Page 137 of An Inconvenient Vow

“You were about to tell me who your closest friend is, now you have decided you and your sister are too alike for comfort.”

Sabina made a noise of disagreement in her throat. “You are so provoking sometimes.”

“An arrogant toad?” he suggested, quirking a brow at her.

“My arrogant toad,” she corrected him.

“Tell me what I want to hear,” he ordered.

“It is you who are my greatest friend,” she admitted.

“That’s good,” he said gruffly.

“You are also my true love, Jeffree de Crecy,” she added quietly. “True to me as no one has ever been before in my life.”

Jeffree pulled her into his arms, tucking her head under his chin and holding her tightly. “You are mine as well and the best thing that ever happened to me, but… I am not good at showing it before others,” he finished uneasily.

Sabina wriggled out from his tight embrace and tipped her head to one side. “I think other people might be able to tell,” she admitted with a laugh in her voice. “You are not as subtle as you imagine. Even Osborn now seems resigned to my importance in your life.”

“Osborn?” he scoffed.

“He spared me a rare scolding today from Sir Charles,” she said and felt Jeffree tense. “For when he showed up here in a white-hot temper, Osborn gave my excuses and did not let him in.”

Jeffree grunted. “Maybe I will increase the knave’s wages after all.”

Suddenly Sabina remembered Lady Maud’s words. Jeffree has turned out so very reserved and Leland so very wild. “I do not know what is to become of Isemay and Leland,” she said, shaking her head. “They both seem determined to be the ruination of each other.” He made no comment, one hand catching braids and twirling them around his hand. “Leland has his memory back, but is pretending not to,” she admitted. “It is like some sort of game to them both.”

Jeffree grunted. “It is not our affair. Let them entrap one another if that is what they are determined to do.”

Sabina nodded slowly. “Jeffree,” she said quietly. His hand stilled and he met her gaze. “I want you to know that breaking my vow was the best thing that ever happened to me too. When I swore I would never be wed again, I little knew you were waiting for me. If I had I would have demanded a new gown and ran up the drive to Ganford Chase that day instead of dragging my feet.”

He smiled at that, and it quite transformed his face. Her heart squeezed in her chest. She had the strongest suspicion that she was the only person in the whole world who had seen such a smile from Jeffree de Crecy.

“You could not have run fast enough. At that point, I have been waiting for you for twenty-eight years,” he murmured. “I just did not know it then.”

Sabina slid her arms around his neck. “Sometimes your words are not so bad, Sir Jeffree. Mayhap you just need practice saying sweet things to me.”

“Let’s find out,” he suggested, and together they sank back into the bed.

Epilogue

Three months later

Sabina was nervous. The tailor from Greater Ganford had finally delivered her new finery. He and his two assistants had carried armfuls of gowns and cloaks up her stairs along with undergarments of the finest quality. She had given very little instruction as to their making up, merely sending an assortment of sumptuous brocades and satins from Jeffree’s own stores.

Isemay and her mother had added a list of things they thought essential for a grand lady. When Sabina had cast an eye over it, she had felt so daunted by the many things mentioned that she had quickly put it out of her mind, along with the number of Jeffree’s coins that had had to accompany the order.

The only thing Sabina had put her foot down about was refusing to order any formal headdresses. She was done with anything structured, however much her mother recommended a steeple henin and her sister argued for one with double horns which were said to be the latest fashion.

Sabina had known exactly what she wanted and she did not care if it was fashionable or not. She wanted a netted gold caul to wear over her thickly coiled braids, so they could still be plainly seen on either side of her head. Then she wanted a simple white linen veil to wear on the back of her head, to denote her married status. Nothing more, nothing less.

Then she had tried to put it all out of her head for the tailor had wanted a ridiculous amount of time to fulfill the order. So long had he required that Sabina had been forced to attend her second tournament at Beres Caple still wearing her former attire. How fervently then had she wished she had ordered new clothes as soon as she was married.

She had felt the insult to Jeffree’s reputation most keenly, though he assured her it did not signify what anyone else thought. She had ordered the gowns already and he was satisfied with that. Still, Sabina had felt conspicuous and ill at ease among all the fine company. She knew only too well that people were still whispering about them and must think him a miser or a cruel husband.

When it came to the crunch, Jeffree had not been able to go through with his revenge over Lord Kentigern at Beres Caple. Despite preparing Sabina for the eventuality, at the last minute he found he could not ignore his own wife sat in the crowd politely clapping. His revenge had fallen by the wayside and he had awarded Sabina the tribute.

She had taken the flowered circle without a murmur and balanced it as best she could atop her bulky headdress. It had not sat right, but she kept a hand up to hold it in place, feeling her face turn very red as everyone turned to look at her and clap. She had not even known if she was supposed to nod or bow. She had only attended two tournaments and she had been crowned at both of them! Which was truly an odd boast she could make, now she came to think of it.