Edith Layton - How to Seduce a Bride

“What happened,” Geoff said, “was that I realized I never wanted to let her go out of my life. May I present my new countess, Lady Egremont? We were married over the border at Gretna, and then returned to stay on awhile at her mother’s house, getting everyone ready for the remove to London and then Egremont. Now I’ve a wife, a mother-in-law, and two more delightful children. You see, on our way up north, we talked, we reminisced; we found so much in common. I couldn’t let her go. And luckily, she consented to stay with me. I’m very happy.”

“As am I,” Helena said softly. “I never dared hope…”

“She never dared anything,” the earl said fondly. “Always trying to keep her ‘place,’ when her only true place is by my side. I was the one who had to make the push to get to know her. I’m very glad you two married or else I’d never have had the chance to be alone with Helena.”

Helena smiled. “I never thought to be so happy again. We both loved and lost and yet found that we could love again.”

The earl looked at her lovingly. “I couldn’t find a soul mate in Botany Bay or in London. But sometimes life gives us a second chance, and when I saw I’d found one, I acted before Fate could intervene. Now, little as I enjoy the ton, I want the world to know! We’ll have a more formal wedding here and then another reception at Egremont soon after. They will be the sort of gala affairs I always avoided in the past. Just exactly what I want now to show the world my great good luck. You must attend,” he told Daisy and Leland. “For now, you may congratulate me.”

“Oh Geoff,” Daisy said, as she embraced a tearful Helena. “I’ll do more than that. I applaud you!”

“Well done,” Leland said, shaking the earl’s hand. “We are both pleased.” He exchanged a sparkling look with Daisy. “And vastly relieved. Now, shall we celebrate?”

“Gladly,” the earl said. “And by the way, you two look happier than I’ve ever seen either of you before. I congratulate you, too, and hope you don’t mind that the gossip about me may overshadow whatever anyone says about your marriage.”

“We are stunned and overset to think that we have been so thoroughly, deliciously upstaged,” Leland said. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you,” the earl said.

“You’re welcome,” Daisy said. “Now, let’s celebrate!”

They all laughed, and then they celebrated, and kept on doing both through all the many long and merry years that were to come.