Page 89 of The Duke's Mischievous Spinster

“No. Not at all.”

“Then why do you ask?”

“Because,” she said carefully, “I do not want to think that– no, you are right, we are not to do this anymore. We will trust each other.”

Relief moved through him, quiet but unmistakable. Outside, children ran across the lawns, and their guests lingered as though they did not want to leave. He realized then that the burden he had carried for years was leaving him. It had not disappeared but at last it no longer felt solitary. He would not have to face it alone again. He would not have to face anything alone.

His mother approached them then. She examined Cassandra thoughtfully before speaking.

“You look content.”

“I am content,” Cassandra replied.

His mother’s gaze shifted to him.

“You have surprised me.”

“It would seem that I am capable of that,” he said.

“It appears so, and for the better too.”

As evening settled and the final guests prepared to depart, George escorted Cassandra through the gradually quietinghallways of the manor. The noise faded behind them, and they paused near the grand staircase.

“You are very calm,” she observed.

“Should I not be?”

“I expected more severity from you. This is an important event, after all.”

“I reserve my severity for estate accounts, which I ought to oversee soon enough.”

She smiled faintly. There was a pause.

“We will have difficulties,” he said plainly. “There have been some issues in the town, and I shall have to–”

“We will have to help,” she corrected. “And perhaps it will not be easy, but nothing will come between us unless we allow it.”

It was what he needed to hear, and as she said it he offered her his hand. She took it, squeezing it gently. For the first time since inheriting his title, George felt not the weight of legacy pressing down upon him, but the possibility of building something.

The bells had rung that morning in declaration, and that night, the manor rested in silence. He had not married out of obligation, in spite of what he had always planned. He hadmarried by choice, and for the first time in many years, the future did not feel like a burden he was repairing alone. It felt shared.

“We will find a way,” Cassandra assured him, “for we love one another, and that is all that matters.”

George could not help but agree.

The End?