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Turning to Victoria with eyes dancing with mirth she said, "I believe I speak for the whole of thetonwhen I say we are grateful to you for whatever miracle you gave performed on the brooding Duke of Devlin. But then I guess that is what good spouses do they being out the best in one another," she said, smiling up at her husband with so much love and passion, she felt like an intruder watching them.

Anthony must have had enough because he cleared his throat, rather loudly she might add. It had the desired effect of breaking the couples impassioned look.

"Right," Rose said with a short laugh, "it seems it's time for the next dance. It was great seeing you Anthony, Your Grace," she said with a slight bow tucking her arm in her husband's arm and using her hold on him to tow him to the dance floor. She was tempted to smile at the adorable picture they cut.

Rose barely came up to the man's shoulder but it was obvious that she had the man wrapped around her fingers and she was so charming it was difficult to be angry with her for what had happened all those years ago but she truly needed to hear the full story from her husband so she could form her opinion in the issue and she needed a private space for that conversation.

"Anthony," she called causing him to look down at her with an indulgent look in his eyes " What do you say we stroll down the gardens? I heard the flowers are in bloom and I fancy receiving some fresh air."

"That sounds like a good idea," he said, taking her arm and leading her out to the garden. Their feet sank in the soil and she became assaulted by the scent of so many exotic flowers. She felt a deep sense of peace settle over her.

When they had walked quite some distance away from the ball, she stopped at the middle of the garden. Sitting on the concrete seats placed in an alcove that was conveniently created by well-manicured high hedges.

She patted the space beside her, motioning for him to seat. A curious expression appeared on his face, but he reluctantly sat stretching out his arm along the back of the bench.

"It seems you have something to say to me. What is it?" he asked calmly

"About you and Lady Sunderland..." she began watching his expression carefully.

"Yes?" he asked quietly.

"I have heard rumors, but I wish to hear the full story from you the way it happened. I can no longer bear the weight of the unanswered questions that weigh on my mind. Please would you tell me?" she asked shooting him an imploring glance from beneath her lashes.

There was silence for such a long moment that Victoria doubted he would tell the story.

"I grew up always knowing I was betrothed to Rose," he began haltingly. "She was the young girl who lived in the closest estate and at first I found it particularly annoying when she followed me around wishing to play with me. Since she was also an only child like I was, she lacked playmates. Overtime she broke my defenses down and we became friends. We were little terrors then and everyone speculated about what we would be like when we married as adults. Everyone was looking forward to it actually.

"By the time we reached adulthood the feeling of friendship between us transformed to an affection of the romantic sort. I think I probably liked her because we seemed to think alike and she supported my most reckless ideas including when I decided that I wanted to join the army in fighting the war in order to return a battle hero, she supported me.

"Now that I think about it, we were just two naive young people on the cusp of adulthood that just thought that life was one huge game. I think this was because we had mostly led a sheltered life till then, that we had become blind to what true suffering looked like.

"I finally left for the army filled with hopes and the bravado of a young man especially after Rose had praised my military uniform and how it seemed custom made for me.

"I soon realized just few days into the war, that it was nothing at all like what I had expected. I remember retching my guts out when a shoulder laying ambush with me, lost a limb when a hurtling grenade hit him. I remembered watching the pile of bodies assembled after each battle. Some of them good friends of mine that I had conversed with some time earlier in the day. Sometimes I woke up every morning with fear in my chest wondering if I would return at the end of the day or join the heap of broken bodies that were assembled after each battle.

"In the middle day of all this chaos, Rose still sent letters that detailed the little events of her life and how proud she was of me. It was her words, so innocent of the violence that surrounded me, that kept me sane on those dark days.

"I wrote back to her, careful to gloss over the gory details. I told her of some of my closest comrades and the jokes they cracked but she never knew they some of them were no more by the time the letters reached her. We kept on exchanging letters and then I was injured by flying shrapnel from a grenade and I wavered between life and death for some weeks. I wrote her after I have recovered, but just like before, I did not tell her the full extent of the injury so when she saw me, when I returned with gory scars running down my face and one part of my body. She screamed," he closed his eyes as if remembering that painful period.

"I still remember her screams, she screamed until she fainted, when she finally woke up, she scrambled away from me running from my house like it was on fire. The next day I received her message that the marriage was cancelled. At that point I was numb to everything and did not really blame her. No one deserved to be sentenced to living the rest of their lives looking at my scarred face.

"This is why I would always bless the day I met you " he said taking Victoria's hands in hers. "You reminded me that my life had not come to and end simply because I was injured. I have been happier these past few months than the whole of my life combined. I believe I was never meant to marry Rose, we would have been miserable together. She did not love me and neither do I. We were just two young people who idolized each other and thought it was love. I realize that now. I am just happy that we found love. Me with you and her with Lord Sunderland " he said with a big smile

"I love you," Victoria whispered, when he wiped the trail of tears she didn't realize had fallen on her cheek.

"I love you too, my beautiful Amazon," he said gathering her in his arms and covering her lips with his. Victoria kissed him back hoping to communicate her love to him and possibly soothe past wounds. She was sad and angry about everything that hurt him but she also accepted that they all needed to happen for such a day like this to come.

She was grateful for this special gift and was resolved to protect it with all her might.

The End?