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Four Years Later
As they had come to do every Sunday, Edward met Arabella and Charles in the foyer for their weekly picnic. And as they made their way from the house to their favorite spot beside the duck pond, Edward realized, not for the first time, how content he had been in the years since they had finally come to terms with their marriage.
Walking arm in arm with his wife, seeing the joyous smile on his son’s face as he ran on ahead, Edward couldn’t have been happier.
No sooner had they arrived at the pond than Charles hurried down to the water’s edge to take off his boots, no longer concerned with asking permission as he had been when younger. The carefree nature of his son was the final balm to soothe what remained of Edward’s reservations. No longer was he fearful that he had failed as a father.
He could no longer possibly do so with Arabella at his side, having grown in strength and resilience in reminding him and scolding him whenever he had made a mistake.
And in this, he found he loved her all the more.
Setting out the blanket, Edward helped Arabella to sit before placing himself close beside her and taking her into the crook of his arm.
Silently, they watched Charles playing in the water, splashing about and dashing stones at the surface in the hopes they would skim.
It was Arabella who finally broke the silence as she whispered, her head against his chest, “I had a letter from Olivia this morning.”
“Is she well?” Edward asked, reaching up to stroke Arabella’s hair.
“Very well,” Arabella responded. “She and Theo are most happy, it seems.”
Edward chuckled to himself, still quite astonished at how things had turned out. It seemed that after Olivia’s rescue from Sinclair, she and Theo had grown rather close. It had taken them less than a year to marry.
And Edward and Arabella couldn’t have been happier for them.
“Do they show any sign of returning from France?” Edward asked.
Arabella nodded. “Olivia says they have seen a great deal of Lady Ellesham of late in Paris. She does not appear to be faring over-well. It seems even the French nobles have cottoned onto her nature.”
Edward scoffed again at that. “At least we shall not run the risk of bumping into her anytime soon.”
Nor Sinclair, he thought silently, relieved that his and Theo’s threats had been taken seriously.
He had heard little in the way of rumor about the man, and hoped that he would never show his face in polite society again.
“Olivia says they are set to return to London next week, so by now, I am certain they must be halfway across the channel,” Arabella said, lifting her head from his chest so that she could look at him.
“I thought they intended to stay in France longer?” Edward said, raising a brow. “Has something happened?”
Arabella’s face broadened into a smile, her lips pursing as if to contain it as she said, “They wish for their child to be born on English soil.”
“Child?” Edward exclaimed. “Olivia is with child?”
Arabella nodded. “I am to be an aunt!”
“Hallelujah!” Edward cried. “It is about time.”
Arabella laughed at his exclamation, and he laughed also. But then, he watched the joy as it began to leech from her face, and he couldn’t help but ask, “What is the matter?”
Over the last few years, they had grown so close that he felt there was nothing left unsaid between them. Yet, her expression in that moment left him uneasy.
“Edward, there is something I must tell you,” she said, looking at her hand where she had placed it in his upon his lap. “I know that in the early days we both suggested that children were not in the cards for us, that we had no need of them because of Charles.” She glanced at the pond as if to be sure their son wasn’t listening. “But, Edward, I am afraid I am with child.”
Dumbfounded, Edward’s mouth dropped open, and he blinked in surprise.
When he said nothing, Arabella looked at him, her face a mask of nerves.
“Please, say something,” she whispered, and Edward cursed himself for his speechlessness. “Are you furious?”
“Furious?” Edward gasped, taking her into his arms. “How could I ever be furious when I am speechless with joy?”
He felt Arabella relax against him. “Truly?”
“Truly,” Edward assured her, cradling her close to him once again.
He was shocked, not by her news, but by how elated he was. After having spent so long denying the idea of children, denying that he could ever be a worthy father, he came to the realization of how much he had changed, how much he had grown since Arabella had come into his life.
“Look,” Arabella whispered, and Edward followed her pointed finger to the pond, where two swans had just alighted upon the water.
Edward watched as the two birds circled each other, their necks rubbing in an affectionate manner.
“Did you know that—” Arabella began at almost the same moment as Edward started to speak.
“Did you know that—”
Together, they finished, “Swans mate for life?”
Arabella moved to look at him and he at her, their stunned expressions turning to ones of humor.
“You know…” Arabella said when their laughter started to fade. “The night we met at Vauxhall, I looked upon a mating pair of swans and wished for something.”
“What did you wish for?” Edward asked before quickly shaking his head. “Do not tell me, or it shall not come true.”
They were disturbed by Charles’ calling, “Mother! Come and join me!”
Arabella moved as if to do so, but before she rose to her feet, she looked back at him. “I may tell you, for it has already come true. I wished for a marriage filled with love.”
With that, she leaned in and placed a peck upon his cheek before she hurried to her feet to join their son.
Brought out of his surprise by concern for her well-being, Edward called after her, “Slow down, my love.”
But as he watched her kick off her shoes and join Charles in the shallows of the water, Edward allowed all concern to leave him.
Kicking off his own shoes and removing his socks, he rushed to join them, enjoying the breeze that ruffled his hair as he went, comfortable in the knowledge that, like the swans on the water before them, he and Arabella were forever entwined by the love they shared and the child she now carried.
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Hello my dear readers, I hope you enjoyed the book and the Extended Epilogue. I am eagerly expecting your comments here. Thank you so much!
I enjoyed the epilogue but I wish you had added what their child was as well as what Olivia and Theo’s child was. But was happy for Charles th begin to call Arabelle, mother!
I’m glad you enjoyed the epilogue! Thank you for the feedback.