better question, I think, is if you are all right.”
“I don’t think I will ever be all right again,” he said with a sigh, and she leaned her head back against him.
“You thought that before,” she said, “and things were getting better, weren’t they?”
“Yes,” he finally said slowly, “although perhaps that was wrong. It was as though things were becoming too good, and they had to give somehow.”
“But Edmund,” she insisted, “everything turned out fine. Byron is returning to London as we speak, being carefully watched by Falton. And you know if there was ever a man you could trust, it would be he.”
“I know,” he said, a self-conscious smile curling his lips as his voice caught.
“And,” she continued, “we were able to determine what it was that Andrew and Isabel needed – each other.” Hannah turned around, looking at where they had hung her portrait next to his. “I think they will be happy now, don’t you?”
“You better be, you wily old fox,” he called out, wondering if his great-uncle was even present anymore to hear him.
“I think,” Hannah said slowly, “that they can rest in peace now, for they have one another and can be content in knowing that their story has been revealed. While our story,” she looked up at him with a smile, “will continue on.”
“I cannot believe how close I came to losing you,” he muttered.
“But you didn’t,” she said, lifting her hands to the sides of his face – both the scarred and the unmarred. “Isabel saved us. And the threat is gone now. Byron will be returned to London, and will be watched over to ensure that he can never hurt another.”
She went quiet for a moment. Then, “It is probably for the best this happened, actually.”
Edmund nearly came off the sofa. “How can you say that?”
“Well, can you imagine what he would have done to his wife, had he married, or his children? At least now we know that others will remain safe.”
“You are far too good, Hannah,” he said, looking down at her, his eyes filled with unshed tears.
She looked up at him with a smile. “I love you, Edmund,” she said, “and I always will.”
He pressed his lips against hers, and for a moment she wondered if she would ever hear the words from him.
“I love you too,” he said, and she didn’t think her heart had ever been so full.
“Do you really think you can live here, with me and only me, out in the middle of nothing?”
“We are not in the middle of nowhere,” she argued. “There is a village nearby, full of wonderful people. And we will have to hire at least another servant or two, especially once we have children.”
She smiled at the thought of it – until she looked at his expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“Do you think… they… our children… will be frightened of me?”
“Of course not,” she said with as much determination as she could muster. “How could they be? For you will show them the same love and protection you show me. And they will love you as much as I do.”
“Someday… when my father passes, I will likely have to see to the other estates if Byron is declared mad. But I’ll find good men to oversee them and will do all I can to remain here. Do you have no desire to return to London?”
Hannah thought it over, remembering the city, the people, the smells…
“Not at all,” she said, shaking her head. “Perhaps a visit to my parents now and again, but we can always go see them when they are home for the summer months instead. I am happy out here, Edmund. I love this house. I love the spirits within it. I love the forests that surround it. And most of all – I love you.”
“I’m not always the most companionable of people.”
“Perhaps not,” she said with a laugh. “But after all you have been through… you still have such capacity for love, Edmund, which is more important than anything else.”
“Only because of you,” he said, looking down at her with such affection that her heart seemed like it was reaching out of her body toward him.
“Because we found each other,” she said with a smile.
Behind Edmund’s shoulder, Hannah noticed a candle flicker, as though someone had walked by it. When she looked over at the portraits, she could have sworn she saw their expressions change to smiles. She nudged Edmund, nodding toward the portraits.