“I really am all right, Simon,” she laughed, brushing back a lock of hair so he could see the minor injury she had sustained when she hit her head on the floor as she fell. “It is just a scratch, see?”
Simon sighed, opting to relent for now.
“I am sorry, my lady. I was just really concerned. You were laying there and not moving, and the Duke… I’ve never seen him look so terrified before. He seemed as though his world was about to fall apart. And given everything that had happened before that… I fear he might have been lost if we had lost you too.”
She understood his worries, as she had heard Silas speak to her when he had thought she was not going to wake up. She had merely been too weak to open her eyes, but his grief-laden voice had stirred her back to consciousness and urged her to rise for him. And when she learned of what had been discovered about Marion, Lukas and Lewis, she grieved for him.
It must have been devastating to discover that the events that had stolen his beloved grandfather had been orchestrated out of greed and spite. He must have felt heartbroken to learn that the perpetrators had been living in the same room as he was, feigning concern over him and serving him as though they did not despise him.
She thought of Marion and the conversation they had had that early morning when she came out to ride Scar, how she had spoken of the old Duke’s death with sorrow and anguish, and was repulsed to realize that the older woman not only had a hand in that tragedy, but it was also likely that she had told Agnes in a bid to make her think that Silas was broken and very unlikely to ever be healed from the loss of his grandfather.
She knew it would not be easy to move on from those events, but it filled her with great relief to see that Silas was doing his best to overcome it all. He seemed lighter, more open and softer around the edges. It filled her with renewed anticipation for their future, and she was excited to see where fate would take them.
“I wasn’t lost,” she smiled at the boy, “And Silas will be just fine as well. It might take a while, and perhaps the wounds inflicted might never fully heal, but he is intent on moving past it ratherthan dwelling on it. And I am going to do everything I can to support him. He is not alone, and the damages they had tried to inflict won't last forever. We will all overcome this.”
Simon nodded, his gaze tinged with hope.
“I pray we do. It is the least he deserves, after all this.”
She spent the rest of her day fantasizing about her wedding day. There was only one day left before the ceremony, and she was wrought with nervousness and anticipation. It felt unbelievable how she had arrived at the Forestwood mansion with a goal and had received much more than she had hoped.
It was disheartening that her sisters would not be in attendance and, sadder still, that her father wouldn’t walk her down the aisle, but there were more things to celebrate than there were to mourn. She would have a husband soon, a partner that would be by her side till the end of her days, someone just for her to love and to be loved by.
It was something she could have never imagined a long time ago, and now, it had come to pass. She could still hardly believe it, but with every passing moment, the time for both her and Silas to unite as one drew nearer.
“Oh, there you are, my lady,” Beatrice smiled in relief as Agnes reached the entrance of the mansion. “Lady Anna sent me to fetch you. Your wedding dress just arrived from the modiste, and she suggested that you try it on, in case there are any more adjustments to be made. That way, it can be fixed on time.”
“All right, let’s go then.” Agnes nodded, and together, they both walked to her dressing room.
Her godmother was already there, seated with a large box on her lap, smiling tearfully at the folded white fabric within. She looked up when they came in and very nearly started bawling at the sight of Agnes, much to the bride-to-be’s horror.
“Godmother? Is something the matter? Was the dress damaged on the way? That’s nothing to cry about if that is the case!”
Lady Anna shook her head with a sniff, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.
“No, you brat. I’m just… really happy. Now that the dress is here, it feels even more real that this is happening. You are getting married. My horse-mad goddaughter is about to become a wife. The heavens must be rejoicing because as much as we had planned for this for a year, I always expected you to pull out at some point.”
Agnes rolled her eyes at the dramatics, following Beatrice as she took the box with the dress behind the screen and turned around so her maid could help her undo the buttons of the dress she was wearing.
“You know that I couldn’t have given up, even if I wanted to.”
Lady Anna nodded. “That’s true. But it took a lot of courage for you to open your heart like this, to entertain the possibility ofthis being more than a means to an end. You might not have meant for that to happen, but you did not run away. I’m really proud of you, dearest.”
Agnes understood what she meant. She did not imagine falling for the Duke – even considered it as an unlikely possibility at a point. But then, they grew closer, and her heart began to yearn for something it never desired before. And she hadn’t wanted to fight that, so she didn’t.
“I am especially proud of the fact that you put yourself first, for once,” her godmother carried on as she began to put on the wedding dress. “You have always lived for your sisters, always putting their needs before your own, wanting first for them – hardly ever for yourself. Perhaps reuniting with them brought you and the Duke together, but it was not the reason you fell in love with him. Neither did it urge you to follow your heart. You did that all on your own, for yourself, and it is such a wonderful thing to see. I’m sure your father would agree.”
At that moment, Agnes walked out in her wedding dress, her heart fluttering at the thought of her father approving of her marriage, of her chasing her own happiness rather than pursuing it merely for the sake of her sisters. Lady Anna gasped at the sight of her, her eyes raking over the wonderful dress and how beautiful Agnes looked in it, the soft material swaying gently as she moved, the skirts lightly brushing across the floor as she walked to stand before her godmother.
“Do you think he really would?” Agnes asked softly.
Lady Anna rose and opened her arms, sighing happily when Agnes didn’t resist or refuse her invitation for a hug, willingly falling into her embrace.
“I think you sometimes forget that you were his daughter too, as much as your sisters were. You weren’t born just to care for them or as a placeholder who would take on the role of the family head when he couldn’t fulfill that role anymore. He loved you, Agnes. First, because you were his first daughter, the first love of his life, after your mother. You came first, and he only ever wished that you would be put first in everything, by others and yourself, especially.”
She pulled back a little and patted Agnes’ cheek lightly, fondness swimming in her glistening eyes.
“So, yes, love. I believe no one could be prouder and happier for you than he would have been if he were here.”