* * *
In another part of Minsbury Park, Claire stared at the dark sky. After the events of last night, she could hardly sleep. Even after they had forced her to drink some calming tea, she found that she still could not bear to close her eyes and drift off into slumber.
Tonight, she had very nearly lost everything—her life, her family, as well as the man she loved—all because of her inheritance.
How ironic that Father planned for our dowries so we would never feel the need to tie ourselves to a loveless marriage, only to have them nearly ruin our entire lives.
If the constable and his men had not arrived on time, followed by the able-bodied men of Minsbury Park and Ranhold House, the outcome would have been vastly different.
Father, thank you for watching over us tonight,she said in a silent prayer, her eyes drawn to the stars that still twinkled in the dark sky.
In a few more moments, it would be daybreak. The sun would rise and dispel the horrible remnants of this night’s debacle but Claire feared that it would remain with her for years to come.
She trembled when she thought of it. She hoped that with time, she would learn to not be so afraid, just as she learned to not be so sad after her father died.
“Claire?”
She jumped and looked back to find Oliver looking at her with a worried gleam in his green eyes. “What are you doing out of bed at this hour?” he asked her, drawing near to her side. He shook off his coat and draped it over her shoulders. “It is still cold. You will freeze out here.”
She smiled at him in gratitude. “I could not sleep,” she told him softly.
His eyes clouded over in sympathy. “I know. We all received quite a fright. In fact,” he said with some mirth, “it is a wonder that your sister has fallen asleep like a log, but getting kidnapped and held at gunpoint can be rather exhausting.”
Claire looked at him as though he had gone insane before she broke out into a fit of giggles. “It is a mercy that she is able to slumber so well. It would have been much harder for all of us were she to remain awake and terrorize us all well into breakfast!”
They both shared a moment of laughter, and in a rare show of emotion, the Duke gathered her in his arms, his nose buried in her hair as he breathed in her scent.
“I feared that I would lose you tonight,” he confessed. “I was never more afraid than I was tonight.”
“Me, too,” she admitted. “I was so afraid they would kill you. They swore they would…”
“Shh,” he murmured, holding her trembling figure tighter. “They are all gone now. The Duke of Lorchester will never bother you again and as for Smithson,” his voice took on a hard edge, “I will make sure he will never walk free again.”
Claire buried her nose into his chest, her cheek pressed against his beating heart. Warm, vital, and strong, it reminded her of all that she had very nearly lost tonight.
“What did the constable say?” she asked him.
“The evidence against them is damning.”
He deserves to be locked up behind bars for eternity, she thought to herself.After murdering so many innocent lives and very nearly killing all of us…
“I am glad they came just in time. Otherwise…” her voice trailed off.
“You will never have to worry about them ever again, my darling,” he promised her. “I will make sure of it.”
They both sat there in silence, drawing comfort and reassurance from each other’s presence. Behind them, Minsbury Park was still abuzz with activity although the excitement had winded down.
In a few more moments, it would be sunrise,Claire realized.It has been a long time since I have seen the sun rise. Sunrises in London are not quite as gorgeous as those in the country.
As she sat contentedly in the arms of the man she loved, Claire found herself hoping for a better, brighter future—one that did not involve nefarious schemes and plots.
She would rather stay here in the country like this, living her life out peacefully.
As the sun prepared to break out over the horizon, sending thin, pink lines into the night sky, slowly dispelling the dark, she found herself smiling in spite of it all.
“By the way, my darling,” the Duke spoke softly. “There is something I very much need to tell you.”
“Oh?” She looked up at him and found him looking somberly at her. For a moment, she feared that something was amiss but then she saw the immense love shining in his eyes.
