Page 185 of Rogue of My Heart

The moment they’d walked outside and greeted their guests, they had been pulled in opposite directions. They still hadn’t managed to find a moment

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alone together, but as midnight drew near, she knew that he would find a way for them to be together, come what may.

Suddenly, she saw Chael, walking over to her with a comely brunette on his arm. An older gentleman walked on his other side. While he looked vaguely familiar, it was the young woman attached to her husband who drew her attention.

As the trio stopped before her, Albina looked at Michael curiously.

“My dear,” he bowed respectfully. “I’d like to introduce you to Miss Petranella Holmes and her father, Mr. Elliot Holmes.”

Albina frowned, the name sending another niggling wave of slight recognition to her brain. But it wasn’t the father that captured her focus so much as the name of his daughter. Petranella…

She focused on her husband. “Michael, what’s this all about?”

His warm brown eyes softened as he looked at her. “Trust me?”

Albina wanted to waver, to let the old doubts sink in, but instead, she gave a brief nod of her head. “Yes.”

He turned to the assembled crowd. Putting two fingers to his mouth, he released a loud whistle. “Might I have everyone’s attention?” he yelled, and the boisterous crowd quieted down to a dull murmur. “As you know, St. John’s Eve has always been a special day for me, for not only is it a time when I can show my appreciation for all the hard work you do for me and my estate, but it is also the evening before the happiest day of my life, the day I married my bride.”

A round of applause sounded throughout the assembled throng. “In just a few minutes, at the stroke of midnight, my wife and I will be celebrating twenty-five years of marriage. Since all that time has not always been easy, and because it is a rather important milestone in my life, I wanted to reaffirm my love for the former Miss Albina Waterton in a rather unconventional way.”

He waved his hand to indicate Mr. Holmes. “I have asked the vicar who prepared our original vows to be here tonight, accompanied by his daughter Miss Petranella Holmes, with all of you standing witness, so that I might ask my wife to marry me.”

At long last, he turned to Albina. “Again.”

He bent down on one knee in front of her. “Mrs. Albina Baine, Viscountess Beauley, heart of my heart and love of my life, I ask if you would, once again, render your wedding vows and marry me for a second time?”

There weren’t very many times in her life that Albina found herself at a loss for words, but with Chael kneeling before her, completely

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vulnerable and laying his heart and his pride bare for one and all to see, it shattered something inside of her.

She fell to her knees and threw her arms around his neck. Caught off balance, he fell backward with her on top of him, smothering him with kisses. “You silly, ridiculous man! I love you with every beat of my heart.

I will marry you a thousand times over if that is what it takes to convince you of it.” Tears coursed down her cheeks, but her smile blossomed as bright as the sun. “I’m sorry I ever doubted you. Forgive me.”

He wiped her tears away with the pads of his thumbs. “If you need forgiveness, then so do I. We’re human, so it’s only natural that we make mistakes. Without a doubt, I will make more. But you can rest assured in the knowledge that, no matter what, I will never leave you again.”

“I’m very happy to hear that, my lord. For I don’t intend to let you go.”

They kissed again, oblivious to the shouts and cheers going on around them, just as the clock struck twelve.

Epilogue

A lady must make her own rules.

Lady A’s Final Advice

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Beauley Hall

St. John’s Eve

One year later…