Page 70 of The Duke's Cursed Heart

Amelia nodded. “I believe they have liked you all along,” she said. “They just did not understand you.”

Graham tensed, still affected by the names he had been called, and Amelia only hoped her comment was not belittling that. Still, she smiled at him, and smoothed his lapels. “You have your place. That is all that matters now.”

“Still, to know that he has not been fully dealt with…” Graham’s eyes shuttered. “Percival awaits trial, and until I see true justice, I cannot fully let myself relax.”

“His ambitions lie in ruin,” Amelia assured her husband. “The authorities have evidence, and you yourself helped to bring to light what treachery he had delved into.”

Slowly, Graham nodded, finally listening to her. Sometimes she could not fight against the volume of the thoughts in his head but other times she could break through and bring him back to her, to stop the doubt clouding his mind. And when his eyes cleared, no longer vacant or in thought, she only brought his face closer to hers.

A lingering kiss pressed to her lips grounded her.

Amelia was happy. She had her duke, and a life she was no longer ashamed of, and her future rolled out brightly before her. The Duke of Blackthorn was her home, and that was more than she could ever ask for.

The End