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S erena lay on her bed in a puddle of misery. She heard the bedchamber door snip open. Expecting Valora, she said “Go away. I need time to wallow in my misery. My life is over.”

The bed dipped as someone sat down. “I certainly hope not. You can’t be the mother of my children if you’re dead.”

Julian. Slowly, in case he was a figment of her imagination, she rolled over to face him. The tears just fell. She couldn’t help them. “I’m so sorry. I’m such a horrible person. I’ll never know why you loved me.”

“Not loved. Love. I still love you, you silly goose.”

“Even when I invade your privacy and ruin your career?”

“Well, I must admit I was a tad angry and hurt about that, but when you love someone, you love everything about them. I fell in love with you because of your need to make the world a better place, and never let anything stop you from trying to achieve that—be it sometimes a tad too earnestly. Besides, I think, and hope, you’ve learned your lesson. No more reading my private correspondence.”

She rose on her knees and shuffled closer. “Oh, I have. I will never, ever, do that again. And I’ll always talk to you in the future before I get involved in any madcap schemes.”

Then her promise to Grenville flooded back, and the tears really came. Julian still wanted to marry her and she couldn’t. He’d forgiven her, and now she had to tell him about her arrangement with Lord Grenville. Between loud sobs Serena gulped, “I made a deal with Grenville. I can’t marry you.”

“Then it’s just as well I didn’t make a deal with Lord Grenville over who I will marry.”

She eyed him suspiciously. “You haven’t even asked what the deal was.”

“Your friends told me. And just as well, because I know exactly how to put Grenville in his place.”

“You do?” He nodded, and with overwhelming relief she threw her arms around his neck. “You are so clever.”

He hugged her tightly. “But no more secrets. If you’re to be my wife, there must be no more secrets between us.”

“I promise no more, oh—” She clapped a hand over her mouth. After a tense moment, Serena added confidently, “I do have a secret, but it involves others. I promised to never reveal this secret because of them.”

“What if I promise not to tell anyone else about this secret?” Julian replied sincerely.

“You promise not to tell?” She sat looking at him. “Then we could share this secret. I like that. All right. I’m investing in shares with Tiffany and the other ladies. We call ourselves the Sisterhood.”

“And the ladies consist of?” Julian asked in surprise.

With a flick of her wrist Serena casually answered, “Oh, my friends. The ladies that told you about Grenville. We are all investing. Tiffany has a stockjobber, and she is quite brilliant at business. So, I thought of helping with our finances too. I was thinking of setting up a paper, but I think I’ll leave that to Mr. Walter. However, I still want to do good deeds that will help the world. And money comes in handy for that.”

“You know that I’m quite wealthy in my own right. My uncle left me very well provided for, as he had no sons.”

“Really? I didn’t know that. I didn’t fall in love with you for your money.”

Julian ran a finger down her cheek. “Why did you fall in love with me?”

She pressed close and said with a wicked grin, “Because you’re so handsome.” And then she laughed. “I love you because you’re you. You’re everything I want in a husband—you’re kind, funny, intelligent, patient… But most of all, because you are my best friend. You are the person who has grown with me, and shared every step of my life. I can’t imagine dancing through the rest of my life without you by my side.”

Their eyes locked, shining brightly with the love that bound them together.

“I’d love to press you down on this mattress and show you how much I love you,” Julian groaned in a deep gravelly voice, “but Grenville awaits.” He stood and held out his hand to her. “Let’s tell the Prime Minister that we will be married as soon as possible.”

“He’s going to be furious, and you may then have to marry a scandalized woman if he reveals to the world that I’m V.” She glanced at him worriedly.

“He won’t.” At her skeptical look, he added, “Do you trust me?”

“Absolutely. Can you ever trust me again?”

“Absolutely. No secrets, remember?”

With her hand tightly locked in his, they made their way downstairs. The first stop was Vale’s office to discuss the marriage contract.

Vale and her mother were so happy, but Valora was the happiest. “Well done, sister. At least one of us should marry the man of our dreams.”

Serena looked at Valora. “You just have to pick the right man.”

Valora’s sad smile broke Serena’s heart. But Valora pressed a kiss to her cheek. “One day. I promise you. One day I’ll find my prince and when I do…”

“You’ll make him fall in love with you, I don’t doubt,” she stated quietly with a conspiratorial smile.

“Come, Serena,” Julian said. “Vale’s going to put a notice in the Times , so best we tell Lord Grenville and then my family.”

*

To say Grenville hadn’t expected to see Serena by Julian’s side was an understatement, but in all fairness to the Prime Minister, steam didn’t pour from his ears, so perhaps he wasn’t as angry as Julian expected.

“Miss Serena, I hadn’t expected to see you again so soon, or with Lord Julian, given our last conversation.”

“It is that exact that conversation I wish to discuss,” Julian said. “You should have involved me. You see, I intend to marry Miss Serena Fancot—soon. With or without your approval.”

Grenville eyed him for a moment. “You know I can ruin her and you. I know who this V. is.”

With a lift of his determined chin Julian replied, “You won’t reveal the truth because you need me in your cabinet. You have told me over and over you have plans for me. Plans that I can bring to fruition. But not with a scandal hanging over me or the party. Revealing Miss Serena’s mistake will make the party a laughingstock and there is an election to win.”

“Is that so?”

“It is, my lord. You don’t actually want me to leave parliament or the party. I can do wonders for England with your guidance, but only with Serena by my side. If you insist on me giving her up, I will resign.”

Lord Grenville picked up some correspondence and began reading it. Then he stopped. “Is that all?”

Julian stood, swiftly pulling Serena up with him. “It is.”

“You have my blessing to wed. I’ve saved you this time. Miss Serena had best not do anything so foolish again, because I won’t save your career a second time.”

“There will be no second time, I can assure you,” Serena wholeheartedly agreed.

“Good. Best of luck, my boy. I won’t be able to spare you for long if you want a honeymoon. Off you go. I have work to do,” he said, waving a dismissal as he sat down behind his massive desk.

As they took their leave, Julian whispered, “I don’t know how your negotiation went with Lord Grenville, but he likes you. He knows I’ve made a fine choice in loving you.”

And at their wedding two months later, Lord Grenville could be heard saying that he’d played a major part in their relationship. Grenville swore he always knew she would make the perfect wife for Lord Julian.

And she did.