Extended Epilogue
1 year later
Virtue reclined in a rocking chair by the window of her newly renovated drawing room, the midday sun warming her face while she cradled her newborn son in her arms. Though she had little strength to do more than sit and hold her child, she found that in this moment, that was all she might wish to do. So content was she that given the option, she might never move again.
“You ought to rest, dear,” her husband’s voice floated into the once silent chamber. She did not need to turn and face him, for his presence and heady scent remained always unmistakable. “How long has it been now?”
“Only a few hours,” Virtue whispered, though her grasp on time had become tenuous in the whirlwind of childbirth and new motherhood. Truthfully, the past days had all formed into one big blur.
“Try several days,” Sebastian corrected with a gentle chuckle, moving to stand behind her. He tenderly stroked her hair, his touch soothing. “How you remain awake, I cannot fathom.”
She smiled, feeling his gaze join hers on the tiny bundle she held in her arms. “If I must choose between sleep and holding our son, I choose the latter. I might well forsake sleep forever.”
“I do not doubt that for a moment,” he chuckled softly, his laughter careful not to disturb their child. “Look at him…” His voice held a note of awe and adoration. “Have you ever beheld anything so innocent and beautiful?”
“No,” she whispered, knowing it to be the truth. “I have not. Little Jasper…” She cooed softly and then grinned when a thought came to her. “You realize what this means, don’t you?”
“What?”
“That you are no longer the handsomest man in this household,” Virtue teased, a playful gleam in her gaze. “I am afraid Jasper has usurped your title.”
Sebastian laughed heartily, bending over to gently stroke their son’s cheek. “It is a difficult point to contest,” he admitted with a smile.
Virtue joined in the mirth, her eyes lingering on the peaceful form of their sleeping son. He seemed so delicate nestled in her arms. So fragile. Was this how Sebastian had always seen her? So helpless? So in need of his care? He felt a giant compared to her, a protector in fact, yet at the same time, empty enough that without her, he might be lost. It was a strange feeling, knowing you were needed so resolutely and completely, so relied upon to survive. Although…
…was that not the very nature of her bond with Sebastian? They needed each other with a necessity so deep that survival without the other seemed unfathomable. Together, their love was an unassailable fortress. Now, with Jasper between them, that bond was ever stronger—shared between herself, her husband, and their child.
“I just had a chat with Miles,” Sebastian began, shifting the subject slightly to their new butler, after their former butler, Albion Merchant, had left for London.
Albion, ever the loyal butler, had not once vouched for his son upon learning the truth of the pain Ralph’s actions had caused Sebastian and Virtue. And for that, Sebastian was not remiss. He appreciated the man greatly, a man who appeared as ancient as the castle itself at times. But he also understood the significant toll it would have taken on a father to lose their only child to imprisonment. So, after a few final months of employment, Sebastian had personally purchased Albion a home by Millbank, the prison Ralph was being kept in, and had advocated a leaner sentence for the man so that he would not be put to death. He had also promised to compensate his former butler for the long years he had worked under the Greystones, to ensure the man would live a comfortable final years of his life. Their new butler, an elderly man by the name of Miles Grimsby, had appeared before them as a beacon of light after a personal referral from Prescott. He might have been a touch less adept, but he more than made up for that in loquacity. “So, two things,” Sebastian continued.
“Sounds grave,” she replied with a light laugh.
“It just might be. Your father sent word—he plans to arrive tomorrow.”
“Ah, at long last he decides to visit,” she responded, a note of dry humor in her voice.
“I am astonished as yourself,” Sebastian chuckled. He was leaning over her, one finger dangling above Jasper’s head as he softly cooed. Jasper was sound asleep and, where she was probably imagining it, she could have sworn she detected a small smile. “I think that he’s finally starting to come around to me.”
“It only took a year,” she quipped and he laughed along, the two transfixed for another moment by their child. “And the other thing?” she followed up.
“Ah, yes. Lucy mentioned she was in the village this morning and it seems a few folks are eager to visit and meet Jasper.”
Virtue shook her head playfully. “Ah, Lucy. Now that she has met the so-called love of her life in Edmund, she seems to always be out and about the village.” But then she lost her smile and sighed. “You know, a small part of me wishes the villagers were still terrified of you. It would be a lot simpler keeping to ourselves at private times like these.”
“Yes, well, ever since I ceased devouring their offspring, the villagers have notably lost their sense of fear,” Sebastian jested.
“Tell them they may visit tomorrow,” Virtue decided with a light chuckle. “Today, I am simply too weary. And perhaps it sounds selfish, but I am not ready to share Jasper with anyone else just yet.”
“Even me?”
Virtue rolled her eyes. “You are exempt. But only because I lack the strength to send you away.”
He laughed as he leaned down and planted a kiss against her temple. “And I count my blessings every single day.”
There was not much talking after that. The room settled into a comfortable silence. Sebastian remained by her side, leaning over her shoulder so he could watch his son. And Virtue remained seated, refusing to let Jasper out of her arms for even a moment. Her eyelids were heavy. Her mind was addled. Her body was worn and tired and more than once she felt herself drifting, only to give her head a shake so she might remain awake.
She had known happiness before. For nearly a year now, almost every day spent with Sebastian reminded her of how happy she was and what her life had become. But this was something else entirely. When she had first been married to Sebastian, and when they had first started to fall for one another, she had always felt as if he was a protector of sorts, safe in his presence, knowing that so long as she was with him, no harm would come to her. And she knew that he felt the same. But now, she had someone of her own to look after.
And as she held her son in her arms, she knew there was nothing she wouldn’t do to protect him. She had Sebastian to look after her, and she had Jasper to look after. Together, they made a perfect little family, one that would likely grow to include others, one that would never falter or fail for the love they would share was too strong for that.
This was no mere romance out of her storybooks. This was no fairytale with a prince and princess. This was real life, her life, perhaps not as exciting as those tales but far more… real. And as significant as this moment was, it was also but a chapter in what she knew would be a long and fulfilling life. A happy life. No need to guess the twists and turns of this story, for she was content enough to simply live it.
Virtue was deeply in love. She was deeply loved in return. And in the quiet truth of their everyday existence, that was everything.