Epilogue
July 1910
Sebastian stood on the fence rail, watching his children ride their horses around the paddock at Summer Hill, their country estate in Kent. His family didn’t get up here nearly as much as he’d like, given the demands of his job as the new assistant police commissioner and the work Jocelyn did with the women’s suffrage movement, but they all enjoyed their time in the country whenever they could get it.
“Daddy, watch me!” cried Evelyn, his six-year-old daughter, as she bounced along on her pony, grinning from ear to ear. She had her mother’s auburn hair but the serious bookish temperament of the aunt she’d been named after. They could rarely get her nose out of a book, but she became another creature entirely when it came to horses.
“He is watching you!” said Oliver, who was coming into his own as a young man of eleven. He rode a beautiful sorrel mare, his seat perfect, the bright sunlight catching in his golden hair.
In the beginning, Sebastian had been worried that his stepson would resent him, or that he’d never find a true connection with him, but his fears had been unfounded. Oliver had taken to him immediately, and he loved the boy every bit as much as he did the children he’d sired. He felt blessed to have the opportunity to help mold the young earl into the powerful man he’d someday be. He and Jocelyn had done their best to show him more than just the glittering aristocracy to which he’d been born.
“I see you, sweetie,” Sebastian called to his daughter. “I’m watching you all!”
“Look at me!” shouted four-year-old Peter, who was also on a pony but had a young groom walking beside him to ensure that he remained seated. Little Peter took after his father, with dark hair and blue eyes, but he had his mother’s sunny personality.
“They love this. I wish we could spend more time here.”
Sebastian turned around to find Jocelyn had come up behind him, carrying their little blonde daughter Marilyn, who’d just turned one and was too young for riding. He jumped off the fence and pulled his wife into a one-armed hug, then tapped Marilyn on the nose. The baby laughed uproariously.
“Yeah, me, too.” But he knew she didn’t seriously want their life to be anything except what it was. Sometimes chaotic, always busy, but filled with the things and the people they loved.
“I wish Evelyn could see our family,” Jocelyn said unexpectedly, her gaze focused on their children. She rarely talked about her sister, but he knew Evelyn was never far from her thoughts. He was glad he’d been able to see Evelyn’s killer brought to justice, even though he still had nightmares of the months leading up to The Viper’s capture.
“I think she’s watching,” he said. “I certainly feel that we’ve had a guardian angel looking after us over the years.”
Things hadn’t always been easy. They’d faced plenty of scorn and ridicule for their uneven match, especially in the beginning. But Jocelyn had never seemed to mind, and he certainly didn’t give a damn what people thought.
Jocelyn nodded, blinking away a sheen of tears, then smiled up at him. “We’re luckier than most, that’s for certain. I’m well aware of my blessings.”
He smiled. “Do you remember the first conversation we ever had? Where we both smugly asserted that love didn’t exist?”
Jocelyn laughed, the happy sound making all four of their children laugh as well. “We had no idea what we were talking about, did we?”
“We certainly didn’t, and I’ve never in my life been so happy to be wrong.” The love he received every day, not just from Jocelyn but from his children and the extended family they’d created with their friends, filled his cup until it ran over in the most magical ways.
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THE END