She beamed at him. “I know it. I’ve always known it. You are truly one of a kind and I will cherish every moment we have together. With you by my side, I feel that I can do anything. You’ve opened my heart, Zachariah, when I thought it was closed forever.”
He stroked her hair. “You are a blessing to me, my love. And I will walk happily by your side for the rest of our lives. I love you, Melody.”
“And I you, my serpent.”
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his embrace. Their lips met then and they fell into a kiss that filled them both with warmth. As the rays of the emerging sun shone down on them, the two realized that they each had found in the other the one thing they’d always longed for: A true partner in life. And love.
Epilogue
Six Months Later…
Zachariah stepped outside the manor. Snow had fallen the previous night and the entire estate was covered in a blanket of beautiful white. Down below, he saw Caleb walking across the garden, a woman by his side.
He smiled to himself. Betsy Lovell had become a fixture at the estate, spending all the time she could with Caleb, just as Zachariah did with Melody. He knew that Caleb planned to make an offer just as soon as he could.
Zachariah could not wait. The only thing he looked forward to more than seeing Caleb make Betsy his wife, was his own wedding which would take place this upcoming weekend. Over the last few months, he and Melody had continued to discover more and more similarities. One of these was their mutual love of winter, and their secret dream of a winter wedding. It was another of Melody’s humble dreams Zachariah gladly made a reality.
“Zachariah?”
His mother’s voice came from the interior of the house and a moment later, she was beside him.
“Yes, Mother?”
“I have a letter here.” She raised it up for him to see, but not close enough to where he could have taken ahold of it. He frowned.
“What does it say?”
His mother unfolded the missive and glanced at it once more. “Evidently, Lady Adelaide has been married off.”
The sudden mention of the name he hadn’t heard in almost six months struck Zachariah and he stumbled back one step.
“Married? Is that so? Who, might I ask, would take her? Some viscount in France?”
True to his expectations, Zachariah’s mother made sure that all of London knew what Lady Adelaide had done. The wickedness of her actions ensured that there was no eligible lord in all of London, nay, in all of the realm, who’d take her. Or so Zachariah thought until now. The scandal tainted not only her but her entire family. He had not seen Lord Bellsover at parliament all summer. The latest on-dit was a story of the family having relocated to France.
“Apparently, some kind-hearted laird took pity on the girl and has just taken her for a wife. I hear he is rather elderly with a modest estate in the Scottish Highlands. A far cry from what she would be used to. Well. I would say, serves her right. However, I still think this outcome is too good for her.”
Zachariah smiled as he recalled the enthusiasm with which his. mother once pushed Lady Adelaide upon him. The burning desire she felt to make her the next Duchess of Sandorne.
It is funny how much can change in so brief a period of time.
“What is the smile for? Have I not the right to be angry? The young girl could’ve had you killed. Those dastardly men she tasked with kidnapping you—they could’ve killed you quite by accident out of sheer stupidity.” She shook her head. The two men were presently on board a ship toward Australia where they would spend the rest of their lives laboring away their guilt. “That Lady Adelaide. A disgrace. Melody would never do a thing like that. Much too sensible, she is.”
Zachariah had to work hard to suppress a chuckle. “No, Mother. You are right. Melody would never have me kidnapped. Nor would she have reason to, for I made an offer of marriage quite voluntarily.”
His mother grimaced. She did not care to be reminded of the past and her role in the events. Zachariah found it much easier to ignore all of it and move forward with their lives. The whole story had made his mother much easier to get along with, anyhow. A small blessing.
“Where is she anyhow, our girl?”
Zachariah pointed up ahead where a carriage was just coming down the drive. “I suspect that may well be her. She had business to attend to at the Gentle Rose.”
His mother sighed dramatically. “I really wish she would give up this desire to be a businesswoman. Especially when she is about to be a duchess. Who’s ever heard of a duchess owning an inn? And running it! Without her husband!”
She shook her head. While she liked Melody very much, Zachariah knew there were some things she could never understand. She simply was of another generation, one that knew and cared for only one way of life. The mere fact that she accepted Melody into their life was a victory for them.
“Mother, I promised her I would never interfere in her business. And I won’t. As long as she wishes to run the inn, I will support her. Of course, I hope she will reconsider and join me at the university as a tutor once it is open.”
“Heaven forewent! Not the university again. You will drive your mother into an early grave yet.”
He smiled at her. “I won’t think so. You are stronger than you think. Besides, I need you to keep the estate together while Melody and I honeymoon.”
This brightened her mood instantly. “Ah, yes. The honeymoon. Perhaps there will be a grandchild on the way when you return.” She winked and then placed an arm on his. “I must retire. I am awfully tired. However, I will see you at dinner?”
“Of course you will,” he said. She departed then and Zachariah made his way downstairs to greet his soon-to-be wife.
Melody stepped out of the carriage, a smile on her face. Her hair hung loosely down her shoulders and she wore a simple burgundy-colored gown; a gift from his mother. She smiled at him and he took ahold of her hands.
She fought the desire to kiss him at once, aware that despite the openness of their union, it would be frowned upon by the servants and she had no desire to make them feel uncomfortable.
It must be so strange for them to look at me, a commoner like them, about to become a duchess.
“You are glowing,” he remarked. She could not help it, she had to tell him the news at once. She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him toward the bench in front of the house.
“Come, sit with me. I have news to tell you. Delightful news.”
He frowned but did as she asked. “What is it?”
‘Obadiah Caney has been caught at last.” She grinned.
“Indeed? You are certain?”
“I am, I am. I received a letter from a fellow innkeeper of mine in Dover and he reports that Caney was captured the week before last by a constable from Dover, after he set fire to an establishment. A tavern. It seems I am not the only innkeeper he quarreled with. He is being held on charges of arson by the magistrate and will most certainly be sent away to gaol for the rest of his life.”
Zachariah sat silently for a moment as he could hardly believe that this, the last threat against their happiness, was finally removed.
“I do not know what to say. I am so relieved it is over at last. He is no longer a threat. Although it fills me with much sadness that a fellow tavern owner lost their business in order for us to finally be free.”
“Faith, Zachariah, I know. It is indeed terrible. Such hardship they will be facing at the hands of a madman.”
He thought for a moment and then turn to her. “Can you find out the name of the tavern owner? I wish to assist in rebuilding their business. If they have suffered at the hands of Caney as you have, as we all have, that is the least we can do.”
Melody’s eyes watered and she blinked. “Zachariah, you are a good man, indeed. I had hoped that we might be able to assist the poor man, for I know him and he is kind and good. But I did not dare ask.”
“Melody, my dearest, you must never hesitate to
ask me for assistance. Everything that is mine is yours. When I said that you were my equal, I meant it, as they were not just hollow words. We are partners in this life.”
She nodded. “Yes, I know. I know that they were not just hollow words. I am simply not used to it just yet.”
He wrapped an arm around her. “You will get used to it. And as of Saturday, it will all be official. You will be the Duchess of Sandorne and when we return from our honeymoon, you and I will start changing minds and hearts. The university will be a reality and women from all over the country will be able to study and learn, just as men can.”
“It will be wonderful, indeed. Do you really believe it can be achieved?”
He nodded. “Yes, together we can do it. And you are such a shining example of what a woman can achieve when she is determined and given even just the most basic of educations. It will be reality. I know it.”
She smiled. “I cannot wait.” Then she sighed. “But I will miss Betsy by my side these next few months.”
“I know you will, as I will miss Caleb. But I am so grateful to them for taking on this role.”
Caleb and Betsy had agreed to travel to India to serve as Zachariah’s proxies when it came to starting the business, once they got married. Caleb was more than capable of representing him and Betsy had a lot of practical knowledge which would serve them very well. In addition, it meant that Zachariah did not have to leave the side of his new bride.
“I will need to travel there eventually.”
She blinked, sadness on her fair face. “I know, and I will miss you. But we will manage.”
He did not say anything for a moment but then cleared his throat. “I thought perhaps when the time comes, you might like to come with me. Be by my side as Betsy will be with Caleb.”
Her eyes grew wide and a mixture of excitement and worry spread across her face. “I would love to. I never wish to be separated from you for too long. However, what of the Gentle Rose? It is one thing to leave Betsy in charge for a few weeks while we are on our honeymoon. But India? It would be months.”
He nodded, sadness filling his heart at the prospect of being away for so long. “I understand.”
She tilted her head to one side then. “Although… I have been pondering an idea.”
“Oh?”
“I have thought about making Betsy a part owner of the Inn. She has done so much to help me build it and run it.”
Zachariah beamed. “That is a wonderful idea. Caleb has already asked to rent a cottage at the edge of the property from me for when he and Betsy are married, so she could easily travel to the Gentle Rose. I had planned on giving him the cottage as a wedding gift—a surprise he does not know about yet. It would make it very easy for her to travel to the inn.”
Melody beamed at him. “I think our plan is coming together nicely. As long as Betsy agrees. But I am sure she will. She will protest that she cannot do it, but …”
“She will have Caleb to lend a helping hand if it is needed. And you have several young ladies in your employ who seem very capable.”
She nodded. “Kathy and Susan could run the inn if they were forced to. Yes.”
She reached for his hand and squeezed it. “I cannot wait for our life together to start. The university, the inn, and now India. All of it is waiting for us.”
He placed his hand on her check. “And we will conquer it all, together. No matter what anyone says, no matter the difficulty we will encounter, we will face it and master it. Together. I love you, Melody. You’ve given me more strength and determination to make my plans a reality, just by virtue of who you are. You are a shining example of what women can do if society would only let them. You are remarkable.”
“And you have only strengthened my own resolve. Your belief in me means the world to me. Your faith in us and what we can do in the world makes me believe as well. I love you, Zachariah. My serpent. My love.”
“And I love you, my beautiful innkeeper. I never want to be apart again.”
“Never, we are united. Forever.”
He kissed her lips then and as a gentle breeze picked up, snowflakes danced down upon them and they both looked up. Their faces were beaming at the beauty around them—and at their love.
The End?
Extended Epilogue
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Preview: Through the Eyes of a Blind Duchess
Prologue
June 4, 1814
As the flames licked at her heels, Aurelia had only one thought on her mind.
Not again...
Her chest heaved as she felt the heat creeping in closer and closer. It tickled her neck and the smoke was all that she could taste. Curling up against the pianoforte, she wondered how fast the fire was growing. Though she turned in circles praying for an escape, she couldn’t find one. There never seemed to be an escape; not after the first fire.
She sucked in a deep breath.
We don’t have long, she thought to herself, which meant they had to get out of there quickly before they were trapped. Surely there was a path to safety.
I have to do something!
It was up to her to save them. This was her childhood home, the world she had been raised in.
My family’s estate.
Blind or seeing, she could navigate the property easily.
But there were flames now and she didn’t know how to get anywhere without her sight.
“Aurelia?” Timmy squeaked as his hands clutched at her skirt.
Immediately she reached out for the child. For a moment, she feared she had lost him. Her hands covered his as she bent down to surround him with her arms. Never before had she felt so protective of another soul, for she would rather let the world crumble than let him be injured. She couldn’t let anything happen to him.
Except she felt paralyzed.
From her childhood, she recalled the layout of her home with the grand staircase. It can’t be far away. They were in the second-floor music room connected to the hall closest to the stairs. And there was a window. No, two windows in the music room. But where?
Spinning them around in a circle, Aurelia tried desperately to remember. Her skirts tugged on her shoes and nearly made her tumble over.
“I’m scared,” Timmy cried pitifully in her ears, just loud enough for her to hear over the raging fire.
Tears wet her cheeks only to grow warm. The crackling sound grew closer. She flinched. Sweat began to collect on her face, mixing with her tears as it stuck her hair to her forehead and cheeks.
She squeezed her eyes shut as she tightened her grip around the boy beside her. The last time she had been caught in a fire such as this, she had been the child who needed help. Now I have to help him. No matter how scared she was now, she could not just stand there.
I have to do something.
Aurelia swallowed her fear as she attempted to muster her courage. Her heartbeat thudded loudly against her ribs as she tried to think about how to get them out of the danger they were in.
After coming so far in the last couple of months, she couldn’t give up now.
“It’s all right, my darling. We’re going to be safe,” she managed to say at last. Though her tongue felt thick and heavy, she focused on drawing the words out one by one. If she didn’t show her fear, perhaps he wouldn’t feel so afraid. She swallowed hard. “We’ll find our way out of here.”
The boy was shaking now. “How?”
Her plan was still forming in her mind as she t
old him. “It’s a game, Timmy. Just another game. You’re going to be my eyes. You can do that, can’t you? You’ll keep us both away from the flames and get us to safety. I know we just left the pianoforte. There are two windows in the room. But where is the door, Timmy? The door?”
She kept her hands on his shoulders as she felt him raise one arm. Her hand slid down to follow the direction where he was pointing. “That way. But the chair…”
There was a chair set near the door. Aurelia licked her chapped lips. “It’s not in the way, is it?”
“It’s burning,” he squeaked.
“Then we’ll go around it,” she assured him. “We’ll both be brave, just like your father, won’t we? We want the Duke to be proud of us. We must be brave and go find him. He must be worried about us. It’s only a game, Timmy. You’ll lead us out of here, and then, then we shall be safe in his arms.”
Desperately Inn Love with the Duchess: A Historical Regency Romance Novel Page 27
