“Edwin…” she smiled, looking as worn out as the other two. But none of that mattered. She was with him once again.
“Are you all right?” he asked. “Did he hurt you?”
“No,” she shook her head. “He didn’t do anything to us. He just kept us here.”
“I am so sorry that it took me this long to find you,” he said, bringing his forehead to hers. He closed his eyes for a moment then opened them. He couldn’t stop drinking in the sight of her.
“I never stopped believing that you would eventually find me,” Rachel whispered. He could tell how weak she was.
Anger took hold of him. “I feel like strangling that vile wretch of a man,” he said, clenching his teeth together.
“Let others make him pay for his crimes,” Rachel pleaded. “I never want to see that man in my life. I don’t want us to have anything to do with him.”
“I am so sorry that he did this to all of you,” Daniel apologized. “He had always been a mischievous boy, but I never thought that he would grow up into this villain. I should have seen it coming.”
“You couldn’t have predicted any of this,” Rachel assured him. “Besides, it was you who kept both me and Geraldine sane all this time. I don’t know how we would have done it without you.”
With those words, she released her brother’s hand, and walked over to this man. Edwin watched her embrace him softly, tenderly. He couldn’t imagine what his sister must have gone through, what they all must have gone through. He still considered himself guilty for allowing this to happen. But he knew that he could not have foreseen it, just like Daniel could not have foreseen that his cousin would grow up into this horrible man.
“Let’s go home,” Edwin suggested, taking his sister by the hand.
Everyone liked that idea.
* * *
“Mother!” Rachel fell into her mother’s arms as Edwin, Lydia and her sisters looked on. Lydia wondered if this was a private moment that should have been reserved for the family alone, but Edwin assured her that he wanted her and her sisters present. She could do nothing else but agree.
Rachel and the Dowager Duchess remained like that, embracing for a long time. No one wished to disrupt the magic of their reunion. Everyone looked on tenderly, waiting for them to separate, so they could ask all the questions that were on their minds.
When Rachel finally sat down, she brought a teacup to her lips with trembling hands. Lydia could tell that a part of her still couldn’t believe that she was at home and not in that dungeon that madman had created for them. Lydia wondered if one was truly able to get over such a trauma.
Rachel shared with them everything that had happened although they all pretty much knew the story. Anna had recognized herself in it immediately, and she quickly squeezed her sister’s hand. Lydia smiled at her reassuringly.
“Everything he said was so beautiful,” Rachel admitted. “I never thought such malice could hide behind such beautiful words.”
“All that matters now is that you are back with us where you belong,” the Dowager Duchess announced, taking her daughter’s hand into her own. “That is a reason to celebrate.”
“Actually,” Edwin suddenly interrupted, walking over to the center of the room and addressing everyone. “I have another reason to celebrate.”
“You do?” his mother inquired.
“Well… that is, if Lydia agrees,” he said, now turning his attention solely to Lydia.
“If I agree to what?” Lydia asked, her cheeks flaring up. Her hopes were flying so high above the ground that she could barely see them up there in the clouds.
Before he said anything, he walked over to her and knelt down before her. Her sisters gasped. Lydia herself could barely move.
“To marry me,” he said tenderly, offering her an open palm. “I do not have a ring, but – ”
“I do.” the Dowager Duchess suddenly stood up and walked over to him. She took off one of her rings, the one with the sapphire, and handed it to her son. “You have a ring now, as well, darling. You may proceed as is proper.” With those words, she returned to her position by her daughter’s side. All eyes were on Edwin again.
He smiled then continued. “Idohave a ring now,” he corrected himself. “All I need now is you by my side, Lydia, and I will be the happiest man alive. Will you take me as your husband?”
Lydia gasped, pressing her hands to her lips then she exclaimed. “Yes!”
She jumped with joy, and everyone clapped even before Edwin managed to put the ring, which was a perfect fit, on Lydia’s finger. He wrapped his arms around her and swung her about the room. She could see everything in his eyes, the whole world. Because that was what he was.Herworld. Just like he said, she didn’t need anything else apart from him to be completely and utterly happy.
“Well, now we truly have two reasons to celebrate,” the Dowager Duchess exclaimed, much to everyone’s joy. “We need to plan so many things. Ugh… I honestly have no idea where to start. Girls?” she addressed Rachel and Lydia’s sisters. “You shall help me plan all of this, won’t you?”