Highlander's Hope (28 page)

Epilogue

On a glorious September afternoon, Yvette and Ewan exchanged wedding vows in Craiglocky Castle’s private chapel. With only their closest family and friends present, the wedding was intimate and private. Vangie was indeed the matron of honor, and Ian acted as the best man.

The celebration afterward was a lavish affair, and would’ve been considered garish if not so tastefully done. As the newlyweds stood on the dais, the Great Hall resounded with cheers from the hundreds of well-wishers. The grand ball that followed was unequaled in Craiglocky’s history. Not only were the guests celebrating the laird’s wedding day, it was Yvette’s first-and-twentieth birthday.

Even the scandalous arrest and imprisonment of Edgar could not dampen the extravagant festivities. The Earl of Rothingham, at last exposed as the War Office traitor, was summarily arrested for high treason. Within a matter of hours, less than twelve to be precise, he’d bribed his way out of Newgate and was reported to have fled to the Caribbean.

Edgar was spared the hanging he deserved as it was impossible to prove he had murdered his mother and stepfather. With Rothingham’s disappearance, and the deaths of Fielding and the Italians, there was no one to testify to his treasonous behavior. Rothingham’s systematic elimination of every witness and accomplice spared Edgar the most extreme consequence of his actions. He departed England in disgrace.

True to his word, the Earl of Clarendon returned for an extensive holiday. Adaira’s reaction to the Earl’s presence was confounding at best.

That night as Yvette lay satiated in Ewan’s arms, she revealed a secret she had kept as a hidden treasure, in the deepest recesses of her heart. In late spring, she and Ewan would welcome their own bairn into the world.

Yes, she reflected as she drifted off to sleep, when a heart is filled with love, there hope abides, and one can embrace love fearlessly.