Four Years Later

“I’ve been a nervous wreck for days,” Angela said as she sat fidgeting next to Lydia. “Can you believe it? To see my own brother?”

“It’s a big moment in his life; it’s natural to be excited for him,” Lydia said, smiling at her sister, all grown-up and mature. “He has finished school for good; he’s a man now.”

“Eighteen!” Angela squeaked. “Where did the time go?”

“I know,” Lydia said wistfully. “My little sister is married with children of her own, and my baby brother is an adult. It was always going to happen, of course, and yet it still comes as such a shock.”

Angela snorted. “I continue to consider all three of us children, you know? Even though we’re the mothers now. The children look at us as though we have all the knowledge and wisdom in the world, but in truth I feel as childlike as they.”

“I suppose William will be looking for a wife, now. Someone to give him his own children—an heir and a spare, as they say.”

“Oh, that reminds me!” Angela said. “I don’t think I have told you about Lady Isabella, have I?”

“Lord Hartwick’s daughter?” Lydia asked, turning a curious eye on her sister. “What about her?”

Angela leaned in conspiratorially. “Well, rumor has it that she was smitten with our young William during his last visit home. She’s been asking about his return increasingly in recent weeks, aware that his eighteenth birthday was near.”

Lydia let out a laugh. “Goodness, she is persistent, isn’t she? I wonder how William feels about her.”

“I don’t know,” Angela said, screwing her face up. “He’s probably not even noticed her. She’s a lovely young lady, but isn’t William still a little young for all that?”

Lydia looked pointedly at her sister. “We cannot keep him a babe forever. We were only just saying how he is an adult now.”

“I know,” Angela said with a little moan. “But he must weigh up all his options, not simply go for the first one who shows interest in him. He’s worth more than that.”

“You sound more and more like Mother every day.”

“That’s no bad thing,” Angela said, straightening her gloves, a little affronted. “She was a wonderful woman.”

“She was,” Lydia replied, putting a hand on Angela’s to still her. “As are you, my darling sister.”

In the four years since their wedding, Humphrey and Lydia had only grown closer, their bond stronger than ever. They did everything as a team—running the estate together, making decisions together, and raising their two boys together.

It was a peaceful life, one filled with love and laughter. But the biggest change for both of them was how confident they had each become. Lydia no longer distrusted men, nor particularly cared when people pointed out her scar, while Humphrey knew his worth, and would never let anyone tell him any differently.

“You’re going to have trouble with William, you know,” Angela said. “They’ll be falling over themselves to get to him. They are already!”

Lydia snorted at the image of a pile of fallen ladies at their doorstep. “I don’t doubt the next few years will be difficult,” she agreed. “Eligible young women with their battle-ready matrons will be knocking at the doors trying to be the lucky girl at William’s side.”

“And he’ll be off to university soon, too!” Angela suddenly looked panicked, her voice rising as the thoughts came to her. “Lydia, are we losing our little brother to the world? Please tell me we’re not.”

“Of course not,” Lydia said. “We’ll always be together, no matter what, remember?”

“Yes, but—”

“He will grow up, and he will do the things that grownups do, just as we have, but he will always be our brother, Angela. And as for the women flocking to us, well, they can stay away at least until we’ve had a little time to spend with him!”

Angela chuckled, relief swelling in her. “You’re right, of course.”

Angela had moved to her husband’s home as soon as she had married, and they had a daughter of their own, who was as close to her cousins as she would be to siblings.

Lydia and Humphrey shared their time between Dorset Manor and Somerset Hall, and they would continue to do so until William finished his studies. Then, they planned to move to Somerset Hall and settle with their two sons, three-year-old Joshua and one-year-old George, and perhaps any future children to come.

They’d heard nothing of James Lancaster, nor what came of him after his disinheritance, but they remained close with the Earl of Nordshire and his heir.

Every single day, Lydia was thankful for the prize she had ended up with—her perfect husband and her perfect sons. Even now, when she thought of that time, she was flooded with relief that Humphrey revealed himself before it was too late. Before she had fallen into a bad marriage with a horrible man.

They cherished each other, truly and warmly, and their love was stronger than Lydia ever imagined any love could be. When she was with Humphrey, everything was right, even in those moments when it felt like everything was wrong.

He was her rock, and she was his glue, and together, they had earned the love and respect of not only their families and their peers, but of their tenants and employees, too.

“What was that?” Angela asked, jittery as she jumped to her feet and ran to the window. She pulled back the fine muslin netting with a curled finger and peered out.

“Is it the coach? Have they arrived?” Lydia asked, also on her feet and also excitable.

“Yes! They’re here!”

Lydia and Angela both ran out of the house, trotting down the steps and stopping on the gravel driveway just as the coach swung around and came to a halt in front of them.

They could barely conceal their emotion, squealing with delight as the coachman slid from his seat and moved to open the door.

Humphrey stepped out first, grinning at his wife. He had gone to the coach station to pick William up, and though he had only been gone a matter of hours, Lydia still felt a shiver of pleasure at seeing him again.

“Are you ready for this?” he asked as he straightened up and moved out of the way to allow William to exit the coach. “I didn’t realize it was possible for a boy to grow up quite so fast!”

“Enough,” William said with a tease in his voice. “I was last here only a matter of months ago.”

Lydia gasped when he stepped onto the gravel. It may only have been a matter of months, but in that time, William had truly grown from a child to a man. His sideburns were thick and luscious, and he had even tried to grow a beard—though that remained patchy for now.

He was dressed as a gentleman and carried a cane, a cloak draped over his shoulders, and he stood with his back straight and tall, just as their father had. And from his eyes shone a pride and a confidence that Lydia knew signified his newfound role in life—that of a man off to university, rather than a pupil boarding at a school.

“Heavens, William! The end of term has done you the world of good,” Lydia cried, throwing her arms around her not-so-baby brother.

“You look just like Father,” Angela said, blinking away her surprise.

“Nonsense,” William replied. “I’m ten times more handsome than Father ever was.”

“And just as witty,” Lydia said dryly. “Come on, let’s go in. Mrs. Beaumont has laid out quite the spread to welcome you home.”

The four made their way into the house, talking happily of all that had happened since they last saw one another, and all they hoped for in the future.

“Your husband will not be joining us, Angela?” William asked, side-eyeing his sister.

“He’s away on business,” she replied. “But he’ll be back tomorrow. I know he’s looking forward to seeing you.”

“Good,” Humphrey said firmly. “William and I were just talking in the coach and we are simply dying for another games tournament with him!”

Angela’s laugh filled the hallway. “He will be equally as enthusiastic, mark my words. He said you’d want a rematch to prove your worth, but that you’d never be able to beat him, no matter how much you played.”

“Fighting talk,” William teased.

As William and Angela made their way into the parlor, Lydia stopped in the entrance hall, smiling as she watched them go. As their voices faded away, she looked up at the portrait of her parents, still in pride of place in the entrance hall.

She looked at it often, allowing the sadness to pinch at her. Even after all these years, she missed them terribly, but she hoped they were somewhere safe, somewhere happy in the afterlife. She hoped they looked down on them, knowing their eldest daughter got her happy ending eventually, despite her scarring.

“They’d be terribly proud of you, Lydia. Of all you’ve achieved for yourself and your family. Our family.”

Lydia looked over her shoulder at Humphrey and smiled as he approached her from behind. He put her arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, looking up at the painting with her.

“Do you really think so?” she asked.

“I know it,” he said. “With unwavering certainty.”

Lydia smiled again, and after a last glance at them, she twisted in Humphrey’s arms until she faced him, and she brought their lips together. Even now, after all this time, his touch sent tingles through her body.

“Are you—oh, for heaven’s sake!”

They pulled apart at the sound of William’s voice, laughing at having been caught in such an intimate moment. Lydia turned to her brother just in time to see him roll his eyes.

“Are you going to come and spend some time with your dear brother before he has to leave again, or would you rather stay there doing whatever disgusting things it is you do?”

Lydia laughed again as Humphrey’s arm slipped from her waist and he followed William into the parlor.

“We’re coming, William. We’re coming.”

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