Page 115 of Sinful Persuasion of a Lady in the Making
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Sebastian examined his reflection in the looking glass, his nerves making him shake beneath his wedding clothes
He had changed in the months leading up to the wedding, but only in the best possible ways. He had become a stronger person, a better man. He had become the man he had always wanted to be and as he watched his reflection that morning, he finally knew he was a man his parents would have been proud of.
With a skip of delight, he picked up his top hat and dashed to the coach, where his sister and Thomas were waiting for him.
“You look wonderful,” Diana said as he stepped out of the house.
“Thank you. Goodness, I’m so nervous. Were you like this on your wedding day?”
“Worse, I’m sure,” Diana said with a chuckle.
“Our wedding was the most terrifying and most magnificent day of my whole life,” Thomas added. “I have no doubt that yours will be equally so for you.”
Diana and Thomas had rushed their marriage, not wanting to waste any more time. Diana had urged it, given her age, but Thomas hadn’t complained. In fact, he had welcomed it. And when Sebastian asked them about the possibility of children, Thomas had told him the story that Jenny had told him so many months previously about his adoption from the streets.
“We will simply do the same, if necessary,” Thomas had said, smiling over at Diana. “It will not only give us the child we crave, but it will mean giving a poor young thing a chance at a good life, with an education and wealth behind him.”
“Or her,” Diana said with mock outrage.
“Or both,” Thomas replied, winking at her.
Sebastian had approved of their match from the very beginning, but it was in that moment that he knew they were perfect for one another.
At the church, as he finally stood at the altar, he could feel himself jiggling and fidgeting, but he couldn’t stop. When the organ music finally began, he knew he wasn’t supposed to turn around and watch Jenny walk down the aisle. He was to wait until she was line with him—Diana had told him, as had Thomas and Luke. Yet he couldn’t stop himself from looking and when he did, he gasped.
She looked magnificent, her gown specially made of ivory silk that cascaded from the short, ornate bodice. Her black curls were tight and stark beneath the ivory lace of her veil, and through that he could see the vague shape of her smile.
“You look like you were sent to me from heaven,” he said when she reached the altar, and he heard her stifle a giggle.
“There you go with those sweet words again.”
The service, though long, was magical. Each word spoken, each action taken went straight to Sebastian’s heart, and he felt himself lifted higher as they made their vows. Once they were declared man and wife, they walked back down the aisle, this time together, to a compliment of applause and cheers.
“Well, it’s finally happened,” she said to him once they were outside and waiting on the coach to take them to Hartwood House. She gripped onto the stems of her bouquet.
“And now you’re stuck with me,” she said with an exaggerated sigh. “How on earth will you manage?”
“Well, let me see.” He put a finger to his lips and looked to the sky. “Somehow, I think I’ll manage just fine!”
When they arrived at Hartwood House, Alison, Luke, Diana and Thomas were already there, directing servants and ensuring the ballroom was perfect.
“You have made us all proud,” Thomas said.
“Sebastian, I’m glad to have you as part of my family,” Luke said.
The party lasted for hours, the guests seated in neat rows that became more haphazard as the evening wore on. They feasted slowly, spreading it out across the afternoon and long after the sun had set, and they drank steadily.
“So this is what married life is like,” Sebastian said as they danced a slow waltz that the string quartet played.
“And how is that?” she asked.
“Eating, drinking, and dancing more than twice with the most beautiful lady in the room.”
“Lady? Goodness, I’d forgotten about that bit.”
