Discovering the Devil

E p i l o g u e

"Let me see it," Polly demanded. Penelope proudly extended her hand and proudly displayed her fingers. Brenneman, whose drunk eyes were focused on his mother's breast, turned to his head to examine the prize. He momentarily stopped suckling, fascinated with the foreign object. Polly's nose wrinkled. She wasn't as easily impressed. "It's pretty."

"Not to you," Penelope said with a lifted brow. "You don't like it."

"It doesn't matter if I like it or not." Polly relaxed back onto her mount of plush pillows. "It only matters if you do."

Penelope's gaze fell on her engagement ring. A pear-shaped emerald set in diamonds and gold winked back at her. "It was his mother's."

Polly traced a loving finger across her baby's face. "Do you really want a ring from such a doomed marriage?"

"It's not about the marriage, it's about the woman. And anyway, the ring belonged to his mothers side, not his father's." Penelope gave a dreamy sigh. "I'll probably wear a gown to match."

Polly gave her friend a quick glance. Green? On her wedding day? Love had made her go mad, just as Polly had once predicted. "That's lovely, dear."

Penelope gave a delighted giggle. "You think I've lost my mind."

"No, you're just happy. And it's beautiful." Brenneman, who had appeared to have drank his fill, gave a satisfied gurgle. "Brenneman agrees."

Penelope gazed lovingly at her nephew. "Then I really know I'm smitten."

"I'm honestly surprised the two of you aren't getting married sooner."

"Because we've been living in sin for the past couple months?"

"Might as well get on with it. You love each other. You live together—"

"—Lived," Penelope corrected. She'd been staying with her mother at Fleurs for the past couple weeks.

"Lived," Polly assented. "Why not just get married now?"

"Because there is no rush," Penelope said easily. "We deserve a big wedding at the Abbey. That takes at least six months of planning."

Polly gave a low whistle. "St. Peter's? The same abbey where you and Solomon were supposed to be wed?"

"The very same."

Polly cradled her slumbering babe in her arms. "Fate is a funny thing."

"It is." Penelope thought back to all those months ago when her engagement had felt like a death sentence. It was hard to believe that something that now brought her so much joy had once meant so much pain.

"Do you think they'll be happy?" Polly asked.

"Who?"

"The Duke of Burberry and his new duchess."

A week earlier, Solomon and Harry's wicked step-sister quietly married in a small chapel. The ceremony accounted for no more than twenty guests, and afterwards, the wedding carriage took the couple straight to Burberry.

"Charlotte, maybe." That girl's only joy came from torturing others. Given a large estate with countless of poor servants, the new duchess might derive some pleasure from bossing them about. "But, I don't think Solomon can ever be happy."

Polly nodded as they silently reflected on all the duke's anguish. "He can never be happy unless he lets himself move on," she added.

"Amen." Penelope glanced at the clock. "Alright darling, I'm off." Her eyes glittered with glee. "Harry planned a picnic for us."