A Duke’s Charming Spy Bonus Scene

The ship came into port just after three in the afternoon.

Alice stood there, two children at her side and a babe in her arms. As they waited, she had made every effort to keep the three entertained.

And as they waited, Alice had been reminded that giving birth to three children in four years was quite a lot of work.

But she would not be on her own now. Not for a matter of months as James was back in England from his two-month trip to the West Indies.

She watched as he came off the ship, arms filled with luggage that he handed off to a dock worker the moment he saw her.

Immediately, James ran to Alice and the children, throwing his arms around her and the baby, Jeffery, before scooping Tilda and Julian up into an embrace.

"My dears! I missed you all more than you could ever know," he said.

"Not half so much as we have missed you," Alice said.

"Really?" he asked.

"Papa! I wuv you!" Julian said in his sweet little voice.

"Oh my! He is speaking in sentences now?" James asked, his face alight with wonder.

"Indeed. We practised that one, but he is doing so very well. You would be amazed! Now, come, we must head home. There is quite a feast awaiting you," Alice said.

They returned to the estate just outside of London, which James had recently acquired. It was a magnificent piece of property and his mother was able to remain on the first floor at all times so that she did not risk aggravating her old injury.

"Now, you must tell me all about the plantations. Is everything going well? Are the two working in tandem as we planned?" Alice asked.

"Oh, certainly, my dear. It is a wonder, truly. You can hardly fathom how well the men have got along," he said.

"I am glad to hear that," Alice replied.

"Yes. Since the two learned that they would be working together and that your farm and mine are to be selling tobacco as one, they have made drastic strides to collaborate rather than compete. They are striving to share their victories with one another and learn the other's strengths," he continued.

This had been the very thing that Alice and James had hoped for back when they made the decision to join the two businesses together and run them as one.

Although Alice preferred to remain in England with the children, she and James made equal decisions in terms of their business.

Theo had been happy to join the plantations together and ensure that they were able to produce even more of their product and keep up with the demand.

Eventually, he had decided that he would live in the West Indies on a consistent, full-time basis in order to establish the two plantations and seek out other lucrative opportunities. In the end, he had fallen in love with the place so much that he decided his move would not be temporary.

"Tilda, what have you done today?" James asked, scooping her up onto his lap at dinner that evening.

"First, Mummy got me dressed and then we went to see you by the water," she replied, her voice high and sweet. "Then Julian wanted to play in the water and Mummy was angry at him and told him to stop."

"That was very good of your Mummy to not let him in the water," James said.

"It was rather difficult to pull him back," Alice said, her frustration showing. She had been anxious that her son might try to jump into the deep.

"Perhaps, one day, you may all come with me to sea and we can explore the West Indies as a family," James suggested.

"Ha! Perhaps in twenty years or more," Alice laughed.

"Yes, perhaps in twenty years or more," James echoed, looking at his children.

Alice gazed at James and he looked back at her with the same warmth and intensity of affection that always passed between the two of them.

They trusted one another. A trust that would last far beyond the edges of time. A trust that had surpassed all manner of difficulty and pain.

But they had overcome it all and now, with their three little ones in tow, they would strive to accomplish more and more each day. They would build something that would last for Tilda, Julian, and Jeffrey.

They would ensure that their children were not only set for life, but that the children would understand the amount of work and effort that went into such things.

"Tilda, my dear, how have you helped your mother while I was away?" James asked.

"Helped Mummy? I helped her with Julian when he was sick. I sang to him so that Mummy could make sure that Jeffrey had enough food to eat," she said.

James grinned and Alice nodded in agreement.

"She did, indeed. Jeffrey was going through a growth spurt and had to nurse quite often just as Julian was running a small fever. Tilda was an excellent helper in the midst of those days," she said.

"I am glad to hear it. She shall be the one to take over our business someday. The boys will work for her. What do you think of that, Tilda?" James asked.

"I think Jeffrey won't be very good at working," she said, confusion on her face. "His head always bobbles when people try to hold him up."

With that, Alice and James shared a laugh. Indeed, Jeffrey was small, but they had great hopes for his future as they did with Julian and Tilda. And one day, when the three were all grown, the business really would be theirs to continue or improve upon.

"Are you quite tired, my dear?" Alice asked.

"I am," he sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"Then you must get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow," she reminded him.

"Indeed. A long day, but a good one," James said.

Alice put the children to bed while James retired to get his own sleep. When they woke the next morning, Alice was overjoyed, but in a rush.

"All right, I have instructed Maribel to get the children dressed and I have told her to bring them along with you to the church," Alice said.

"Has Jeffrey been fed?" he asked.

"He has. Enough to hold him over until you all arrive. Just, please, be sure to get to the church by eleven o'clock. That way I shall have time to feed him once more before the ceremony," she said.

"Of course, my dear," James replied.

With that, Alice departed, making her way to pick up Josephine where she was staying with the Dowager Duchess in the townhouse for the week leading up to the wedding.

"Oh! You look lovely! And your hair is absolutely stunning. You must be glad to have someone more skilled than I on hand," Alice laughed.

The Dowager Duchess nodded in stark agreement and Josephine giggled along.

"Well, you know that I care a great deal more about my hair than you do," Josephine replied.

"And I can see why. My lady, you have done a tremendous job," Alice said to her mother-in-law.

"It was easy enough. She has very smooth hair," the Dowager Duchess replied.

"The Earl of Cheswick is hardly going to manage to contain himself when he sees you," Alice remarked.

"You think?" Josephine asked.

"I believe we had this same conversation before my own wedding. But the difference is that I can see far better than you can into your future. I know that he loves you as my husband loves me and that assures me that your intended will never know what is coming," Alice said.

Josephine laughed again. "Whatever do you mean by that?"

"I mean that he has already believed himself to have seen the most beautiful woman in all the world. And yet, here you are, looking even more radiant than ever. He cannot be expecting you to look so stunning because he thinks that he has already seen you at your best," Alice explained.

"I should like to believe that, but I am hardly the most beautiful woman in the world," Josephine said.

"Oh, but you are. You are always beautiful, but today, you are the most beautiful woman in the world. Do not allow yourself to believe anything different," Alice said.

Before long, they made their way into the coach and headed straight for the church. It was a short trip, as it had been for Alice on the day of her wedding.

Seeing her sister marry the Earl of Cheswick was a dream come true.

He was a good man with a solid reputation, a loyalty to her own husband, and he loved Josephine with evidence and persistence. He had never once caused anyone to doubt his intentions.

For Alice, seeing the way that he treated Josephine was more than enough to soothe her soul when she had worried in past times. There had been days in which she wondered if Josephine would ever find a match due to their family's soiled name.

But society had come to forgive them the perceived slight. And although society was hardly a forgiving mistress, at least they would be able to leave behind the stink of their relation to Charles.

The last Alice had heard, he was still in prison. She hoped that he would remain there forever. At least she knew that her family was safe from him so long as he was locked away.

And in the victory with which they now lived, she was overcome by the delight of seeing her sister walk down the aisle to the Earl of Cheswick.

Josephine made her vows and the Earl did the same. They made a promise not so different from the one that she and James had made just five years before. And as they were announced to be husband and wife, Alice let out a breath of relief.

Josephine had now been handed over to a man who would take care of her always.

"What do you think?" James asked, after the ceremony and on the way to the reception.

"About what?" she asked.

"I was just wondering how many months it will be before they expect their first child," he teased.

"Ha! If my sister is anything like me, it will be a matter of weeks," Alice said.

She had found pregnancy to be unusually easy, despite initial struggles with nausea during each of the three. But now, just five months after the birth of Jeffrey, she hoped that they would have time to settle as a family before becoming pregnant again.

Josephine, on the other hand, she hoped would be expecting a child soon enough.

As her sister had been a wonderful aunt, Alice was convinced that she would be a perfect mother.

Alice and James sat next to one another at the reception, their children with them and their hearts full. They had escaped slander, theft, and even the possibility of murder.

But now, they had nothing but life. They were full of the joy that could come only from knowing that they had lived every moment to the best of their ability.

"My dear," Alice said, once they were home that evening and getting ready for bed.

"Yes, my love?" James replied.

"I should like to thank you once more for a day more than five years ago when you rescued my sister from being taken from me. Were it not for your heroics, I might have lost her," Alice said.

"You are the hero, my dear. Your strength was the only way that we could have saved her," he retorted.

"Regardless, I am confident that today would never have happened were it not for you. Thank you for your forgiveness of my lies. Thank you for caring about me. And thank you for being the greatest husband that I could ever have fathomed," she said.

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