would be honored if you were to attend.”
Lady Brockton smiled. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Murmurs rose anew, and as Caroline looked up, she found a tall, almost silver-haired man striding through the crowd, flanked by two equally stoic men on each side. His eyes were dark and his jaw tense as he looked over the assembled guests before his gaze came to rest on Pierce.
Looking up at her fiancé, Caroline saw him barely nod his head, then gesture toward Coleridge. The silver-haired man nodded in acknowledgement, then changed direction and headed straight for the man who’d tried his best to ruin their lives this night.
“What’s going on?” Caroline asked, feeling the almost painful tension in his body as he watched events unfold. “Who is that?”
“That is my old friend, Lord Ashhaven.” He grinned. “Ash.” A long sigh left his lips as his gaze kept staring across the room. “He works for the Crown, and he’s about to arrest Coleridge for murder.”
Caroline’s eyes went wide. “Then you found him? You found his cousin?”
Smiling, Pierce looked down at her, his knuckles gently brushing against the line of her jaw. “I did,” he told her, relief palpable on his face, “but I couldn’t have done it without you. We make a good team.” He chuckled. “Perhaps our next project should be one we can work on together.”
Caroline clasped his arm as the promise of a future freely chosen hummed across her skin. “I’d like nothing more.”
His brows rose teasingly. “I could think of something I’d rather do. What do you say? Before we tend to our next project, I was thinking we could find some time for an extended honeymoon.”
Caroline felt her body warm under his gaze. “You haven’t heard what my newest project is. You might change your mind.”
His gaze narrowed. “Barely escaping scandal—if we could call it that—and you already have a new project lined up?”
“It’s brand new,” she whispered, innocently batting her eyes at him. “I just thought of it.”
“Do I dare ask?” Pierce inquired carefully, his lips quirking with indecision.
Caroline nodded, forcing herself to keep a straight face. “Well, I was thinking to extend our family, give Daphne a little brother or sister. Does that sound appealing enough as a project?” She teased, welcoming the way his gaze raked over her. “Or would you rather I find another participant?”
A low growl rumbled in Pierce’s throat before he hauled her into his arms and kissed her the way he’d promised, right there in the middle of the dance floor for all to see.
And they did see, judging from the excited voices that drifted to Caroline’s ears. Caroline, however, couldn’t have cared less. After all, what was another scandal thrown in the mix. People already referred to her fiancé as the Black Baron, and who knew? Perhaps the Lady in Red would stick and be whispered about for years to come.
Did it matter?
Not to Caroline and Pierce. He had never cared what others thought of him, and Caroline had recently realized that no one’s opinion mattered more than her own. What mattered was how she saw herself.
And never in her life had she been prouder or happier.
Epilogue
Markham Hall, Summer 1813
A few weeks later
“Caroline?” Daphne trilled as she stopped in front of Pierce’s wife, her little teeth sinking into her lower lip as she twirled the hem of her dress between her fingers.
“Yes, Daphne?” Smiling, Caroline brushed a gentle hand over their daughter’s brown curls. “Is there anything I can do for you?” The look in her blue eyes suggested she knew exactly what Daphne was about.
Pierce could barely hide a smirk as he moved to sit under the large umbrella that offered a bit of shade these days as the sun seemed rather relentless in its pursuit to compensate the world for the last harsh winter.
The large terrace of Markham Hall faced south, overlooking the wide garden where Daphne and Susan loved to play. Flowers were in bloom, and he could see glimpses of the small lake situated behind a large grove of trees to the west of the estate as the sun bounced off its shiny surface.
“Can Susan and I have another biscuit?” Daphne asked, desperately trying not to get her hopes up.
Caroline sighed, her face serious as she seemed to be contemplating the request. Pierce lifted a hand to rub his chin, hoping the movement would hide the grin he couldn’t quite manage to keep contained as he spotted Susan hiding behind the curtains of the drawing