Page 98 of His Illegitimate Duchess
Colin felt like he had thereby finally managed to give Elizabeth something that she had truly wanted, whereas Elizabeth had long felt like she already had everything she could ever need.
And here they were, years later: together, happy, healthy, and striving to raise their children right and to teach them about the unmerited favour of God and about loving their fellow man, in addition to respecting and honouring their titles and heritage.
The Talbot children, two boys and a girl (Edward, Nathaniel, and Victoria), were growing up surrounded by relatives and friends.
Among those who often stayed with the family were the Corporal and his wife.
Amelia had published several acclaimed gothic novels throughout the years, but despite her great success, the couple preferred a modest life in Wexcombe with their five children.
“Harding, may I suggest increasing the number of hours you spend at the prizefighting ring, or another hobby to fill your time and utilise some of that energy?” Talbot had jokingly proposed when they had recently gone to Wexcombe to celebrate the birth of Amelia’s fifth child.
“You ought to take your own advice,” Lizzie, who accidentally overheard, had retorted, and that’s how Colin learned they would soon welcome a fourth little Talbot into their safe and loving home.
“Perhaps we both need to talk to Powell,” Harding said as he put his hand on Colin’s shoulder.
Miss Woodhouse ended up marrying Gideon Powell after all.
The extremely agitated man had boarded the ship she’d been on to berate her for running away, but instead kissed her in the heat of their argument.
As soon as they both realised neither of them ever wanted to have children, they never looked back.
“I’ve finally had a letter from Elinor this morning.
They’ve arrived, thank God, and they’re not alone.
It turns out that someone sent Gideon Powell a letter informing him of her plans and the fate she was escaping, together with a ticket securing passage on the very ship she was on,” Colin’s wife told him accusingly when he joined her for breakfast one morning, about two months after their last meeting with Miss Woodhouse and Lady Burnham.
“What a lucky coincidence,” Colin replied with a sly smile.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that. It’s not my fault that, in your excitement, you forgot that I had originally booked three cabins.
I felt Powell needed a gentle shove in the right direction, but I was uncertain of the outcome, so I didn’t want to worry you unnecessarily.
The worst that could have happened was that the ticket would go to waste.
And the best, well, that remains to be seen. Keep reading.”
“You certainly like shoving people to where you think they need to go,” she mumbled, already less angry and more excited for her friend.
When not in Scotland with Caroline (whose genuine joy over being perpetually pregnant would forever remain a source of confusion for Elinor), the Powells were busy travelling England and the world with Lady Burnham and Elinor’s younger siblings, and just enjoying their lives with their friends and their patchwork family.
They had never given Elinor’s gambling father a penny of Powell’s money.
According to the last information Talbot had, the man was in a debtor’s prison.
The one thing the framed coin in the library consistently reminded Elizabeth of every day was redemption and the human ability to transform the bad into the good through their actions and decisions.
Charlotte, for instance, had managed to rebuild her marriage to Ian, as well as her sisterly bond with Elizabeth.
It also made her think of her nephew Charles, who was inexplicably drawn to it every time he visited, which was often, since both of Elizabeth’s siblings were frequent guests in her home, together with their spouses and children.
Elizabeth fondly watched her and Isabella’s older children playing with one of Thunder’s offspring, and her heart clenched as she remembered him affectionately.
“Why the sad face, wife?” Colin asked.
She hadn’t even heard him come in.
“I’m thinking of Starlight’s father,” she said as she tilted her head towards the window.
“Ah, our good old Thunder,” her husband said and started rubbing her shoulders and back soothingly. “There wasn’t a hunting dog like him in all of England.”
Elizabeth leaned into his touch.
“I think this summer might be my favourite,” she said after a while.
“You say that every summer,” Colin responded with a raised eyebrow.
“And it’s true every time I say it,” Elizabeth replied.
Having done this countless times, Colin was extremely skilled in finding and providing relief for the sorest spots on her body. Lizzie hadn’t even been aware of how much she’d needed it.
“Thank you,” she said when he finished the massage. “You know how difficult it is to rest comfortably towards the end.”
“I still say we shouldn’t have invited all these people,” he said somewhat childishly.
“It’s just Charlotte and Isabella, and it’s not like I’m doing anything. I’m grateful for the company,” Elizabeth retorted.
“It’s Charlotte, and Sinclair, and William, and James, and it’s Isabella, and Frederick, and Josephine, and Aurelia, and John,” he listed with his eyebrows raised.
“Oh, that reminds me, you know what Nathaniel told me yesterday?” Elizabeth said as she turned her entire body towards him. “He said he cannot wait to marry Aurelia,” she whispered, although they were alone.
Her smile faltered when she saw her husband’s face.
“What is it?”
“Well,” Colin said as he ran a hand through his hair. “ Aurelia has been following Sinclair’s younger boy around since the day he got here, so I don’t think she’d be too keen on that marriage . Let’s hope our Nathaniel is not his father’s son.”
Elizabeth turned back to the window to look at her children again and observed, not for the first time, how intensely her oldest, Edward, was staring at the bench where Beth was sitting and reading.
“Let’s hope he is,” she replied with a smile.