The Daring Exploits of a Runaway Heiress (36 page)

“A promise?” Her heart beat faster.

“A vow then.” He smiled into her eyes. “What say you, Juliet? Will you have me for the rest of our days?”

The audience held its collective breath.

“Will you be my muse, my love, my wife?”

She stared at him for a long moment. Hope mixed with apprehension in his eyes, but surely he already knew the answer. She smiled up at him. “I would be a fool not to seize an opportunity so finely presented.”

Applause erupted and he laughed with a sheer delight that wrapped around her soul and she knew, in spite of his mistakes and perhaps one or two of her own, this was right and true and forever. She loved this man more than she ever would have imagined possible. And if not for the regrets of a good woman long gone and her own desire not to be who she was expected to be, they would have never found each other.

“And if there are regrets to be had in the future, let them not be of the heart.” She gazed into his eyes and saw the love they shared reflected there. “For love, my good Romeo, is never a regret.”

In the years to come, Lord Cameron Effington continued to write as Cameron Fairchild with his muse by his side. A muse who delighted in reading everything he wrote and, on occasion when she thought it necessary, offered suggestions for improvement. He never became as successful or well known as Mark Twain but made an excellent living nonetheless and scarcely ever had to rely on the trust provided him by his family or his wife’s fortune.

Lord and Lady Cameron Effington made their home in England but frequently voyaged to America and tried, whenever possible, to travel the rest of the world, finding it far easier to frolic in a fountain in a foreign country where Lady Cameron, at least, had no idea what outraged bystanders were yelling. They found, as well, it was much more enjoyable to swim naked in the moonlight in a country where the climate was far more temperate than England.

Lucy Merryweather Effington did on occasion wonder if she was doing a disservice to her granddaughters and great-granddaughters by not having a list of regrets to leave them that they could then pursue and have daring exploits of their own. She spent a great deal of the money left her by her great-aunt on an educational foundation, with representatives in both England and the United States, to enable young women to pursue their goals and follow their hearts in hopes they would not reach the end of their days with regrets.

While through the years the foundation did indeed help any number of young women achieve their dreams, the Lucinda Merryweather Van Burton Foundation for the Advancement of Young Women atoned as well for the last regret on Lucy’s great-aunt’s list, an adventure Lucy refused to keep for herself.

And goodness, could anyone ask for more than that?

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Copyright © 2015 by Cheryl Griffin

 

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ISBN: 978-1-4201-3228-1

 

First Electronic Edition: May 2015
eISBN-13: 978-1-4201-3229-8
eISBN-10: 1-4201-3229-6