Page 73 of The Scoundrel of Drury Lane
“But Lionel just said—”
Kit stroked a long, calloused fingertip over her cheek. “I meant the story isn’t over.”
“What story?” she asked, mesmerized by the light shining from his dark eyes.
“Ourstory.”
“I do love stories,” she admitted. “But how did ours begin?”
“Once upon a time...,” he said in a sonorous voice that made her giggle.
“That’s how all fairy tales begin.”
He traced her lips with the pad of his thumb. “Did I not mention our story is a fairy tale?”
“No, you didn’t.” She was delighted to see Kit so playful, even though he was clearly tired.
“Well, it is. Now, where was I?”
“Once upon a time...”
“Oh yes, once upon a time, there was a kindly old king and his young prince who ruled a distant land. And in that land, there was a crofter and his lovely young daughter. When she’d been born, the fairies had gifted her with the talent to paint the truth of anything she saw.”
Suzannah carefully settled back on the pillows more. “Is that so?”
“Yes, and one day an evil sorcerer put a curse upon the prince, sending him so far away that he could not find his way home. But the crofter’s daughter painted, and her art started to break the evil spell upon the prince.
“The prince journeyed for seven years to try to return home, a journey that was hard and dangerous. But the old king had died while the prince was away, and so had the crofter, but the little artist continued to paint and the prince continued his journey.
“One night the prince came upon the crofter’s daughter painting the world with her magic, and just like that, the curse withered away like the vines on an old castle. The chains that had bound him crumbled to dust. She had set him free.”
“What happened next? Did they live happily ever after?”
“Of course,” Kit said. “She went on to paint kings and queens. Artists across the kingdom wanted to learn to paint the truth like she did.”
Suzannah ran her fingertips over his bare forearm. “And what about the prince?”
“He realized he was a manblessed, not cursed. He had his home, his friends, and above all that he had love in his heart again because of her. Someday he would grow old, surrounded by children and grandchildren, but so long as he had his little painter to love and cherish, the soul inside him and the soul inside her were together always because... well, death cannot harm those who love, can it?
“So they lived on forever, even after their bodies had passed on. They lived in the air, in the soil, in the trees, and in the lives of those they loved. That is what happily ever after means, doesn’t it?” Kit’s words were heavy with emotion, and Suzannah grasped his shirt and drew him down to kiss her.
In that moment she glimpsed the shining future she knew they would have. She had rarely given thought to fairy tales or happily-ever-afters—those weren’t normally part of the lives of women like her—yet somehow she had been running toward one all along, and so had Kit.
As their kiss deepened, she felt like a young girl again, running free through a meadow, feeling the sun on her skin and the breeze in her hair. Every bit of her life as a child had held wonder. There were infinite glories out there, from the distant stars above to the petals of the wildflowers beneath her feet. One had simply to see the beauty for what it was... and love it all with the same wonder as when they were young.
When they took a moment to catch their breath, he smiled down at her.
“And they lived...,” she began.
“Happilyever after,” he finished.
EPILOGUE
Two months later
Kit was in the drawing room wearing his best evening clothes and doing his best to fight off a sudden rush of nerves. The room was full of his friends, all similarly dressed, and the staff of his London house, along with Henry, who was no longer on crutches and stood beside Jude. In the last few months, the lad had grown another two inches or so, Kit would swear, and he’d filled out to a size more appropriate for a boy his age. Mrs. Swanson’s cooking had worked miracles on the lad.
Everyone in the drawing room held glasses of punch and talked excitedly until a hush finally descended on the room when the double doors of the large drawing room opened.
