“You can’t imagine the sleepless nights,” Roan said. He told her how he’d only recently learned that Aurora had tried to put her off. And how they’d returned to New York to find not only had the partnership their marriages would have sealed been disbanded, but their prospective mates had united in the long wait and had decided to marry. “It’s just as well. No matter that I left you behind, I couldn’t marry Susannah, not after what we’d shared. If nothing else, I realized that I can’t marry merely for the sake of it. I can’t devote my life to a woman I don’t love.”
“Oh, Roan,” she said, and reached for his hand. “I must be living inside of a dream, because I can’t believe I am sitting across from you now. I’m sorry. Please know how sorry I am for disappointing you—”
“Never mind that,” Roan said. “Just tell me this—Do you love me?”
Her smile broadened. “I love you. I love you more than I’ve ever loved another being. I should have said it, I should never have let you leave without saying so. Do you still love me?”
“Utterly and completely,” he said emphatically. “Where are you staying?”
Her smile deepened. “The captain secured rooms for me at the Harsinger Hotel. It’s close to here—”
“I know exactly where it is,” he said, coming to his feet. He took her hand and pulled her up.
Prudence laughed and allowed him to lead her out of the tavern.
The clerk at the hotel eyed them disdainfully, but he could tell from the cut of Roan’s clothing that he had means, and with a banknote in his hand turned a blind eye as they scurried up the stairs to her room.
Prudence tossed aside her bonnet as Roan pushed the spencer from her shoulders. Their mouths and hands were on each other as they fell together onto the bed. “My heart was broken,” Roan said as he ravaged her bosom. “I thought it would never mend and by God, I didn’t care if it did. Now you are here, Pru. I can’t believe it, you’re here, and I feel whole again.”
“I’ve been so wretchedly unhappy since you left,” she said through ragged breaths as she dragged her fingers through his hair. “It was the most painful thing I’ve ever endured.”
“I can’t imagine anything less than spending my life with you. Marry me, Pru. You’re here. Marry me.”
“Yes,” she said. “Yes.”
Roan slid into her body and closed his eyes. The heaviness that had existed in him lifted, and he felt a sense of euphoria filling him up. He couldn’t believe she was there, in his arms, warm and fragrant and...and he was going to marry her. He would spend every day for the rest of his life making their marriage an adventure for her.
She caught his face between her hands as he moved in her and said, “I love you. I will always love you.” And then she smiled at him with the devilish gleam in her eye he’d seen the first day of their acquaintance, and Roan felt as if he were walking on clouds. Big puffy white clouds of love.
Good Lord, he was besotted.
EPILOGUE
THINGS HAPPENED VERY quickly after that long afternoon spent in bed at the Harsinger Hotel. A proper wedding was first and foremost on Roan’s mind, and with the help of his father, he arranged it quickly. Prudence thought it was rather amusing that there wasn’t any time for the Mathesons to get acquainted with the idea that their son had married an English girl out of the blue, because Roan set off with her north on horseback almost as soon as their vows were said.
Prudence loved every moment of it. She took Aurora’s advice and wore trousers and rode astride. She felt strong and confident in them, and it helped that Roan seemed taken by her in the trousers, too. He said she looked like a tiny lumberjack.
Prudence also loved that every night, they would sleep in the same bedding, their horses tethered close by, and the pair of dogs that had come along curled at their feet. It reminded her of the first night they’d lain together under the stars, but wildly better. “This is the best adventure I’ve ever had!” Prudence declared with great exuberance one day.
Roan arched a brow at her.
“I beg your pardon. The second best adventure,” she’d said, then smothered him with kisses.
When they returned to New York a month later, they were met with some astounding news. Apparently, Mr. Gunderson’s younger brother, Ben, had discovered a liking for Aurora’s auburn-haired beauty at his brother’s wedding and had fallen head over heels in love. Aurora and Ben Gunderson married on New Year’s Eve, exactly six weeks after Roan and Prudence married. Roan and Prudence agreed that it was a very good thing Aurora married when she did, as her first child appeared “quite early” seven and a half months later.
Roan and Prudence were delighted to welcome their son a few months after that.
The Scoundrel and the Debutante (The Cabot Sisters #3)
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