Three years later

In the gardens of Rylingdale Manor, the afternoon sun struck Arabella in a way that gave her face a perfectly angelic glow. Despite the activity happening around Trent, he was lost in a brief trance. With each year that he and Arabella were married, he found her more beautiful than the last. And as he watched her smiling and playing the perfect hostess, his heart thumped every bit as wildly as it had during their first waltz. Her smile was what had shown his heart that it could heal. And five years later, it was still reminding him that life was, indeed, beautiful, if one only allowed it to be so.

“Oh, darling, you should have witnessed what Alexander did to Trent last week,” she said, the sound of her saying his name bringing him out of his reverie.

Trent blushed, but his smile was wide. He knew which story she was telling their anniversary celebration guests, and he was delighted to hear it. Alexander had meant to show his father that he could kick a ball. And he certainly had done just that. However, Trent’s lower stomach had taken the blow, which had left him winded for some time. It had not been amusing at the time. But as Arabella’s face lit up as she told their closest friends and family the story, he could not help laughing along.

Emily was the first to speak after Arabella’s story.

“That is a lesson that Nicholas and I will certainly take to heart,” she said, giggling as she gazed fondly at her husband.

Nicholas’s eyes were wide, but he was smirking, and he gave a short nod to Trent.

“You can count on that,” he said with a laugh.

Trent grinned, glancing at where Christina and Paul, Emily’s and Nicholas’s children, were pointing at a monarch butterfly on a nearby bush.

“Arabella and Alexander have certainly taught me a great many things,” he said, placing a gentle hand over the waist of the pale blue gown that draped gracefully over her swollen belly. “And I have no doubt that this little one will have many more lessons of her own.”

Arabella laughed again, putting her hand over his.

“Or his own,” she said.

Trent held up his head in jesting smugness.

“It will be a girl,” he said. “I am sure of it.”

Lucas, who sat beside his beloved Virginia, pointed to their son, who was just two months younger than Alexander.

“Gregory was ‘sure to be a girl,’ as well, according to me,” he said. “I even bought him some pink dresses before he was born.”

Roseanna and Lawrence joined in the laughter, and Roseanna put an affectionate hand on her husband’s shoulder.

“Well, perhaps we will be blessed with a girl soon,” she said, gazing at David, Lawrence’s and her young son, fondly as he toddled along behind the older children as fast as his small, chubby legs would carry him. “We did not expect to have him so soon. But we could not be happier, and we cannot wait to have our next little one.”

Lawrence feigned horror at his wife’s words, shaking his head theatrically and looking at Trent with wide, sparkling eyes. Everyone else at the table, including Roseanna, laughed merrily at Lawrence’s antics. And even though everyone present knew he was only teasing, Lawrence gave Trent a secret wink. Trent returned it, understanding that the wink represented more than his conversational silliness. It was his silent acknowledgement that both men had managed to find wonderful wives who were helping them built beautiful lives. They were both lucky, and Trent knew it.

A shriek of laughter pierced the air, and all the guests glanced over toward the north entrance to the gardens. Alexander was running along, his toddling legs pumping furiously and his face red with breathtaking laughter as Emily’s children chased after him. Right behind them was the son of Lucas and Virginia, and chasing slowly behind them with the shortest legs of them all was Lawrence’s son.

Trent laughed so hard that he doubled over as Alexander suddenly changed course while his cousins and friends pursued him, sending them tumbling over one another and rolling one by one onto the ground. There was a brief silence over all the adults as they waited to see if any of the children were injured. But when they all began giggling hysterically, scrambling to get to their feet to continue chasing Alexander, the adults joined in the laughter, as well.

When a moment later, David fell again, face first into a soft mount of dirt that his little legs could not quite get him around, Alexander stopped, toddling over to him and squatting over him.

“You all right?” he asked, patting the youngest child on the back.

David grunted with his efforts to get back to his feet. He began to whine until Alexander reached down and pulled him up clumsily by his arms. He waited until David appeared steady on his feet. Then, he smiled, patting the boy again.

“All right?” he repeated.

David nodded, giving his cousin a slobbery smile. Alexander seemed satisfied, once again leading the children in the chase, but moving more slowly so that little David could keep up a little better. Trent smiled fondly, watching the children in their innocent, carefree play.

The troubles of his own childhood would never be forgotten. But nor would his triumphs, especially with the love and bonds he had had with Beatrice and Lawrence. He has spent years being as cold and ruthless as his own father had been. But when he first learned that Arabella was expecting Alexander, he vowed to be a far better father than the late duke was.

“Is it not awe inspiring when we look back on the past few years?” Arabella asked languorously.

Trent looked at his wife with curiosity.

“What do you mean, darling?” he asked.

She gave him a blissful smile before returning her gaze to the children and their esteemed, beloved party guests.

“We have been through so much,” she said. “We started our marriage with nothing but an arrangement. Now, we could not imagine our lives without one another. You were so afraid that you would be a distant father. And yet, I would wager that even the men sitting at this table still love their children less than you love ours. And even my father has come round and opened up himself more. He is nothing like the inconsiderate, manipulative man I once knew. None of these things would have seemed possible years ago. But here we are, and life is all the better for it all.”

Trent nodded, thinking about his father-in-law. It did seem that the heart attack had changed his attitude a great deal. He had had a long recovery. But since he returned to his normal routine, he had been a completely different man to his family. Especially his daughters. Arabella had been thrilled when he began trying to make amends. And part of Trent felt that in the viscount’s attempts to apologize and make things right, he could find the way to forgive his own father for his cruelty and heartlessness.

“He was certainly a different man when Lydia gave birth to Marissa,” he said, smiling at the memory. Lydia and Josephine were not in attendance at the party because Marissa’s birth had only been five days prior. But Arabella had been with her sister when her niece made her debut into the world, and Trent had witnessed the exuberance of the viscount.

Arabella nodded, leaning her head against Trent’s chest.

“And when I told him that we were expecting this little one, he was beside himself at getting a third grandchild,” she said. “One could be forgiven for thinking that he was more excited about his grandchildren than Mother is.”

Trent chuckled, nestling his face in his wife’s hair.

“I could have almost believed that your father was more excited than Vincent,” he said. “For a moment, between those two men, even I forgot who the father was and who was the grandfather.”

Arabella fell into a fit of giggles.

“He certainly has taken to his role as Grandfather,” she said. “And as Father, as well. He is a completely changed man, and I have never been prouder of him.”

Emily and Nicholas joined the conversation, both of them beaming with happiness.

“I think he is prepared to adopt our little one as his own grandchildren, as well,” she said. “The manner in which he fretted during my confinement was truly remarkable.” She paused, looking up at her husband with affection.

Nicholas gave his wife a tender kiss.

“Children can always use more loving family members,” he said.

Lawrence and Roseanna walked up to the couples, staring at each other with the kind of love that only soulmates share. Everyone fell silent, all of them exchanging the knowing looks of people who had found the realest, truest love, and who understood, even without words, that they were the most fortunate people in all of London. And as Lucas and his wife, who was cradling their son in their arms, approached, they all shared a large, loving embrace. The party might have begun as a celebration of Arabella and Trent’s wedding anniversary. But it was ending as a celebration of the love that they had all found, and were now lucky enough to share with one another as one large, loving, blissfully happy family.

The sunset was the loveliest that Trent had ever seen as the sun slowly lowered itself behind the horizon of the gardens. He pulled his wonderful wife to his side, leaning down to press his lips against her ear.

“I love you more than any words in any language will ever successfully express,” he said.

Arabella beamed up at him as they watched their loved ones celebrate the love and happiness they all shared.

“And I love you just as much, darling,” she said.

Trent kissed his wife, knowing in his heart that his aunt had been right. Their love truly had conquered the most impossible obstacles in their lives. He was forever a changed man. And as he could see in their friends and family, that love and growth had been an inspiration to others. Now, those who mattered most to them had their own happy endings, just like those in the best storybooks. And Trent could not have been more thrilled.

The End