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“Then that is precisely what you shall have,” he said, “For as many days as I am given.”
They stayed by the lake long after the picnic had been thoroughly enjoyed, trading lazy kisses and quiet conversation as the afternoon sun slanted golden through the trees, and Anna thought, watching Hudson laugh freely in a manner she suspected few people beyond herself and Cornelius had ever been privileged to witness, that she could not recall a single moment in her whole life when she had felt so entirely, unreservedly happy.
“We should return before the twins begin to wonder where we have both disappeared to,” Hudson announced eventually, though he made no immediate move to rise, apparently as reluctant as she was to end the quiet perfection of the afternoon.
“A few minutes longer,” Anna pleaded, settling more comfortably against his side. “I find I am rather in no hurry to rejoin the rest of the world just yet.”
“Nor I,” Hudson admitted. “Though I suppose the rest of the world shall have its say regardless, before long. I understand you have been considering a ball.”
Anna glanced up at him, surprised. “How did you come to hear of that? I had only mentioned the idea to Phoebe in passing.”
“I might have overheard your conversation,” Hudson admitted. “And I supposed that you would want the occasion to properly introduce Cornelius and Edith’s engagement to society, now that the matter can no longer be kept quiet in any case.”
“I had thought of it,” Anna admitted. “It seems only right, does it not? After everything that has passed between all of us this past year. A proper celebration, rather than another scandal whispered about behind closed doors.”
“I think it a wonderful notion,” Hudson said, pressing a kiss to her hair. “And I intend to dance with my wife rather more than propriety strictly demands, should you host it.”
“I would expect nothing less, Your Grace,” Anna said, smiling against his shoulder as the sun continued its slow descent over the water, and the whole of their future stretched out before them, finally unburdened by the fears and half-truths that had shadowed its beginning.
EPILOGUE
The ballroom had never looked lovelier, or so Anna thought, surveying the fruits of nearly a fortnight’s frantic preparation with no small measure of pride.
Candles blazed from every sconce, their light catching in the crystal of the chandeliers overhead and scattering across the polished floor in a hundred small fragments of gold. Fresh flowers spilled from vases positioned throughout the room, their fragrance mingling pleasantly with the scent of the feast being prepared in the kitchens below, and the musicians, tuning their instruments in the far corner, promised an evening of dancing that Anna intended to enjoy rather more thoroughly than she had any ball in recent memory.
“You have outdone yourself,” Hudson exclaimed proudly, appearing at her side and pressing a kiss to her temple as she made a final inspection of the room. “I do not believe I have ever seen this house look so alive.”
“It has been rather too quiet, this past year,” Anna pointed out. “I thought it high time we filled it properly, if only for an evening.”
The guests began arriving shortly after, and Anna found herself swept immediately into the familiar rhythm of hosting – greeting arrivals, directing servants, ensuring that everyone had a glass of something and someone pleasant to speak with. It was, she reflected, rather like conducting an elaborate performance, though for the first time in longer than she could recall, she found she genuinely enjoyed the role rather than merely enduring it.
Phoebe and Edward arrived early, Phoebe’s eyes sparkling with barely contained delight as she pulled Anna aside.
“You look radiant,” Phoebe declared. “Marriage suits you rather better than I think either of us expected, given how it began.”
“It has improved considerably since its beginning,” Anna agreed, unable to keep the smile from her own face.
“I can see that plainly enough,” Phoebe noted, glancing meaningfully toward where Hudson stood in conversation with Edward near the refreshment table, his gaze drifting back toward Anna every few moments regardless of whatever business matter the two men were discussing. “I do not believe I have ever seen a man so thoroughly besotted attempt so valiantly to appear otherwise.”
Anna laughed, warmth spreading through her chest at the observation. “He is rather transparent, is he not?”
“Utterly,” Phoebe agreed. “It is rather endearing, actually, watching him fail so completely at his own composure.”
“Do you remember,” Anna said, glancing sidelong at her sister, “When you told me that a married woman could simply tell when a man had experience, and then realized halfway through the explanation that I had no notion whatsoever of what you meant?”
Phoebe laughed, delighted by the memory. “I remember it vividly. You looked at me as though I had suddenly begun speaking a foreign tongue.”
“I understand rather better now,” Anna whispered, feeling her cheeks warm slightly.
“I should hope so, given how thoroughly your husband looks at you across a room full of people,” Phoebe scoffed, arching a knowing brow. “I confess I am rather pleased to have been proven right, all those months ago. I always suspected there was more warmth beneath his composure than either of you were willing to admit.”
“You did not say so at the time.”
“I did not wish to influence matters that were not mine to influence,” Phoebe pointed out primly, though her eyes danced with barely suppressed amusement. “I am your sister, Anna, not your matchmaker. Even if I did, on occasion, hope rather fervently for precisely this outcome.”
Rowland arrived not long after, looking as though he was bracing himself for an evening of unwanted attention.
“Every mother in this room has already inquired after my marital prospects,” he informed Anna grimly upon greeting her. “I have been a duke for scarcely a week, and already I am being paraded before eligible daughters as though I were livestock at market.”
