Page 86 of Finding Hope
“I am anxious for us to be alone as well, but you know we must at least greet everyone. Many of the guests have travelled a great distance, and your father is not equal to the task alone.”
That sobered Max for a moment, even though she knew he had not been serious.
“If needs must.” He sighed dramatically, then kissed her again, filling her with the promise of what was yet to come.
The receiving line was interminable, even though everyone was kind and genuine in their wishes. It was something that had to be endured. However, the gown and diamonds were very heavy and weighed her down.
“How many more are there?” he asked. “I long to waltz with you.”
Hope smiled. “We are behaving like recalcitrant children, are we not? I was wishing I might change out of this gown.”
“It is not that I am not grateful, but I am growing impatient. We have earned our time together.”
“Indeed we have, and we will have each other for the rest of our lives.”
“You are not encouraging me to behave, wife.”
“A little while longer, dearest,” she said, to herself as much as to him, keeping him at his post until the last guest had been welcomed.
The Duke had managed to stay on his feet during the receiving line, but Hope could sense him wilting next to her. “I must thank you, your Grace,” she said, taking his arm and gently leading him to his seat.
“Father, if you please,” he said with a smile as they walked, and Max came to his other side.
Hope smiled up at him. “Father. I do not know why you championed me, but I will never forget it.”
He squeezed her arm gently as they reached his seat. He turned and spoke softly. “All I ask is you love him well, my dear. Life as a duke can be lonely, and I want more for him than I ever dared to have for myself.” He looked away and cleared his throat. “Now, go and dance with your husband. Then you can give me a grandson.” He winked at her.
“As you wish, Father.”
Max led her to the centre of the ballroom floor and took her in his arms as the stringed instruments began to strum. “In my arms at last.” He pulled her close into the movements of the dance and not once took his eyes from Hope’s face. They moved as one in perfect harmony as she looked into his dark, chocolate eyes. Everyone else in the room faded into the background as they declared their love for one another with actions as they had in the chapel with words.
Others began to take the floor around them. Hope noticed Patience dancing with Major Stuart and wondered if there might be more than friendship on his part. She was quite certain of her sister’s feelings.
“What did my father say to you?” Max finally asked.
She debated keeping the words to herself. It felt almost as if her own father had been speaking to her through the duke. “He told me to love you well.”
“Words of wisdom that I intend to fulfil until my last breath.”
Hope looked up to see his intense gaze, and the sincerity in his words.
“As do I,” she vowed back.
“Now that I have found you, Hope, I will never let you go.”
EPILOGUE
It was a year to the day from Max and Hope’s wedding, and Davenmere was full of friends and family again, but this time for a very different reason. They had come to celebrate the birth and christening of the future heir to the dukedom, Lord Magnus Sylvester Valerius.
His namesake was still with them, and could not be more delighted that he had lived to see this day.
Currently, the doted upon child was in his namesake’s arms, and the Duke was cooing and talking nonsense before an attentive, wide-eyed audience.
“Will the rest of us ever have the opportunity to hold him?” Patience asked grudgingly.
Hope laughed. “When his Grace rests.”
“I have never seen a man so besotted with a babe,” Faith mused.
