Page 53 of Fortune’s Final Folly

“Burns brought a copy of the duke’s last will and testament. You were to inherit a larger sum than you expected, and it would multiply greatly if Pierce did not make amends with you.” He kissed her chastely, giving Kate time to think through what he’d said. His lips only proved distracting, so she pulled away.

“Why would that lead you to think I was in danger?” she asked.

“It also stated that if you were to perish before you reconciled with your father, he would receive his full inheritance with no stipulations.” Joshua brushed her cheek, trailing his finger down her throat and lightly over the cut on her neck. “I deduced quickly he’d been the one to set the fire.”

“I have always admired your deductive reasoning skills,” she laughed.

“Truly?” He glared at her with suspicion. “You’ve never uttered a word of it to me before.”

“I am saying it now,” Kate countered.

Her mother cleared her throat. “What of you, my lord? What do you admire about my daughter?”

The possessiveness in her mother’s tone had Kate grinning. She much liked these two, people she loved greatly, feeling such fierce protectiveness toward her.

“And do not waste your words on me,” A’laya huffed. She pushed to her feet and made her way to the back office, giving Joshua and Kate a moment of privacy before the magistrate arrived.

“You needn’t let her push you into—” Kate attempted to brush off her mother’s question.

She did not seek to force Joshua into speaking more of his feelings if he weren’t prepared to do so.

Yet, her mind kept going over his words—I love her with complete abandon.

Besides the love blossoming between mother and daughter, Kate had never been loved with anything even close to recklessness—complete or otherwise. She’d always been held at arm’s length—by her parents, by her father’s congregation, and by those she’d considered friends.

The notion that she was loved so now did not make sense in her mind.

“Kate?” Without her noticing, Joshua had stood and knelt before her, taking her hands in his. His warmth banished the cold numbness that’d overtaken them. “I meant what I said earlier. I love you with a force so insistent I find an hour without you is simply not acceptable. I understand your concerns, with your home and everything with your mother. However, I will be here for you through it all, in whatever capacity you allow. Even if you only desire a friend.”

She stood, pulling Joshua to his feet with her. “Then I think you should know”—she paused, drawing in a deep breath as his shoulders tightened with tension—“I meant every word I said, too. I love you, Joshua, I have for a very long time, though I could not see it clearly because I was uncertain what love looked like between two people. I want you, all of you, and for far more than a friend. I cannot be myself unless I’m with you. Here in Cheapside or at your townhouse… anywhere, as long as I am with you.”

There was nothing else to say. She loved him, and he loved her.

Kate’s chest burst with the potential of her future—their future. It had only taken opening herself to the possibilities that fate had aligned for her.

Perhaps fortune’s final folly had been bringing Joshua into her life.

But it would be Kate who had the last laugh. And she did—laugh—but only for a brief moment before Joshua swept her into his arms, twirling her about the room until they were both laughing.

“I loved you as simply Miss Kate Elliott.” He set his forehead against hers as he halted, his stare turning serious. “I will love you even if you wish to be addressed as Lady Katherina De Vere. Though I find I think I would love you most if you agreed to be Lady Stuart, my wife.”

A completely overwhelming happiness filled Kate so quickly, it nearly brought tears to her eyes once more.

“As long as we are together, Joshua, I can be Miss Kate or Lady Katherina,” Kate said with a smile so wide, she knew she could not hide her joy. “I find I much enjoy the sound of Lady Stuart, as well.”

Epilogue

Kate fell into her favorite chair before the fire in Joshua’s study at their Cavendish Square townhouse, exhausted from her day at the schoolroom. The last of the new furniture had arrived that morning, as well as two dozen heavy boxes with new primers and books for her students. The schoolroom would reopen and resume class as normal the following week.

And it was all due to Joshua.

Speaking of her soon-to-be husband, he currently sat behind his desk, writing furiously.

He worked so intently he hadn’t noticed Kate enter the room or close the door or all but crash into her chair.

“Is everything as it should be?” she asked, hesitant to interrupt him.

At the sound of her voice, Joshua set down his quill, dusted the paper to dry the ink, and crossed the room to her.