A Simple Deception

Epilogue

"My cousin Helen, who is in her 90s now, was in the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. She and a bunch of girls in the ghetto had to do sewing each day. And if you were found with a book, it was an automatic death penalty. She had gotten hold of a copy of 'Gone with the Wind', and she would take three or four hours out of her sleeping time each night to read. And then, during the hour or so when they were sewing the next day, she would tell them all the story. These girls were risking certain death for a story. And when she told me that story herself, it actually made what I do feel more important. Because giving people stories is not a luxury. It's actually one of the things that you live and die for." Neil Gaiman

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Epilogue

April 1811

It had been a fortnight since their return to Ashwood, and time really had flown quickly by, as time so often did when a great many changes were happening.

As grateful as Amélie was for the Beresfords' hospitality, she did not feel comfortable as a guest in the great house. Susanna really felt helpless in how to comfort such a kind a brave woman, but she could also greatly understand her feelings. Grace, instead, had the bright idea to move Amélie into what had once been hers, Kate and Claire's bedroom in Mrs Denham's house. This arrangement suited her better, and Mrs Denham was most welcoming and accommodating. After all, Grace had to have inherited her good heart from somewhere.

While there was still a language barrier between the two women, Amélie had communicated to Alex that she hoped to learn English from her new companion. As Mrs Denham was still partly crippled from her leg injury several years earlier, Amélie was only too happy to share some of the domestic duties.

Captain Whitfield also finished up his stay at Ashwood after a fortnight. Susanna still quietly believed that he possessed some hope for a reunion between himself and Amélie but had accepted that it was not to be. Susanna, who had always been such a tragic romantic, found herself rather impressed with the outcome when previously she would have been praying for the opposite. Amélie possessed such a fierce sense of independence and identity, and Susanna greatly respected her for it.

Despite Susanna's suspicions regarding the captain's romantic torch, he did also spend those two weeks continuing to bond with his son, and Alex had been saddened by the departure of his father. The captain had left with a departing message, telling Alex that he would return to England by September if he had a favourable tide, should any events of significance occur.

Now that it was April, it was startling to think that this time last year Susanna had been preparing to journey to London yet again for another Season. Hundreds of other young women would have been making those exact same preparations right about now. But Susanna's life had changed so drastically between last year and this. That life seemed to belong to an entirely different person. Susanna hardly knew her.

Though she had never cared for the life that her mother had originally planned for her, Susanna still had wanted to meet and marry a man whom she loved. She never could have predicted Alex, even if he had seen her coming.

What had started as a simple deception on Alex's part and evolved into something so much more. It was a power their neither one of them had felt before. So strong was it that Susanna could forgive Alex's sins and cross an ocean to reach him. So strong was it that Alex risked his life, and his freedom, to rescue her. Susanna had once believed that this power was determined to pull them apart, but she now realised that such a belief was wrong. It was a test, a test of true constancy.

They belonged to one another.

"Oh, Susanna, isn't this just darling?" Cecily gushed as she held up a little dress made from a mint green fabric. The sleeves were gathered with lace ruffles, the same lace that bordered the collar.