The Earl Steals a Heart

EPILOGUE

As he waitedfor Susan at the altar with Edward by his side, Neville wondered whether his bride had slept any more than he had the night before. He was so excited to be marrying the woman he loved and beginning their life together at Seabury Grange that he hadn’t slept a single wink.

The small but beautiful village church where they would exchange their vows — less than five miles away from Seabury Grange — was filled with their friends and family. Though both of Neville’s parents were some years in the grave, his younger brother (who was in his final year at Eton) was in attendance. They had no one else on his side of the family, save for some distant cousins whom they had neither seen nor heard from in years.

But Edward and his sisters and brother were there. The Calthorpes had taken Neville under their wing after his parents died, and he quite felt like they were as much his family as his little brother was.

Susan’s mother and sisters were there, too, of course, and Neville could not imagine a more perfect way to start their new life together than exchanging vows in front of these people that they both cared about so deeply.

When she appeared, clad in a gown the colour of bluebells — flowers which grew wild in the fields surrounding his estate — Neville’s heart skipped several beats and he struggled to breathe properly. Her dark hair and pale skin would forever take his breath away in their perfect contrast to one another, and he would have been happy to drown in the perfect blue of her eyes.

Susan smiled at him, and Neville realised that the only thing he wanted for the rest of his life was to make the woman he adored smile.

* *

Susan could hardly hearanything except the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears. She was so giddy, so full of joy, that the world almost did not feel real as she joined Neville at the front of the church, in front of the vicar. The whole world faded away, except for the words the vicar spoke, and the darling man who stood there, exchanging vows with her. His gold-flecked green eyes shone with happiness, and her heart swelled at the sight.

She loved Neville more than life itself, more than anything in the world. Her consciousness seemed to float on a cloud somewhere far above her as she and Neville spoke their vows and truly became husband and wife. She was so overwhelmed with joy and love that the ceremony passed in a hazy blur.

Susan did not feel truly in command of her senses again until well into the wedding breakfast, which was hosted at Seabury Grange. They ate and talked and laughed with the people they cared about for a long while, and even had the music of a small local orchestra so that they could dance with one another again. She adored nothing more than dancing with Neville.

As he twirled her around on the dance floor, Susan spied Eugenia and the Count D’Asti dancing, too. She grinned broadly and tilted her chin towards the couple, wordlessly telling Neville to look at them.

“They make a handsome couple, do they not?”

Neville chuckled and nodded.

“They do, and I must admit that I find Lord D’Asti a far more likeable man now than I did when I believed he was betrothed to you.”

Susan allowed herself a hearty, good-humoured laugh at that, and her eyes sparkled with mischief.

“So do I. I like him much better as my friend than I did when I thought I might have to marry him, when my heart belonged to you.”

Neville laughed, too, and stole a quick kiss.

“I think things worked out quite perfectly, don’t you?”

“Mm-hmm.” Susan murmured, letting her eyes flutter closed for a moment as she basked in the sunshine-like glow of being married to the man she loved, and knowing that she would get to spend the rest of their lives loving him. “I hope things work out just as well for Lord D’Asti and Eugenia. She likes him very much.”

“I wish them every bit as much happiness as I have found with you, my darling wife.” Neville sighed, utterly content and intending to spend every moment from then on letting Susan know just how much he adored her.

THE END