“Ruth, my darling. How do you feel?”
She moaned once more but struggled to sit up. He assisted her to a seated position.
“What has happened? I feel quite unwell.”
“I will tell you all about it once you’re fully recovered. Just know this. You are no longer in danger. My mother’s scheme has been uncovered and she will pay for her crimes.”
Beside them, Sophia cleared her throat.
“Ruthie. I am so sorry. I have been a pawn in this terrible game. I did not see. I did not… I let envy and anger govern my actions and I…” Her tears streamed down her face and her body shook.
“Come, Sophia. There will be time to talk about it all later. Let your sister rest.” The Duke walked his younger daughter out of the room, leaving Ruth and Kenneth alone.
* * *
“It is unconscionable to think of what she’s done. To draw my sister into her scheme, and Molly, and to frame Lord Cragshade.”
Ruth could not believe what she’d learned. The Duchess' actions were so terrible, her plan so elaborate, she could hardly understand it.
“What will happen now?”
They were seated in the library, near the open window from where a breeze drifted in. Kenneth sat beside Ruth who was covered in a warm blanket.
“My father has already set out to free Lawrence from prison. I am sure we will never hear the end of his woeful tale, once he is free. I am sure he will do his best to tarnish our reputation with his story of how he was framed.”
“By rights, he should. He might be an awful man, but he was innocent and imprisoned.”
Once again, Kenneth was struck with how good, how kind, Ruth was. Even to someone who was so very terrible to her, she found compassion.
“He was. I am sure Papa will offer him a settlement of some kind. As for my mother, she is the wife of a nobleman, and as much as I despise her actions, she may well be found not guilty because such is our society.”
“I know it. And I would much rather not go before the magistrate if I do not have to.”
Kenneth wrapped an arm around her, drawing her nearer.
“Perhaps my father can come to an arrangement. Banish her. Forever. I do not know. As for Molly, she confessed to her crimes and my mother agrees with her description of events. If you believe my mother, Molly was the mastermind behind it all.”
Ruth scoffed.
“Nobody believes her, of course. Still, Molly will go to prison for a long time. As for Sophia…”
“I have spoken to her. She truly regrets her actions. I think she can be redeemed. Papa is taking her to Shropshire, not to meet the Earl she so desires to meet, but to reflect. Being in my aunt’s care will be good for her.” She licked her lips. “Kenneth. All of this, is it not too much? You know none of this would have happened if I did not look the way I look. If I were not the Lady of the Flames, as your cousin likes to call me.”
“Oh, my beloved. If anything, this ordeal we have been through these last few weeks only made me realize one thing. I love you. I will always love you. No matter what. Besides, we have faced down a potential murderer, what’s a few conceited and haughty lords and ladies during the London Season?”
She smiled at him. “You are right. After living through all of this, there really is nothing we could not face as long as we are together.”
“We will always be together now, Ruth. I never intend to leave you. We are like the pair of swans that used to live on my lake. We found one another, and we belong to one another. And if I were to lose you, I would be as lost as the swan on the lake is without his mate. I love you and I will always be by your side as long as you want me.”
“I will always want you at my side, Kenneth. I love you, too. You are more than I ever thought I could have. You’ve made me stronger; you’ve made me believe in myself. I cherish you, now and forever.”
As they sat together in the library, the fireplace beside them devoid of flames, and the sun shining through the open window, they leaned toward one another and sealed their love with a kiss. They were at last united and together, they knew their future was full of promise.
Epilogue
Six months later…
Kenneth dismounted Artemis outside of Caster Hall, patting his horse on the side of the neck.