“Mother!” Paulette protested.
“Oh, I know that already, Mrs. Hamilton. That is why I married her.” Declan placed his arm around Paulette’s shoulder.
“That is a good thing. I am happy. Je suis heureuse. Quatre filles mariées, il ne m ’en reste plus qu’une. Four daughters married and only one left. Now we wait for that one, eh?” Genevieve motioned toward Yvette, who stood talking with Lord Jeffrey Eddington.
Watching her younger sister, Paulette laughed a little. “Knowing Yvette, she’ll be married before we know it, and in the most lavish wedding ever. That’s if she could ever make up her mind which of her many suitors to marry!”
Epilogue
As Declan held the baby in his arms, Paulette smiled at him. “Is he asleep?”
“I don’t think so . . .” he whispered with a shake of his head. “No, not quite yet. He just opened his eyes again and looked up at me. He has your blue eyes, you know?”
Their son had Declan’s facial features and was still too bald to determine his final hair color, but Declan kept insisting that the child had Paulette’s eyes. In either case, he was a darling baby and Paulette was ridiculously in love with him. He slept like an angel all night long and had such a calm temperament. In other words, he was a complete and utter joy. She loved motherhood even more than she could have imagined.
“Ah, there he goes now. At last. I think he’s finally asleep,” Declan said softly.
Paulette watched her husband place their sleeping baby in his cradle with great tenderness and for a moment she thought her heart might overflow with all the love she felt for them.
Declan returned to their bed and drew Paulette into his arms. “Oh, and he’s a fine Irish boy.”
“That’s because he has a fine Irish father,” she said.
She snuggled into him, not caring about the warmth of the June evening. The birth of their son, Thomas Hamilton Reeves, named after her father, a month ago had brought Declan much joy. Paulette already knew what a good father he was to Mara but she delighted in watching him handle an infant so gently. He wasn’t afraid or awkward holding a baby as some men were.
“And the most beautiful mother in all the world.” He placed a kiss on her lips.
“I’m just happy he’s healthy and sleeps when he’s supposed to.”
“Mara certainly loves him!” Declan said with a laugh.
And indeed, Mara had taken tremendous pride in her baby brother and had been a great help in caring for him. She would kneel at his cradle and sing little songs to him.
“Everything has turned out so well for us, Declan. What a year it’s been!”
“Certainly a lot of changes,” he remarked dryly.
“A year ago I didn’t even know you. Then there you were, with Mara. Your name has been cleared for good. And now we have Thomas. I couldn’t be happier.”
“And don’t forget the bookshops.”
The bookshop was doing well and Hamilton Sisters’ was doing even better. They had a full-time staff at both locations even though Paulette and Colette still oversaw the business and went to the shops almost daily. They were thrilled that the Hamilton bookshops had become the premier booksellers in the city.
Declan paused for a moment, his tone growing serious. “I am proud of you for all that you and your sisters have accomplished. But I do need to return to Cashelmore soon.”
Paulette tried to hide her reluctance at his words. Aware that this day would come eventually, she had bided her time as they spent the remainder of her pregnancy living in Declan’s townhouse in London so she could be near her family. The thought of making Cashelmore Manor their permanent home weighed heavy on her heart. The house was too big, too cold, and too filled with memories she did not wish to recall. But she and Declan were the Earl and Countess of Cashelmore and the grand estate would belong to their son one day. It was their duty to live there and care for it.
“Yes, I know,” she said.
“We’ve been so preoccupied with preparing for the baby, we haven’t really discussed our plans for a home. But I was thinking we could leave at the end of the summer, spend the fall in Ireland at Cashelmore Manor, and then come back to London again to be with everyone here at Christmas,” he suggested.
“That’s a wonderful plan. And that’s just when Lisette is due to have her baby! So I would love to be here for her.” Paulette smiled at her husband, although the thought of living away from her sisters was difficult to bear. In truth she would become accustomed to the distance between them, especially knowing they would all visit often. It was being away from the bookshops that hurt the most. She would miss the day-to-day running of the shop. However, she knew her duty as Declan’s wife and as the Countess of Cashelmore and all that entailed.
“We can make any changes we want to Cashelmore Manor,” Declan added thoughtfully. “It needs to be updated, which is something I never had any interest in before. You can make it however you like it, Paulette, so it feels more like a home and less like a museum.”
The house certainly needed to be updated. It was Declan’s ancestral house, and now her son’s. Paulette would do all that she could to make it a warm and inviting place. “I would love to make it our home.”
“We don’t have to live there all year. We can spend half the year here and half the year in Ireland.” Declan paused and cupped her chin, tilting her face up to look at him. “And I thought that might suit you more if you had a bookstore to take care of, so I purchased an empty shop for you in Dublin.”
Paulette sat up, her heart racing. “What?” she cried, then she lowered her voice, afraid of waking the baby. “What did you say?”
“I think it is high time the Hamilton sisters opened one of their bookshops in Dublin, don’t you?”
“Oh, Declan!”
“What? Do you not think it a good idea?”
She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly to her, this wonderful man who loved her enough to make her the happiest woman in the world. This man she loved with all heart. She loved his green eyes, his handsome face, every dark hair on his head, the lilt of his voice, the touch of his hand, the purity of his soul. She loved him more every single day.
“Thank you, Declan. Thank you so much. I would love to have a bookshop in Dublin. I’m sorry I didn’t think of it myself. But you did and I love you for it!” She kissed him.
He captured her face in his hands and stared in her eyes. “It’s the least I can do. You rescued me, Paulette, when I didn’t even know I needed saving. When I met you, looking so beautiful in the bookshop, I was buried in grief and an unwillingness to deal with the circumstances around me. Your spirit and absolute faith in my innocence saved me. I love you and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
Placing her hands over his, she gazed back in his eyes. “I love you, Declan Reeves, and I don’t think I can thank you enough.”
He grinned wolfishly at her, his eyes filling with desire. “Oh, I think you can.”
“I might just at that.” She giggled, and he kissed the laughter from her lips.
“You can spend your life trying,” he said low.
She kissed him back. “I promise I will.”
Dear Readers,
I hope you enjoyed reading To Tempt an Irish Rogue and loved Paulette and Declan’s story as much as I did!
Which leaves us with the youngest Hamilton sister’s story still untold. I must admit that I feel a little sad to be writing the last of the Hamilton series.
With her four older sisters married, what will happen to Yvette Hamilton? Will her romantic and dramatic personality bring her happiness? Oh and of course, what of the dashing Lord Jeffrey Eddington? Will these two end up together? You’ll have to read the book to find out, but here’s a little preview in the meantime. Enjoy!
Thanks for reading!
Kaitlin O’Riley
www.KaitlinORiley.com
Yvette Hamilton laughed seductively as she favored the handsome, hazel-eyed g
entleman before her with a smile. Her most charming smile. The smile that melted male hearts with ease and had more than one suitor declaring his undying love for her. She had perfected the maneuver over the years and had become quite skilled at using it. Well aware of its power, Yvette employed it sparingly and only when she wished to captivate a special someone.
Yvette was no longer wasting her time. She had a life-changing goal to meet before the end of the year. This was her third Season after all. She should be married by now or at the very least engaged to be married.
It wasn’t from a lack of offers. No. That was most definitely not the case. She had been the toast of her first Season and even her second. She had been swimming in proposals from fine young gentlemen from good families with excellent prospects, and even a few from those of questionable standing in society. She should have been satisfied with any of them.
But she was not.
No, Yvette aspired to something better.
Not content to settle for just any husband, she had her sights set on a far loftier goal. Determined to make the most brilliant match possible, only a duke would do for Yvette. And her goal was to be affianced to him by Christmas. That gave her only three more months.
She wasn’t bold enough to think she could snare a prince, even though two of Queen Victoria’s sons were still unmarried. But as luck would have it, earlier that summer she met Lord Shelley, the gentleman in front of her whom she now favored with her stunning smile. He had been traveling abroad for the past two years, and having just returned home, he was now in the market for a wife.
And Yvette would make the perfect wife for him.
One day he would inherit the title of Duke of Lands-down and Yvette intended to be his duchess. The competition for his attentions had been quite fierce all summer long, for a prize such as Lord Shelley was rare indeed, but as summer turned to fall, Yvette had emerged as his favorite.
“You are looking quite beautiful this evening, Miss Hamilton,” Lord Shelley said.
“So you’ve already told me.” She cast a flirtatious eye around the ballroom, as if she had tired of him, and fluttered her new lace fan. That had been her strategy with him from the start. Lord Shelley was a man used to having women fall at his feet. Yvette refused to be one of them.
He whispered to her, “That is because I can think of nothing else when I look at you.”
Yvette tallied his compliment to the growing list she kept in her head and felt a slight surge of victory. One by one, the other young ladies vying for his attentions all summer had fallen out of favor with him, leaving only Yvette and her greatest rival, Lady Louisa Fairmont, to battle it out. Yvette was positive that she would win him in the end.
She turned and stared into his knowing, hazel eyes. Fair-haired and charming, Lord Shelley was a good looking man. He had straight teeth and a well-proportioned nose. At thirty years old, he was of average height, but his title gave him the air of a much taller man.
“You are very kind, my lord.” She glanced away.
“May I get you some punch?” he asked.
“Oh, that would be lovely. Thank you.” Such a coup! He was fetching her some refreshment. He’d never offered to do that before. Inwardly she gloated a little.
“I shall return immediately.” Lord Shelley walked off toward the refreshment table.
As he left, her dearest friend, Lady Katherine Spencer, joined her. “So, how is your quest progressing?”
Yvette grinned, pleased with her evening’s endeavors. “I believe quite well, Kate, quite well.”
Her friend gave her a quizzical glance, her freckled face wrinkled with disgust. “I don’t understand why you wish to marry him so much. He’s a terrible bore. Let Lady Louisa have him.”
“He’s going to be a duke.” That settled the argument as far as Yvette was concerned.
Kate’s soft expression darkened a bit. “Still . . . he’s not romantic in the least. I don’t believe you’ll be happy with him.”
“I shall be quite happy being a duchess, I can assure you. It will make up for any supposed deficiencies in his character.” Yvette confirmed with a nod of her blond head. When she was a duchess her life would magically change for the better. She simply knew it.
“If I were you, I’d go after Lord Eddington,” Kate said in a voice full of longing. “He’s the most dashing gentleman I’ve ever met. You should try to marry him.”
Yvette laughed at the utter absurdity of such a prospect. “Lord Eddington? I could never marry him!”
“Why ever not? He’s devastatingly handsome, he’s rich, and he makes all the ladies swoon . . .”
“Putting aside the fact that he’s been like a brother to me, he’s . . . he’s . . .” Yvette struggled to find the proper words. Oh, Jeffrey Eddington was indeed all the things Kate had said. Yvette also knew him to be charming, funny, sweet, and unfailingly loyal. In fact he had grown quite dear to her. Even she had to admit that he had a special place in her heart. But as for marriage? It was completely out of the question.
“I know you used to be sweet on him, Yvette.”
Perhaps she had nursed a childish infatuation for Jeffrey years ago, but as a mature woman she had quite outgrown such silliness. “Well, I am not sweet on him any longer. Besides, he is not marriage material.”
“Because he’s a . . . a bastard?” Kate asked in a furtive whisper.
It was common knowledge that Lord Eddington was the illegitimate son of the Duke of Rathmore and a stage actress. Yvette wanted more for herself in life than that. “I can’t very well marry Lord Eddington if I wish to become a duchess, now can I?”
“Are you enjoying the ball, Yvette?”
At the sound of a very deep familiar voice, Yvette’s heart raced as she turned in his direction. There stood the subject of their gossip, Lord Jeffrey Eddington, and by the look on his face, he had heard everything she had just said.
ZEBRA BOOKS are published by
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Copyright © 2012 by Kathleen M. Milmore
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To Tempt an Irish Rogue Page 29
