Sleepless in Southampton by Chasity Bowlin
Epilogue
Ten Months Later…
Sophie smiled as she looked up from her sewing. She could hear carriage wheels approaching. They were sequestered at Haverton Abbey, a small estate in Hampshire near Basingstoke. It was where she and Henry had chosen to make their home, as it allowed easy travel to Southampton and to London. Still, she was overjoyed to have company for the summer. She was even more overjoyed that it was Philippa. Under the care of Dr. Warner, she had made not a full recovery, but was much improved. The megrims that had left her completely debilitated before now happened less than once per month, which she insisted was a miracle.
For her part, Sophie was convinced the girl was right. She only hoped that Philippa would not be too disappointed when she heard the news. The plan for Philippa’s debut that winter had included the lot of them going to London together. But that would be impossible.
Moments later, Philippa came rushing in. She was vibrant and lovely, her cheeks flushed with healthy color and a lovely smile curved her lips. “Sophie! It’s been ages!”
“I saw you only three weeks past,” Sophie insisted. “Henry and I came to visit and we attended the theater and an assembly.”
Philippa shrugged. “So I exaggerated a bit! Still, it feels like it’s been forever! Three weeks with Mama and Papa fussing over me at every turn. I continue to tell them daily that I am much recovered, but they will not stop worrying!”
Sophie chuckled. “They are your parents. I daresay that is part and parcel, my dear. Where is Henry?”
“Oh, we found the most adorable puppy!” Philippa exclaimed. “He rescued it from the roadside. Poor thing. He’s talking to one of the servants about treatments for fleas, or some such thing.”
Of course, he had rescued a dog. Another dog. It would have good company with the two cats, a parakeet, donkey and a sickly goat. He was forever bringing home a stray. But since that was precisely what he’d done with her, she could hardly complain. “Naturally. There is something I need to discuss with you, Philippa. I know we were supposed to head to town in the fall and stay there through the entire season, but I am afraid we have to alter our plan.”
“You’re not going to be there for my first season?”
“No,” Sophie said. Leaning in, she all but whispered her explanation, “I’m terribly sorry. It’s just that… well, it would be rather frowned upon for a woman in my condition to be out in society at such a time.”
Philippa’s eyes widened. “Oh, my gracious! Oh, does Henry know?”
Sophie laughed. “I’d hardly tell you first. He does know, but we haven’t told everyone else yet. I thought to wait until we know things are going well.”
Philippa nodded gravely. “I understand. Mama became that way. After so many were lost, she stopped announcing it to anyone but immediate family. But now, she has little Georgie and he is as hale and hardy as a lad could be. Oh, and loud! Heavens but he is loud!”
“I believe that is the propensity of babies,” Henry said as he entered the room through the terrace doors. “They scream and scream to get what they want… it wasn’t so long ago, dear cousin, that I was saying the same of you.”
Philippa smiled. “I was never so rude. I refuse to believe it.”
Sophie looked up at her husband. “Are you forgetting something?”
“Never,” he replied and promptly leaned in to kiss her cheek. “And how is my lovely wife this afternoon?”
“Aware of the new four-legged creature you’ve brought home,” she replied.
He simply grinned. “It’s the sweetest thing, Sophie. You’ll love it. Once it’s been cleaned and divested of any vermin, I shall introduce you to your new pet.”
“My pet? I do not recall saying that I wished to have a pet!” she protested.
“But of course you do! It’s tiny and helpless and utterly adorable,” he insisted with an impish grin.
“This is the last one. It’s the last one or we’ll have to find a larger estate,” she relented, trying to suppress her laughter.
It was a daily occurrence, Sophie realized. There was not a day spent in Henry’s company where she did not laugh. Perhaps their wedding had been irregular, and their courtship nonexistent as it was fraught with murderous plots and villains. But their marriage—that, they were doing perfectly.
“I love you,” she said.
“And I love you.”
“And I’m going to my room,” Philippa said and rose, leaving them alone.
Henry wrinkled his nose. “We are a bit hard to tolerate, aren’t we? Being excessively happy, affectionate and in love makes us very bothersome, apparently.”
Sophie put her sewing aside and rose from the settee to drape herself across his lap where he sprawled on one of the chairs. “It’s not such a burden… being left alone with you because others can’t abide us.”
His hand slid upward, cupping the back of her head and sending hair pins scattering to the floor. “I believe that was your diabolical plan all along. Are you trying to seduce me, Viscountess Marchwood?”
“Always.”
