A Widow’s Fated Match with the Duke – Extended Epilogue

One Month Later …

It was such a perfect day that Rosaline struggled to contain her happiness. Her heart was so full she thought it might explode. Her cheeks hurt from how much she had been smiling. And while she had not started to cry yet, she wondered how much longer she would be able to hold off.

“I can’t believe how cute she is.” Sophia gushed over her niece, and unlike Rosaline, she was nowhere near as controlled with her tears. “Urgh! I don’t ever want to put her down.”

“You say that now,” Leonard said dryly. “But wait until it’s the middle of the night and she hasn’t stopped crying for two whole hours.”

“I wouldn’t care,” Sophia declared. She held their daughter, Mary, in her arms, rocking her back and forth, letting the tears stain her cheeks without concern for how it looked. “I would still think she is the cutest little thing in the whole world.”

“Agreed,” Amelia said from across the table. “I don’t think I will ever tire of looking at her.”

“You might have to soon …” Matthew sat beside his wife, and he rested a hand on her swollen belly. 

“True, true,” Amelia said. “I’m sorry, Leonard and Rosaline, but in a couple of months, little Mary will only be the second cutest baby in this family.”

“I will pretend I did not hear that.” Rosaline rolled her eyes at Amelia before she took her daughter out of Sophia’s arms. Sophia gasped and then pouted, very much wanting to keep holding Mary. 

“It’s the truth,” Matthew said as he took his wife’s hand and brought it to his lips. “Try not to hold it against us.”

“Stop it, both of you.” The dowager looked pointedly at her daughter and then her son. “Both my grandchildren will be equally as adorable. It is not a contest.”

“You have to say that,” Leonard said.

“Because it’s the truth,” the dowager said rightly. “And I said the same about you and Amelia …” She laughed. “Even if Amelia was far cuter than you ever were, Leonard.”

“Oh, that’s not such a surprise,” Amelia said.

“Rosaline?” Leonard looked at his wife. “Are you going to defend me?”

“No,” Rosaline said with a shrug before looking back to Mary. “I think we all know that Amelia was far cuter than you could ever hope to be.”

“Wow …” Leonard pretended to pout. “Stab me in the front next time so I can at least see it coming.”

Rosaline laughed at her husband before shuffling over a little so that he might take his daughter. He brightened immediately and gently peeled her from Rosaline’s arms. Once he had her, he started making baby noises, which had the whole table laughing further.

The only person who did not laugh was Rosaline. She smiled warmly at the sight, finally letting the tears squeeze from her eyes and drip down her cheeks. 

As said, it was a most perfect day. The last day of summer, in fact, and Amelia, Matthew, and Sophia had decided to come and pay their favorite married couple a visit. It was the first time since Mary was born that the entire family was together, and Rosaline wondered when the next time would be.

Or rather, if the next time we are, there will be one more little angel here to bless this family.

Her heart was full, as it had been now for a month. Never mind how perfect her relationship was with Leonard, as did not need to be said. But it was the addition of Mary that completed the picture in ways that Rosaline had always dreamed.

She had wanted a child of her own for as long as she could remember. Even when she was married to Maxwell, a man who she did not love, she had still wished for one like nothing else. In her mind, it had not mattered if she loved her husband, or if they were happy, because with a child to call her own, that would be all she’d ever need. 

Now, Rosaline knew how wrong she had been.

What good was a child if she didn’t have a husband to share the child with? What good was having a family if the family was not whole? Leonard brought her peace, Mary brought her completion, and together they gave her joy and happiness beyond her wildest dreams.

Better still, she had an entire family now to share it with.

Amelia and Matthew were doing well. Married now, they had returned from a late honeymoon just last week, and while Amelia had fallen pregnant before the honeymoon, it wasn’t until their return that they announced it.

Sophia was still single, but that would soon change. Next Season, Rosaline predicted that she would meet a man whom she might fall in love with, and then she would have a family of her own.

Even Lady Markham was doing better than she ever had. Yes, she was still sick, and yes, she still suffered from her episodes at times. But they were less frequent, and Rosaline truly believed that it had everything to do with her making peace with her sister.

Lady Helen was not here today, but she visited often and was just as much a part of this family now as anyone else. Life was perfect, and as Rosaline watched her husband cradle their baby daughter, she could not help but wonder what might come next.

Nothing could change and I would still be grateful. Freeze this moment right now, let us live in it, and I will die happy.

“Ah, Leonard …” Matthew sat up and indicated across the garden. “You’re needed.”

Rosaline looked across the garden where a valet was hurrying down the pathway. When he reached Leonard, he bent down and whispered in Leonard’s ear. Leonard frowned as he listened and then dismissed the valet.

“Is something wrong?” Rosaline asked.

“No …” He sighed and he handed her Mary. “I’ll be back in a moment.” He rose from the chair and walked toward the manor.

Rosaline watched him go, sensing that something was indeed wrong.

The next five minutes passed amicably. Mary was passed around the table, and pleasant conversation and laughter was had by all. Throughout, Rosaline kept an eye on the manor, watching for her husband, wondering what had taken his attention. 

Eventually, she got sick of waiting.

“Watch Mary for a moment,” she said as she stood.

“Is something wrong?” Sophia asked, cradling Mary again.

“No, just checking on Leonard.” She took a step away and then turned back and looked down at her sister. “And do not think you can run off with Mary once my back is turned.”

“Ah, dang. That’s exactly what I was going to do.”

Rosaline laughed as she hurried inside, expecting to find her husband nearby. He was nowhere to be found, however, and that was when she began to grow worried.

“Leonard?” she called out as she moved through the manor. “Leonard?”

She found him in his office. He sat at his desk, his head bent over the table, a look on his face that told her without having to ask that something was wrong. 

“Knock, knock,” she said as she gently stepped inside.

He started and looked up at her. “Oh … I did not hear you.”

“The way you were staring at the table, I suspect the walls could have come down and you would not have noticed me.” She moved toward him and saw that it was a letter that he was staring at. “Should I ask?” She walked behind him, wrapped her arms around her shoulders, and kissed him on the head.

“It’s nothing,” he sighed.

“Is that why you look so upset? Because of nothing?”

He exhaled. “It’s a letter from a friend of mine who lives in France, the southern region, a little town I doubt you’ve heard of.”

She scoffed. “Try me.”

He laughed but it was weak. “My friend … he claims that he saw Michael and Hyacinth last month.”

“What?” Rosaline stood up in surprise. “He did? Is he sure?”

“Quite sure …” He pushed the letter away. “According to him, they are living in squalor. Paupers, struggling to get by. Too proud to ask for help, they are little better than beggars.” He sighed. “Before you ask, he did offer them help, seeing as he knows me. But they turned him away, on pride, he claims it.”

She could hear the sadness in her husband’s voice. The pain and the hurt. “Leonard …”

“I never wanted this for him, Rosaline,” he said, his voice low. “Michael might have wronged me, but he is still my brother. Still my blood. And the thought that he is living like this …” He winced. “Was I wrong to cast him out? Forcing him to leave? Is this my fault?”

“Michael made his own bed, Leonard. You did not force anything.”

“Still …” He was staring at the letter, and she could feel him spiraling. “I should go to him. I should … I should offer him help.” He tore his eyes from the letter and looked up at Rosaline. The pain in his eyes was such that she felt it too, and all she wanted was to make him feel better. However that might be. 

“Maybe,” she agreed. “If you feel that you should, I won’t tell you what to do, nor will I encourage anything. Michael wronged you, that is true, but if you feel the need to help him …”

“I do. I want to help him.”

That right there was just one of the reasons that she loved that man. Even after everything that Michael did to him, all the pain and suffering that he brought, Leonard still felt it was his duty to save him. And she knew Leonard well enough to know that he would not rest until he did.

“Then help.” She reached down and took his hand. “But do it tomorrow.”

“But …”

“Your family is here,” she said as she gently pulled him to his feet. “Your daughter needs you. Spend time with them while you can and help your brother later. Tomorrow, we will sit down and work out what we can do.”

“We will?” he asked hopefully.

“Only if you want it.”

He smiled, his hand wrapped the small of her back, and he pulled her into his body. Then he planted a wet kiss on her lips. “I love you sometimes, you know.’

“Only sometimes?”

He laughed. “All the time.”

He kissed her again, and she kissed him back with just as much passion as he deserved. That being, all of it.

“Can I ask you something,” she began as they started from the office, holding hands. “Are you happy?”

“What?” he asked as if he did not understand the question. “Of course I am.”

“Not with me,” she assured him. “With your life … being a duke. I know you did not want it, but now that you are …” She shrugged. “Are you happy? Or would you rather it not have happened?”

He did not answer right away, and she could see him thinking.

In fact, it wasn’t until they reached the back door and were able to see their family sitting in the garden, laughing among themselves, that he finally answered. He pulled Rosaline back and turned her so that she was facing him. Hands on her hips, he looked down at her as he spoke.

“I don’t care about being a duke,” he began as he held her eyes. “I don’t care about titles or wealth or … or anything. If I had to give it up, I would. If I had to keep it, I would.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“My answer is that it’s because I was forced to be a duke that I married you. All of this, my life, my family … my daughter …” His eyes glistened wet with tears. “Everything I have in life now, started with that. Am I happy? Do I want this? Your damn right that I do.”

Rosaline’s smile was assured. She made sure that he saw it. She made sure that he saw how much it meant to her. It was, in her opinion, a perfect answer, and it mirrored exactly how she felt. 

Had things been any different, she and Leonard might never have ended up together. Yes, there was pain. Yes, there was sadness. And yes, there was confusion such that she nearly lost her mind on many occasions. But it was a journey that led to where they were now, and for that reason, she would not change a thing.

“Come.” She took his hand and pulled her after him. “Your daughter awaits.”

“My family awaits,” he corrected. 

Together, Rosaline and Leonard made their way back into the garden, there to spend time with their daughter, their family, and their friends. A moment in time that would be echoed across the rest of their lives, and a moment in time that Rosaline would not change for a thing.

THE END