Pursuing Miss Hall by Karen Thornell
Epilogue
“Ah. I ought to have known you would be in here. Checking my work for mistakes, are you?”
Meg did not look up from the estate log she was holding but he saw the slight lift of her cheek that meant she was smiling. “You only made two this past month—it has to be a new record.”
Nathan laughed, then strode forward and gently pulled the book from Meg, setting it on the large desk behind him. He grasped her hands and pulled her up from her seat, enjoying the look of surprise in her eyes when they finally looked into his own.
“I was not done with that,” she reprimanded, her smiling face contrary to her sharp tone.
“I know. And you may have it back, but first . . .” Nathan pressed a hand to the middle of her back, drawing her nearer, and lowered his mouth to hers. Her hands splayed on his chest as she returned his kiss.
“This isn’t fair, you know,” she murmured against his lips.
“I know.” He grinned, pulling back slightly. “But how can I help it when my wife is as irresistible as you?”
Her hand lightly smacked his chest, but she continued to smile. Nathan leaned to kiss her again.
A rattling on the window caused them both to stop. Nathan groaned when Meg turned to inspect the noise. Then, with a surprised laugh, she opened the window and put her hands on her hips.
“Charles. Robert. Just what do you think you are doing?”
A hearty laugh burst from Nathan as two identical sandy heads popped up from below the window. “Papa told us that the vine here made for a good climbing rope.”
“Charles!” Nathan came up behind Meg, once again placing his hand on her lower back and piercing his six-year-old son with a scowl. “If you continue to rat me out to your mother, I will no longer feel capable of sharing such secrets with you!” He could feel Meg shaking with laughter, though her face remained impressively calm.
“Sorry, Papa,” the boys chimed in tandem, hanging their heads.
Meg’s lips twitched as she moved to help the boys through the window. Nathan was much less successful at hiding his mirth, and he had to look away for a moment to compose himself while his wife attempted to scold their boys.
“Where is Nurse Audley? I imagine she is unaware of your current whereabouts.”
The twins exchanged guilty glances. Meg’s lips twitched again as she bent to their eye level.
“Go. Tell her where you have been and apologize. Your papa and I will join you for tea in a quarter of an hour. Go on.”
“Yes, Mama.” The twins each kissed a side of her cheek, then rushed off, their smiles not at all dampened by being caught. They never were.
Meg sighed, a sound both exasperated and entertained. “I do not know what we are going to do with them.”
“I know,” Nathan said, turning her to face him again. “It is as if they were raised by ruffians. Someone should inform their parents.”
Meg laughed, and Nathan opened his arms wide. Smiling, she stepped closer, and he enfolded her into his embrace. The familiar contentedness spread through him like warm sunlight. They stood there silently for a moment. Then he pressed a kiss into her hair and released her.
“Where are you going?” she asked as he stepped to the door.
“The gardens,” he replied evasively.
“And why exactly are you going to the gardens?”
“You shall see.” And then he slipped from the room, Meg’s laughter accompanying him out the door.
“Please do not fall whilst climbing up to the nursery window!” her voice called after him.
He laughed, yelling back, “I never fall!”