Loving a Lady Bonus Scene

One Year Later

"Can I borrow this?" Catherine asked Noelle, reaching past Noelle in the kitchen and grabbing a towel just in time to clean up her son's messy chin. Her son, Charles Alphonse Drake, was the heir to the Duke of Cumberland. The child already had the title of Marquess, and he couldn't even hold a fork on his own yet.

Rodrick smiled whenever he looked at him. He smiled whenever he looked at his own child as well. He and Noelle had a tiny baby daughter who was only a few months old. Not long after James and Rosalyn's ball one year ago, they'd found out that she was with child.

Normally, this many small children was considered a blessing, but Rodrick and Noelle had a small enough house for the dining room to get cramped when too many people decided to stop by.

Noelle couldn't remember whose idea it had been that they should host a 'baby ball' in order for the little cousins to meet. Rosalyn and James were expecting a baby as well, so they were present and everyone spoke of her belly as if it was their child. So far, this 'ball' was more like a brunch as the little ones were hungry and therefore cranky.

She carefully held a bottle to her daughter Eleanor's mouth.

"Drink up, Ellie," she said to the tiny pink girl, beaming proudly as she looked at her. She never thought that she would ever get tired of looking at her.

This little lady was going to live as a free lady, to live and choose to marry whomever she pleased, provided the gentleman asked for her hand. Noelle didn't think that they could change every last bit of the rules right away, so they'd start with that.

She remembered thinking, what felt like such a long time ago now, that if she ever had a daughter, she would want her to be free and unbound to anything like the ton. Catherine's son Little Lord Drake would not have that luck, but Noelle knew that he would get by just fine with his title and his castle. The boy is already quite spoiled, she thought, not really surprised in the least.

Their mother the duchess surprised them by actually coming to this little country party. It was towards the end of the Season, which meant that there were still plenty of balls for her to attend with Emily, but she chose to spend her day here with her two grandchildren. She doted on them already which made Noelle burst with emotion.

"Charles, no sweetie, that washes your face, it doesn't go in your mouth," Catherine said patiently to her son, gently tugging the cloth away from him. The little boy started to cry for about the third time so far.

It had only been about an hour and a half.

Ellie, conversely, never really made a sound. She was half asleep as she drank from her bottle of warm milk. Noelle knew that there would come a time when the little girl would be wailing, so for now she knew not to take this peace for granted.

"I hope that we shall do something like this again soon," Rosalyn said, gently petting the top of her large belly. The empire waist of her dress sat atop a belly that looked as though it might have a full pumpkin inside of it. "When our baby arrives."

She looked at James who was smiling shyly as he sat next to Rodrick. The Viscount of Kent – Stephen Andrews – was there as well and he was even quieter than James. Rodrick could fully see now how he got the reputation for being gregarious.

In this crowd, to be sure, I'm a complete chatterbox. He smiled at his friends and then he smiled at the ladies with their babies. He felt that he could see now why his father never built a bigger house for his little family – there was something so cosy and warm about this little cottage in the woods.

After the children had their bit of lunch, it was time for some music in the small ballroom. Catherine and Rodrick danced with Charles and Ellie while everyone else watched and clapped along, laughing occasionally at the confused expressions on the babies' faces.

"We should do something like this every year on their birthdays," Noelle said with a laugh. "I'm sure they will love this when they're older. We will make our own ton for them."

Rodrick liked the sound of that. The only people dictating the way that these children lived should be them, their family. Obviously, that didn't mean that they'd raise their children to be unscrupulous or rude, but the thought of them not having to concern themselves with titles and ranks made him smile.

Someday, they were going to have to tell little Ellie the story about her mummy and how she used to be a Lady. It was quite a romantic, fairy tale-like story, which Noelle loved. It even ended with living in a far-off cottage away from the evils that persecuted her.

They would have to wait until Ellie was old enough to understand it, but Noelle and Rodrick couldn't wait to tell her. It was an even better story because it was true. They hadn't married for money or titles or prestige – they'd married for love.

They hoped that their daughter would someday be able to find true love for herself, which was another reason that Noelle was relieved to be freed from the bonds of the ton.

When nighttime fully descended on the party, it was time for everyone else to go home. Catherine hugged Noelle for a long time while their mother held onto the fussy Charles. He was fussy now because it was bedtime.

There'd been no sign of Alphonse. Rodrick and Noelle had grown used to him not actually showing up when he'd said that he would. Other matters just always seemed more pressing...

"We'll be back soon," Catherine said to Noelle. "Don't forget about us. I shall endeavour to remind Alfie about the Westwood ball as soon as little baby Westwood decides to make his – or her – presence known."

Noelle laughed and nodded her head. "That would be wonderful. I know that Rosalyn would really appreciate it. It's been far too long since the last time you've been to their mansion."

Catherine gasped a little. "I know!" She carefully took Charles from their mother's arms. "Write to me!"

"I promise," Noelle said with a dimpled smile as she waved her sister and her little nephew goodbye. Then she hugged her mother and promised her the same.

When at last it was just the two of them – and Rodrick's mother, who was sleeping on the couch in the drawing room – Noelle gently brought Ellie back into her arms and lovingly gazed down at her.

"She may not have a city townhouse, but we can certainly bring the city townspeople that we like to her," Noelle said, softly petting their daughter's dark brown hair. She had no idea what Ellie was going to look like when she was older, but she hoped and prayed every night that she would have his unique shade of green eyes.

Right now, they were blue like her mother's, which Rodrick loved.

This was something that they just were never going to agree on and both of them were fine with that. They couldn't agree on everything.

"I think that we should put little Eleanor to bed," Noelle said to him, smiling as her gaze went from her daughter's perfect face to his. My two loves.

"Very well," Rodrick agreed with a grin. It amazed him how well Noelle handled new motherhood. She never even seemed tired... certainly not as tired as his mother.

"Afterwards, we should put big Eleanor to bed," he added with a chuckle. "Only you better not ever tell her that we refer to her as 'big Eleanor' now."

They laughed softly as they walked up the stairs and to the little room that had once been the guest room. Now that they had Ellie, the cottage really wasn't big enough for anyone to stay over in it, but fortunately Westwood was not very far away and still had all of that ample space in the upper level.

"James could have five guest rooms," Rodrick had pointed out. "And he could have five children still and be fine."

Noelle gently placed Ellie into her wooden rocking cradle. She didn't have to sing to the baby tonight; the excitement of the day had completely tuckered the little thing out. She leaned down and planted a soft kiss onto the infant's forehead.

Then Rodrick did the same.

"What if I wanted to have four more of these?" Noelle asked him jokingly.

At least he hoped that she had meant it jokingly.

"Then we would have to start renting out rooms from my cousin's mansion on a permanent basis," Rodrick replied.

They quietly went back down the stairs and he went over to his sleeping mother on the couch. He slowly moved her shoulder a little bit and before long Eleanor was sitting up from her lying position. She seemed confused about where she was at first but then it dawned on her.

Noelle watched as Rodrick calmly helped his mother stand up and then he walked with her, arm-in-arm, back up the stairs so that she could go to sleep in her actual bed. As they went, Noelle marvelled at how gentle and patient he was – had always been – not just with his mother but with every soul he ever met, seemingly.

That man is going to be a great father when Ellie is old enough to really depend on that, she thought. The baby was quite too small at the moment to really need much beyond meals and affection and comfort... But someday she was going to need a supportive, strong father like Noelle had.

Like she knew Rodrick was.

As soon as his mother was safely slumbering in her own bed, Rodrick came back down the staircase and sat on the couch with Noelle in the drawing room.

"I think that was a success, don't you?" Rodrick asked Noelle, grinning his charming grin at her. She reached over and gently stroked his cheek with the back of her hand.

"I do," she agreed. "I think everyone had a lot of fun... But I don't think that we should host something like this more than once a year."

He laughed, making sure to do so quietly so he did not wake up the two sleeping Eleanors. One was by far a lighter sleeper than the other.

"I love our family," he said, leaning the side of his head gently against hers.

She smiled and held his hand, loving the feeling of their two heads touching like that. In moments like this, Noelle felt completely connected to Rodrick, and he to her.

"I love our family, too," she replied.

It had taken some time for them to find a happy rhythm with the various members of their ever-expanding family, but it finally seemed that they were in a perfect place with all of them. They hoped that they would always be able to live near enough to each other and be involved in each other's lives, as much as was wanted. And they hoped that as time went on, their children might be able to experience the kind of equality that Rodrick, Catherine, and Rosalyn had been able to find for themselves.

Titles and ranks did not matter as long as one was a decent person. It did not take a title for a person to be worthy of love and respect. The duchess had come around to that, so hopefully maybe the rest of the ton would, too.