My Ruthless Duke Bonus Epilogue

Bonus Epilogue

Seven Years Later

“Mama, Mama, come look!” Young Charles called to Cordelia, running happily toward her with his hands cupped together. Though she knew that whatever he was bound to have cupped inside of his hands was unlikely to be something she wanted to see, she put the same bright smile on her face as he came to meet her. He stood, practically bouncing from one foot to the other as he waited for her to hold her hands out to accept whatever it was he was about to give her.

Over Charles’ shoulder, Dorian cleared his throat loudly. Cordelia flicked her gaze in his direction as Dorian subtly shook his head that no, she ought not to accept the gift.

“Why do you not show me?” Cordelia asked instead, now highly suspicious that whatever was in her son’s hand was alive and likely crawling all over him.

“Because it is a present!” Charles insisted, thrusting his cupped hands forward once more. “For your birthday! I looked all morning to find the perfect one!”

“The perfect… what, dearest?” Cordelia asked nervously.

Just then, Charles’ hand croaked like a toad. Cordelia gasped and startled backward, and her reaction caused Charles to open his hands, and a large green and yellow speckled toad leaped merrily from his hands and out onto the grass.

“Oh no!” Charles gasped and took off running in the direction of the toad.

Dorian moved up beside his wife and placed a hand around her waist. He pulled her closer and pressed a soft kiss onto her cheek. “I tried to tell him that you might not desire a toad for a birthday present, but he argued that it was exactly the sort of present that he would have liked to have received, and could not fathom that anyone would not like a toad.”

Cordelia grinned and shrugged her shoulder. “I suspect that when George arrives, Charles shall be trailing after him instead. You know how fond he is of George, after all.”

“When are the guests due to arrive again?” Dorian asked, his thumb running over her waist.

“Any moment now. Matilde has everything set up on the terrace for tea and lunch… picnic blankets set out as well as the Pall-Mall wickets installed and mallets ready for anybody who wishes to play after tea. She was rather looking forward to that one, as Mary had been gloating that she had not yet lost a game to her husband. Dorian was perfectly certain that she was exaggerating, but it promised to be a very entertaining match nonetheless.

Soon enough, their friends all started to arrive in pairings, their children in tow or running off across the fields to see their other friends. They tried to get together like this as often as they could so that their children could grow up as close to one another as possible. Mary and Patrick had even purchased the neighboring property just so that their children could be closer.

Presents were placed on the open table left over by the picnic setup. Cordelia was overjoyed to greet her friends, pulling out of Dorian’s grasp and rushing to meet Penelope and her husband, Rhysand. Without Penelope’s friendship, she did not know where she would have been. She might not have even been with Dorian if her friend had not accompanied her to find the truth. Eleanor and Xander arrived second, moving into their group easily. Each of her friends had had more children, and they all seemed to be in different stages. Marina and Aaron were last to arrive, greeting Dorian with a firm handshake and words of well-wishes as their twins ran across the lawns to catch up with the other children.

Before she knew it, the tea had been consumed and biscuits eaten. Half of the children had been taken back inside to sleep while the other half were still pretending not to feel the exhaustion of playing all day. Though, Cordelia knew that they were all going to sleep very well tonight.

“Who is ready to lose to me in Pall Mall?” Mary called, having already picked out her mallet and swinging it playfully in front of her.

Dorian sighed. “I have tried to tell her that victory is certainly not assured. Yet her ego still seems to know no bounds!”

“I think that it is a family trait,” Cordelia teased as she walked arm in arm with her husband.

“Would it be best to play in pairs?” Rhysand offered as his wife pulled closer to him.

“Perhaps, I think that will lessen some of the competitive spirit between the rest of us. No need to cause strife in marriages!” Marina offered with a bright smile.

“That is a lovely idea! Let us stick to the natural pairs,” Penelope agreed.

With that, they all took their places and moved into position. However, it did not take more than a couple of turns before the good-natured competition turned wicked. No longer were they worried about making points for themselves, but rather, they were only concerned about sabotaging the plays of the other people around them.

Nobody was more competitive about it than Mary and Dorian were.

Even after all of the others had long since stopped playing, the siblings kept on with one another even as Cordelia slowly ambled back toward the refreshed tea setting that Matilde had just finished setting out—when Lavinia arrived with large boxes under her arms as she loudly announced her presence to the yard.

“By Jove! I cannot believe that you all have started playing without me!” Lavinia called, dropping the boxes off of her arms where she presently stood and picking up her skirts to walk toward them more quickly.

“Mama! You made it!” Cordelia called and rushed to greet her. Their relationship had come such a very long way since her mother’s sobriety. They had spent countless nights together in either her parlor or Lavinia’s, staying awake into the morning hours, talking things over and working them out. Lavinia was a completely active grandmother to Charles. It was everything that she could have ever wished for.

“While I would love to say that I am here for you, on your birthday, you should know that I am truly just here to see my grandson.”

“He would love to give you one of the frogs that he has been catching all morning.”

“That sounds lovely,” Lavinia laughed. “Perhaps if I kiss one, they will turn into the wealthy prince that I deserve!”

Cordelia could not help but laugh. It was not as if her mother was not presently being courted by a wonderful man. Though, she still seemed determined to play hard to get.

When the sun was finally setting that afternoon, the sky painted a collection of warm pinks, oranges, and yellows; the grouping was seated comfortably inside Cordelia’s completely reformed and thriving greenhouse. It was one of her most prized accomplishments. The building had been carefully and perfectly restored over the years, and every inch of the place was blooming vibrantly with life.

“I did not think that this greenhouse could get any lovelier.” Eleanor looked at the place in awe once more.

“Absolutely. But I do think it lacks something. If I were you, I would get some birds,” Marina said nonchalantly.

“That is a brilliant idea, my love. Cordelia, how would you like to have a parrot?” Aaron sounded a bit too eager in his offer.

“Aaron! We are not giving away Henry VIII!” Marina was flustered. It was evident that this was not the first time her husband tried to get rid of the bird.

“It was worth a try.”

Conversation had started to dwindle as the events of the day started to catch up with them more and more—and Cordelia took it upon herself to break the silence. “I wanted to thank you all for being here with me today; there is not a single day that goes by without my being grateful for your friendship and support. The presents were breathtaking, truly.”

Cordelia exchanged knowing glances with her mother, the only person who knew about what she was going to do next.

“But I do have one more thing. I have a present for you as well, husband.” Cordelia said with a grin. It was the best present of all, one that she had been working on for quite some time now. All of the attention in their group shifted to her as a smile slowly spread across her features. Her hands dropped to her belly, and the life that she knew was growing inside of her and had been for the last two months. She and Dorian had been trying to have their second child for years now. A collective gasp of excitement moved through their grouping as Cordelia’s meaning registered, but Dorian’s mouth still hung open in denial of what he was hearing.

“Are you certain?” Dorian whispered almost reverently.

Cordelia grinned, her hands reaching for her husband as he rose from his chair to embrace her. Cordelia had even been sure to wait until she was certain, and today was the perfect day for such an announcement, making it the very best birthday yet—and plenty more to come.

Dorian paused to whisper in her ear before letting her go, “I love you, Little Flower. But do not think that this means we will stop trying. I have a proper birthday present planned for you tonight.” He released her with a wink, and her heart fluttered as heat surged lower. A perfect end to a perfect day, she hoped.

“Oh, I look forward to it, my love.”

The End.