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“None whatsoever, unless there was internal damage of which I am unaware.”

Piece by painful piece, the weight that had hung over Jane’s heart for so many years began to fall away. Trembling, she pulled herself to her feet and turned to Alexander. He released her hand and wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close. And then, burying her face in his chest, she allowed the tears to come.

Vaguely, from far away, she heard her aunt invite Dr. Thorndike to go down to tea with her. A door opened and closed, and a little while later, she felt Asher’s arms around her leg.

“Miss Hadford is sad,” he said.

“Not sad, Asher,” Alexander said. “A little overwhelmed.”

“I don’t like ova-wemmed.”

“Not many of us do.” Keeping one arm firmly around Jane, he reached down and placed his hand comfortingly on Asher’s shoulder.

Jane pulled away slightly, and after wiping the tears off her cheeks and steadying herself, she bent down and picked up Asher. Asher wrapped his arms around her neck and placed a kiss on her cheek.

“Excuse me, young man,” Alexander said. “That’s my job.”

“Lord Bloxley wants to twy,” Asher said. He placed his small hands on either side of Jane’s damp face and turned it so she was facing Alexander. Tightening his hold around her waist, the earl dropped a soft kiss on the opposite cheek to the one Asher had used.

“Better?” he whispered.

Jane nodded and managed a watery smile. Asher wiggled out of her arms and crawled onto the bed to examine another bedpost.

Alexander immediately pulled Jane close again. “Dr. Thorndike has offered us a great deal of hope for the future,” he said. “But as much as I want everything good to come to you, Jane, if nothing were to change, we would still have each other and Asher. And that is more than enough for me.”

She leaned her cheek against his chest. “It is hard to imagine a more perfect family,” she said.

“Impossible, I would say.” He wiped the last of her tears away with his thumb. “I love you, my darling.”

“And I love you,” she said, raising her head to give him a genuine smile and being rewarded with one of his.

“Do you think I might try kissing you again? That last one did not seem quite right.”

Jane laughed softly. “Maybe some practice would help.”

“My thoughts precisely,” he said, and then he lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers.

Epilogue

Two Years Later

Jane stood on the terrace at Bloxley Hall, her heart warming at the sight of Alexander and Asher cutting across the garden from the pond in the far meadow. Even from this distance, she could see the young boy’s enthusiastic expression and hear her husband’s laughter at something he said.

Alexander was dressed in some of his older boots and breeches, and in his hands, he carried a large jar full of murky water. Asher was holding a fishing net over his shoulder, and the distinct water line on his stockings suggested that everything below his knees was soaking wet.

She smiled, knowing how much her son had been looking forward to today’s tadpole-collecting expedition. Asher had grown several inches over the last couple years, and although he remained shorter than most boys his age, he was no longer painfully thin, and he had all the energy he needed to move his legs twice as quickly as Alexander’s in order to keep up with the earl’s long stride.

They turned the corner around the privet hedge together and started down the gravel path that led to the terrace. Jane moved toward the stone stairs, and Alexander looked up and saw her there. With the smile he reserved just for her, he raised his hand in greeting. She returned the gesture, marveling that after having been married for almost two years, this handsome man still had the power to cause her heart rate to increase.

“Mother!” Asher cried when he spotted her. “Wait until you see how many tadpoles we caught.” He raced up the steps toward her. “We saw two newts and a kingfisher, and Father almost fell into the water.”

Alexander joined them on the terrace, his hazel eyes twinkling with mirth. “One of us had to sacrifice his dry stockings for the sake of catching a newt on a half-submerged rock.”

Jane raised her eyebrows. “Only one of you?”

“Oh, I didn’t get wet catching a newt,” Asher said. He looked down and wiggled his feet. Moisture oozed onto the stone beneath them. “I just stepped on a log, and it went into the water.”

Alexander chuckled. “And so did he.”