nodded proudly and she giggled, taking his hand as they walked, and halfway down the stairs, he stopped, which made her stop too.
“I'm sorry I left the house,” he mumbled, looking down at their joined hands rather than at her. “I know I wasn't supposed to. But I looked everywhere and I couldn't find you. And Papa was sad again, like before.”
It seemed as though he had abruptly stopped himself from saying more and Jane lowered herself to his level, intending to coax him gently into admitting whatever haunted him. “What is it sweetheart?”
He looked up, and s could not help but notice the haunting fear in his eyes, her chest ached for him instinctively.
“I thought you had gone like Mama,” he admitted quietly. “And that you weren't coming back.”
She dropped to her knees immediately and gathered him in carefully into her arms, pressing kisses to his cheeks.
“I am here,” she said. “And I am staying. This is my home now. You and your father – you are my home.”
He was quiet against her shoulder. Then, soft and small, the single word sounding so uncertain as he uttered it,
“Forever?”
She drew back to look at him, and held out her smallest finger.
He stared at it for a moment. Then relief, pure and wholesome broke across his expression and he curled his little finger around hers.
“Forever,” Jane echoed with a sweet smile.
He nodded seriously and he took her hand properly in his, and they went down the rest of the stairs together. When they arrived at the sunroom, Thomas was standing aside as two maids set the table. He turned as they walked in, his expression openly portraying unbridled happiness in a way that filled Jane with happiness.
Reuben approached his father, telling him something about a fight he had witnessed on his adventure between a sparrow and a pigeon, the child still holding his mother’s hand. Thomas focused his attention on Reuben, even as he reached for Jane and wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her close.
There, in the golden light of the sun room, the word forever rang softly somewhere inside her, steady and sure, promising a future surrounded by love and warmth.
She had said it and she would stick to it, for the rest of her days.
EPILOGUE
“My congratulations, duchess. I have attended rather a lot of balls in my time, and this is an uncommonly good one.”
