Page 52 of Twice Upon a Midnight

His eyes glistened. “Aye, lad.”

“Then most sons would be given no more than a forty percent share of the family business while their fathers are still alive. You can do whatever you want in your will, but that’s all I will accept now.” He cleared the knot of emotion from his throat. “To be treated like a son and no more.”

Martin nodded and blinked hard as he looked away.

“I’d be happy to take care of that in the morning,” Mr. Gordon assured them. “But there’s more. We have another agreement to discuss.”

Good Lord.Another one? “For what?” Spenser asked cautiously.

Mr. Gordon sorted through the pages on the table. “Mr. Henslow asked me to prepare an offer for the Duke of Pensworth. Mr. Henslow will pay off all of Simon Radcliff’s rather mountainous debts in return for the Duke of Pensworth sending his son away from England until the marquess inherits.”

Spenser understood completely.That sly old man… He leveled a knowing glance at Martin. “So he can’t interfere with our marriage.”

“Exactly.” Martin paused. “Do you agree with that proposed arrangement?”

“Yes!” Ella answered quickly for him.

With a wry smile, Spenser echoed, “Yes.”

“Very well,” Mr. Gordon said. “I will approach the Duke of Pensworth in the morning and provide all arrangements for the marquess, including passage to France, rooms in Paris, and an adequate allowance. I have no doubt that His Grace will agree to our terms.”

Martin chuckled and lifted his glass in a toast. “To the marquess—may he have a long stay abroad!”

Relief swelled in Spenser’s chest. For the first time, he could finally let himself believe that he and Ella would have a wonderful life together, a home filled with children and books…and poetry. Lots and lots of poetry. He leaned over and placed a kiss to Ella’s temple.

She closed her eyes for a brief moment, as if she, too, felt the same relief and hope for the future.

Then she slipped away from Spenser’s side and approached Martin. She softly asked, “You really did all this just to bring us together?”

“It was the only way.” Martin scowled over her head at Spenser. “You nearly ruined it all by almost getting into a duel with your brother. That’s when I had no choice but to feign an attack of apoplexy.” He arched a bushy gray brow. “You almost gave me the real thing, I’ll have you know.”

“You did all this,” Ella repeated, shaking her head in disbelief, “but you don’t even know me.”

His old eyes softened on her. “I know that Spenser loves you, and I love Spenser. That’s all that matters.”

Ella placed a kiss to his cheek. “You wonderful man,” she told him, her voice quavering. “You’re the best fairy godmother a girl could ever hope for.”

Martin blushed from embarrassment yet shrugged away her compliment. He lifted his glass to toast the two of them. “And to you—may you have more happiness than you know what to do with.”

Spenser came up behind Ella and slipped his arm lovingly around her. She nestled against his side, exactly where she belonged.

There would be all kinds of days and years ahead of them, filled with laughter and love, and all kinds of nights in each other’s arms, holding off the dawn as long as possible. But here and now, finally, he had everything he had ever wanted in life, and they all had each other. They could face anything now.Together.

She tilted her face up toward his, and happily, he leaned down to kiss her.

EPILOGUE

Mayfair, London

Three Months Later

Ella leaned against the stone balustrade edging the terrace and gazed out over the garden, dotted with lamps and luminaries of all shapes and sizes. The Duke of Durham’s house was awash in light and music, and the crush of guests spilled out of its large rooms, across the rear garden, and into the park beyond, which had been thrown open wide for the evening’s festivities. She smiled at the sight. After all, it was one thing to host such a grand society party as her parents had done for her at the beginning of the season—it was something altogether singular for them to do it a second time at the end of the same season, and to do it even more grandly than the first. The whole house simply sparkled.

“Exactly as it should be,” she whispered to herself.

She held up her left hand. The gold band gleamed even in the soft torchlight.

“No.” A joyous little smile tugged at her lips. “Thisis exactly as it should be.”