The Plain Bride by Chasity Bowlin
Epilogue
One Year Later
Althea heardthe carriage wheels before she rounded the corner of the house. The small garden had become her sanctuary, as the house was forever under construction. But she wouldn’t complain. Stripping away the artifice of Rosedale Manor and returning the house to its Tudor origins had given Sinclair purpose, and Sinclair with a purpose was a magnificent thing indeed. The ennui and sarcasm that had reflected how deeply unhappy he’d been were simply gone. In their place was a man who was excited to begin each day.
A soft mewling sound drew her gaze, and she stared down at the small bundle in her arms. Their son, Grayson Sinclair Wortham, had been born at Rosedale Manor, the place he would call home. While the first six months of her pregnancy had been a misery, the last three had seen her glowing with health and vitality. Even the delivery had been shockingly quick and easy. But she would not take that for granted.
Patting the baby soothingly, she continued toward the front of the house, just as the carriage halted. The doors sprung open, and Sabine was out of the carriage and running towards her.
“Oh, let me see him! I know he’s grown so much,” Sabine cried out.
Untying the shawl which she used to support her son’s not insubstantial weight, she relinquished him into Sabine’s waiting arms. “He has a very healthy appetite.”
“My goodness, he certainly does! Are you well? Truly?”
Althea smiled. “I could not be better. Only heaven could be better than this. Even then, I would take some convincing.”
Sabine laughed at that just as Sinclair emerged from the house. He smiled at them but did not interrupt their talk. Instead, he headed straight for Gray, and the two men began conversing about the renovations.
“He certainly looks well,” Sabine observed.
“He is. Remarkably so. Fatherhood and home renovations seem to suit him tremendously well.”
“I wonder if fatherhood will suit Gray so perfectly?”
There was a note in Sabine’s tone, one of pure giddiness and joy, that told the truth of it even before she asked the question. “Are you with child?”
“I am. And much farther along this time than last. Nearly five months gone,” she admitted. “Gray knows, and now you, but we’ve told no one else. I was afraid to hope, but the midwife—the one who attended you in Bath—she has helped me. I’ve been taking these vile-tasting herbal teas she has given me. They’re awful, but I’ll drink them by the barrel if need be.”
“Let’s go to the garden and have our tea there. It is a beautiful day, after all. But they will all be beautiful to you from now on, won’t they?”
“What doyou think they’re whispering about?” Mayville asked.
“They’re likely trying to plan a wedding between my daughter and your son.”
Mayville grinned. “How do you know it will be a daughter?”
“I don’t, really. I want it to be. Is that strange? I’d rather have a miniature version of my lovely wife to spoil than an heir,” Gray mused.
“I don’t think it’s strange,” Mayville answered. “I hope we are blessed with one, as well. Though Thea says she hopes any daughter we have should look like me. She insists I am the prettier of us.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Gray shuddered. “But you are ridiculously pretty. It’s unseemly for a man. Oh, and it will never happen, by the way.”
“My daughter won’t look like me?”
“My daughter will never marry your son. She’ll never marry anyone’s son. She will remain sweet, innocent and free from all the wretched misery that men bring to women in this world,” Gray stated flatly. “So don’t let him get any ideas.”
“I do not let him do anything.” Mayville laughed. “I cannot wait for you to discover just how little control you will actually have. That, my friend, will be the second greatest joy of my life!”
At that moment, Sabine and Althea laughed. Gray shrugged. “I’d asked what the first was, but I’m not a fool. She makes you happy.”
“She is my heart, and that very loud bundle your wife is staring at adoringly is my soul. The very best of me is in him,” Mayville said. “As it should be.”
“As it should be,” Gray concurred. “Now, let’s go and stop them before they have the banns posted.”
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