An Icy Christmas Engagement (Christmas Matches of Worth #1)

Extended Epilogue

Five Years Later

It was tradition to have the entire family over during Christmas and this year was only slightly different. This year, Cedric spent months in India but he planned the trip meticulously to ensure that he could be home in time for this yearly occurrence. He expected to return greeted with excitement.

He did not expect this.

The room was full, which was not what surprised him. Everywhere he looked, something was happening. So much so that no one seemed to notice that he had arrived.

Cedric could only stand there and watch. To the left of the room stood Louisa and her new friend Mr. Francis Johns, talking. Or at least, Francis was talking and Louisa was nodding along with hearts in her eyes, though Cedric didn’t think she would take kindly to that description. That alone took him off guard but he hardly had any time to process that sight when a small child raced up to Louisa to cling on to her leg.

The child was the spitting image of Cedric and was being chased by the spitting image of his wife who was in turn being chased by Elizabeth, of all people. Cedric was accustomed to his twin three-year old toddlers taking every opportunity to play. Clarissa and Christopher had unending energy that no one seemed capable of keeping up with. Yet there Elizabeth was, bounding after them with a broad grin on her face. Christopher, who never seemed to be as quick as Clarissa, was caught by Elizabet first and he squealed in delight when she scooped him into her arms. Clarissa was in a fit of laughter, hiding behind Louisa’s skirts to make sure she was not captured as well.

Cedric could only stare, dumbfounded. Standing by the mantle a short distance away was Harrison talking with Yolanda, his wife. The lovely second daughter of the Earl of Gregory who matched his wit with ease. Cedric was suddenly happy that he was standing far enough away that he could not hear what was being said, knowing that his ears would be burning otherwise. They met at a ball shortly after Cedric and Caroline’s wedding and, despite his unwillingness to marry, Yolanda had not given him much of a choice. Harrison had fallen head over heels in love and offered Yolanda a proposal within a week of meeting her. She turned him down and he spent the rest of that London Season chasing after her until she fell in love as well.

Cedric watched as Lily and Jacob got up from where they had been sitting, their sleeping child handed over to the governess who had been waiting nearby, and went to talk with Harrison and Yolanda. Or rather, Lily waddled, because she was with child again, and Jacob fell into his usual position as her shadow. The two couples greeted each other with smiles and laughter.

Cedric began to relax at the sight. It was a mostly normal sight.

But he tensed once more when he saw Grace lying on a chaise lounge, eyes closed. His heart skipped a beat at the sight and he nearly rushed to her side. But then she opened her eyes and reached for her lemonade on the table before her, realized it was empty, and bellowed to Louisa, “I have run out of lemonade!”

The sound of someone’s familiar laughter washed away all those unusual emotions at these odd sights. Cedric turned his gaze to the opposite end of the room where Caroline sat.

Her back was mostly turned to him, her elbow propped on the open windowsill with what looked like a scandal sheet in her other hand. She lowered the scandal sheet as she laughed at Grace’s exclamation.

Cedric could handle everyone else not noticing him but he had been thinking about Caroline every day since he left.

He cleared his throat loudly. All heads turned to him. There was a moment of suspension before Clarissa and Christophre screamed, “Papa!”

“At last, someone notices me,” Cedric said with a chuckle as he dropped to his knees to welcome his children into his arms.

“Cedric!”

Cedric looked up just in time to see Caroline struggling to her feet, her rotund belly slowing her down. She noticed his widened stare and laughed. “I wanted you to be surprised so I did not say anything about it in my letters.”

“How long?” he breathed, watching as she waddled over. “Goodness, it could not have been long, could it?”

She smiled, slipping her arms around him. “I became aware of it shortly after you left, so it has only been a few months. Though at the rate I’m going, I may end up having two at once again.”

The very thought filled Cedric with such happiness that he could hardly contain it. He kissed her fiercely, not caring that the others were watching.

“Welcome home, Cedric,” Grace said from behind. Cedric looked up to see she hadn’t moved from her spot. She had begun using a cane in the past few years and hated every second of it. “Sit down so that I do not feel bad that I cannot come to greet you.”

“Cannot or will not?” Lily asked.

“It is the same thing,” Grace said easily.

Cedric did just that. He gave his greetings to everyone as he did so and was not surprised when they all returned it and then went back to their own devices. They would come one by one to ask about his travels and tell him how much they’d missed him, he knew, but for now they would give him his time with his wife. Thankfully, the children went back to playing.

He planted a kiss on Grace’s cheek as he went by and sat across from Caroline by the window. “A scandal sheet?” he asked, gesturing to the paper she had set aside.

She sank heavily into her chair and nodded. “It is quite informative, you know. Lord Sotheby has gotten married. As has Lady Ashworth—or Lady Thornbridge now.”

That surprised Cedric. He didn’t think Isabella would marry again after her embarrassment chased her to hide away in the countryside. But he knew Lord Thornbridge did not come to London often, so he supposed it made a little sense. And now that Simon had been sent to the colonies for punishment for his crimes, there was nothing holding her back.

“Good to know Lord Sotheby healed after you shattered his heart,” he teased.

Caroline sighed. “I did not break his heart. He was never in love with me in the first place. He hardly knew me.”

“I hardly knew you when I fell in love with you,” Cedric pointed out.

“Indeed. But that is not the reason I was reading it. Mr. Holloway told me that my book has been getting such positive reviews that it made it to the scandal sheets. And look! He was right!”

Cedric grinned as she excitedly showed him the passage about her book. She was writing under her name now and though she didn’t want to admit it, Cedric knew that it had made her trepidatious. But the positive reports from Mr. Holloway showed that her talent—and Cedric’s support—was more than enough to make her successful.

“Have I told you how proud I am of you?”

She beamed. “You have.”

“Have I said it today?”

“You have not.”

Cedric moved suddenly, sinking to one knee in front of her. Caroline blinked in surprise. “You make me prouder with every day that goes by. I am lucky to have you as my wife.”

Caroline grinned broadly. She placed both hands on his cheeks and kissed him soundly. “I’m so happy to have you back. I missed you terribly. It is a pity you returned when so many others are here.”

“It will only be a few hours before they are gone,” he assured her.

“Oh? I thought you would have been as impatient as I am.”

“Don’t doubt that I am, my love. You are all I have thought about for months. But I am willing to wait a lifetime for a moment alone with you.”

Caroline kissed him again before saying, “That was beautiful. I’m stealing it for my next book.”

“Ah, so I am still your muse. Marvellous.”

She laughed and he finally drew away, though it was far more difficult than he’d expected.

“Tell me about your travels,” she said and he complied. And as he spoke, he realized he wouldn’t wish for anything else.

Being here, surrounded by friends and family, with the love of his life, made every hardship he went through absolutely worth it. Anything for this beautiful, beautiful life.

The End