He settled on top of her, and she hugged him, fully clothed and yet utterly undone.
His mouth explored hers like he had the map to every sigh she’d never known she was holding, and when his hand slipped behind her neck to pull her closer, her whole body arched in answer. She could taste everything, feel the ache in his chest as though it belonged to her now.
Her skin sang. Her mind spun. She saw stars behind her closed lids and felt every tether of fear or doubt snap like a worn thread.
For the first time, she felt whole. Not for who she had been, not for what she had endured, but for who she was in that moment, with him.
“I love you,” she whispered again between kisses.
“I don’t think I will ever get tired of hearing you say that.” He smiled against her mouth, before locking her lips with his again.
A week had passed since the night Cecilia had finally let herself fall, completely and joyfully, into the arms of the man she hadonce sworn never to trust. The days that followed were soft and sweet, a quiet unraveling of everything they had once feared and everything they now hoped for.
But not all knots had been undone. Not yet.
When Lucy was announced that morning, Cecilia felt the familiar twinge of tension stir low in her stomach. But she rose to meet her anyway. She had come alone to visit, and even though Cecilia knew that it was for them to talk, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
They sat in the drawing room, a tea tray untouched between them. Lucy’s eyes were red-rimmed, her hands folded tightly in her lap. The silence stretched long before she spoke.
“I came to apologize. To you both,” she said, glancing at Valentine, who stood behind Cecilia. “I am so sorry for everything. If I could go back in time and just redo everything, I would come clean to you, Your Grace, and I would have told you I wasn’t ready to get married.”
Cecilia’s eyes softened. She said nothing yet, letting Lucy unravel whatever she had come here to shed.
“I kept thinking that if I waited, time would make it easier to come to you and tell the truth, but my mama was making it incredibly difficult to do so. I had come clean to her shortly after the entire ordeal. I had told her that it was my fault, but she told me not to do anything. That she would take care of it, but she did not. She just kept spreading gossip.”
“Lucy,” she said softly. “I know you very well. So, I believe you when you say you did not plan for it to go this way. But it doesn’t change the fact that what you did was a bad thing.”
“I know, and I am so sorry,” Lucy sobbed. “I should not have done that to you, of all people. I truly did not think you would be asked to marry His Grace. I thought they would call off the wedding and we’d be done with it. Please don’t hate me, Cecilia. I really cannot live with that. You are probably my favorite person in the world.”
Cecilia giggled. “You have always been my favorite person in this world. You always defended me. You were there for my family when we had no one to turn to. You’re a good person, Lucy. You just made a mistake.”
“My mother,” Lucy pressed her lips together. “She thought she could salvage my prospects. She told anyone who would listen that I was the one who rejected Valentine. That I cast him off. But no one believed it. It only made things worse. Now they whisper behind fans and look through me like I’m a cautionary tale.”
“I’m so sorry,” Cecilia murmured.
Lucy shook her head, eyes bright. “No. I earned it. I didn’t stop her when I should have. I let my selfish needs blind me.”
“I never blamed you,” Cecilia said. “Not for a moment.”
“Lucy, if you hadn’t done what you did,” Valentine chimed in, “If you hadn’t taken that risk, even if it was reckless, I never would have met Cecilia. I never would have fallen in love. So whatever the world thinks, I will always be grateful to you for that.”
Lucy stared at him, her eyes round and glistening. Then, with a shaky laugh, she said, “That is remarkably unfair but yet terribly beautiful, Your Grace.”
Cecilia smiled softly. “He’s terribly good at those.” She rose to her feet and went over to Lucy’s side to sit. “Would you like to stay for dinner? We have a lot to talk about, Lucy. A lot.”
Lucy looked at her, eyes brimming once more, but this time with the softness of relief. She gave a small, trembling nod, and a smile tugged at her lips. “I’d like that,” she said quietly.
“Wonderful.” Cecilia slipped her arm around her cousin’s and leaned in with a warm laugh.
A week ago, she thought she was complete. She had Valentine’s love, and she was finally going to have a big family like she had come to want. But now…now that her relationship with Lucy was mended, she felt something deeper settle into her soul. A wholeness, as though a once-missing piece had been gently returned. Love had found her in many forms. Romantic, familial, and now, redemptive.
There was nothing more she could ask for.
EPILOGUE
“Iam telling you, raspberry is for the indecisive,” Cecilia declared, her nose turned up as she held a tart. “It doesn’t know if it wants to be sweet or tart.”
“Is that not the very definition of complexity?” Valentine drawled lazily, plucking a cherry from the bowl between them. “Much like your arguments, Dearest.”
