“Uncle William…” She tried to get the words out, but it was as if her throat had closed up.
“He was always your enemy. He wanted you dead,” Sebastian said.
“He kidnapped all three of us!”
“I suppose he thought if he only took you someone might discover the truth.”
“He left my mother all alone. He must have hated her to do that. He almost killed her…twice. Once through grief, and once through poison.”
“Madame Aphrodite is a strong woman, my love. She has triumphed in the end. I don’t think William will be able to escape his fate this time. I might even be able to persuade Mrs. Slater to give evidence against him. She isn’t happy he didn’t marry her daughter as he promised, and instead took the oppo
rtunity to get rid of her.”
“Yes. He deserves to be punished. He almost destroyed so many lives.” Francesca leaned against him, soaking up his strength. “I thought you weren’t coming,” she whispered, burying her face in his shoulder. “I thought you’d abandoned me, and I would have to wear black, like my mother, and go wailing on the moors.”
“My love, I swear I will never leave you. You are all my happiness. Aphrodite was terrified that something would happen to you before she could confront your uncle. She said it had to be at the ball, before everyone. There had to be no way he could wriggle out of it, or allow someone else to take the blame.” He stroked her hair, then tilted her face up. “It is over. Mr. Thorne has completed his final case. I can set him aside with a clear conscience.”
She returned his kisses.
After a moment the portrait over the fireplace caught her eye. Two brothers, one smiling, the other cold-eyed. Thomas Tremaine, her father, gazed down on her, the man who loved adventure, who loved her. He had died in India with Sir Henry Greentree, his best friend, and Francesca had been brought up by his sister Amy. Was that a quirk of fate, or had William truly meant it to happen? Could she allow herself to believe there was some spark of goodness inside him?
“I am a Tremaine,” she said quietly. A tear ran down her cheek, and then another. “How strange. I was taken in by my own family, and I never knew it.”
“Here you are!”
The door had been thrown open, and there was Vivianna, with Marietta close behind her. They looked pale, shaken by the events that had taken place, but relieved to find Francesca safe and sound. Two pairs of eyes went immediately to Sebastian, who was still holding her in his arms.
Behind her sisters, Francesca could see Amy, and Aphrodite, and Helen and Toby. It seemed that everyone had come to find her. Her family. She heard Sebastian clear his throat.
“I have an announcement to make,” he said. “Francesca and I are to be married.”
And after all that had happened, or perhaps because of it, the cheers were deafening.
Epilogue
Francesca sighed and picked out a book that looked as if it might hold her interest. She tucked it safely under her arm and opened the door into the hall. Wolf was waiting for her, lying sprawled on the rug on the floor of Worthorne’s great hall. He lifted his head with a yawn, and she set the lamp down on a table and bent to scratch him behind the ears.
“We miss him, boy, don’t we?” she murmured. “The manor seems empty without him. When do you think he’ll be home, hmm? It’s already been four days.”
Wolf didn’t have an answer, and with another sigh Francesca straightened and…there was someone behind her.
Big, warm hands grasped her upper arms in a firm grip. For a moment she froze, enveloped in a familiar male scent, and then she pulled free and backed away. Her heart was thundering in her ears, but fear had already given way to excitement and anticipation.
“Who are you and what do you want?” she whispered dramatically.
“I am the ravisher of Worthorne Manor and I want you,” he declared.
There was a moment when neither of them spoke or moved, and then Francesca threw her book at his chest, crying, “Then you’ll have to catch me,” and took off across the hall to the side door.
Sebastian glanced at Wolf, winked, and ran after her. Wolf put his head back down on his paws and closed his eyes as if he’d seen it all before.
Sebastian knew where she was going. She always went there. It was her favorite adventure, and he had to admit it was one of his favorites, too. He’d been thinking about her all the way home from London, where business had taken him, and to find her in her nightgown, with the light of the lamp shining through the thin cloth and outlining her curves…
Sheer heaven.
Outside, the night was clear and warm. He could see her ahead of him, her pale nightgown fluttering in the dusk like moth wings. She tossed aside her shawl, as if it might slow her down, and then she lost her slippers. He cut through the orchard, ducking beneath boughs heavy with fruit, disturbing a family of owls.
She had almost reached the calm waters of the lake when he caught up with her. Hearing his steps and turning to see him almost upon her, she shrieked and tried to outpace him. He caught her, and after a brief struggle, they sank down onto the grass. She was breathing hard, but laughing, too.