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“You are not your father, Theodore,” Agnes said.

“I know the man I married. And he is not a monster,” she added.

“But he allowed himself to be a coward,” he took her hands in his. “I let my past overcome my present. And most importantly, our happiness,” he squeezed her hands apologetically.

“It is not cowardice,” Agnes now understood. All the pieces were falling into place.

“You merely took the only option you saw,” she added.

It may have caused them both a great deal of pain, but in the end, he’d only been trying to protect her. Because he loved her.

A tear rolled down her cheek at this thought. And she felt his fingers gently wipe it away.

“I am sorry, Agnes,” he said. “I didn’t want my past repeating itself.”

“We are not our circumstances, Theodore,” she reassured. “For the longest time, I blamed myself for my birth and for being ridiculed by society as a result. I felt like the shame of my family, but with time I grew to realize that the past does not define who I am. It never has, and it never will. And everything happened through no fault of mine. I want you to understand the same too, Theodore.”

For the first time, his expression was completely readable. His eyes were full of love she’d only dared to dream of before. And this love was all hers. Agnes’s heart was a flower blooming in that moment.

“Neither do I care about your past, Theodore,” she said. “You are not your father. And you never will be,” she added once again.

“I love you, Agnes,” he said.

“I love you too, Theodore,” she finally confessed.

“Do me the honor of having me back in your life,” he implored.

And in response, she took the lily he’d set aside and said,

“This is mine.”

“And so much more,” he made to pull her into his arms. Her knee came in contact with something and it clattered to the ground. And that was when she remembered Philip’s sugarplum plate which he’d left on the bench. It was between them. And Theodore was only just noticing its presence.

“Sugarplums?” He quirked an amused and curious brow.

“A souvenir from Philip,” she chuckled.

Her husband laughed with her as his arms circled around her at last, completing her.

EPILOGUE

“Where are you taking me, Theodore?” Agnes felt blindly about with her free hand. She had the other wound around her husband’s neck as he carried her, blindfolded, in his arms.

They’d ridden out on the same mount. And he’d had her blindfolded throughout.

Now he wouldn’t let her walk to this mysterious destination of theirs.

“If I tell you, it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore,” he replied. And his excitement matched the anticipation she felt.

“We’re here,” she finally felt him stop.

And when he took off her blindfold at last, Agnes heard a gasp escape her. She stared in awe at her new but familiar surroundings.

They were at the ruins of Gillingham castle.

And the great hall was awash with flowers of all kinds and colors.

“I am restoring the castle for you, Agnes,” he declared before reciting a rather impressive poem.