One Glance

Epilogue

"Ends are not bad things, they just mean that something else is about to begin. And there are many things that don't really end, anyway, they just begin again in a new way. Ends are not bad and many ends aren't really an ending; some things are never-ending." C. JoyBell C.

---

Epilogue

Five Years Later

August, 1821

"Happy birthday, Jamie!" cheered Isabella against the jostle of the carriage.

Luke was very impressed that Isabella had managed to pack a sponge cake into a basket, transported it across Somerset on possibly the bumpiest stretch of road in England, and had managed to get it out without so much as smudging the icing.

Isabella had baked Jamie's eighth birthday cake by herself as a way of compensating for travelling on his birthday. As good as her intentions were, Luke was not entirely sure the sponge would be edible.

"Thank you, Mama," Jamie said gratefully, accepting the sponge cake.

"We have gifts for you when we return home, but there was not room in the trunk to bring them with us," Isabella said regretfully.

"Yes, Mama need to bring seven gowns with her which monopolised the trunk space," Luke said teasingly.

Isabella slapped his knee. "We are going to a wedding, Luke! It is easy for you to decide what you are wearing. You wear your uniform to every formal event we attend."

"And you love my uniform." Luke winked, resulting in the familiar flush that filled Isabella's cheeks whenever he teased her in front of their children.

"Oh, I forgot to bring plates!" exclaimed Isabella. She bit her bottom lip before saying, "Alright, you may eat with your hands, you two, but do not wipe them on your clean clothes! Use your handkerchiefs."

Jamie and three year old Katy did not need to be told twice. Both immediately grabbed a handful of their mother's sponge and began eating happily. To make accessing the sponge easier, Jamie placed the cake in between him and his sister and the two of them enjoyed stuffing as much of the cake as they could into their mouths. Clearly this one was edible.

Isabella sighed and rested her head on Luke's shoulder as they both watched their children eat Jamie's birthday cake.

It was little things like this that made Luke truly grateful. After all the dreadful things that life had dragged his family through, the fact that they could smile and enjoy a birthday while being thrown around in a carriage was a blessing.

Every so often, while appreciating these happy little moments, his thoughts were pulled back a few years to when things were not simple.

The transition back into normal life was not easy, nor quick. Luke had taken Doctor Whitney's advice and created a safe space for Isabella, and she had needed it on numerous occasions. In the first month, she had fled upstairs to their bedroom at least a dozen time in a frightened panic.

Isabella often hid from servants, or anyone who seemed to know her. It took her an age to get used to Annaliese's children calling her "Aunt Isabella". It was three months before she was brave enough to venture into the village, and another few weeks before she was ready to enter the little shops.

But even though she was making slow steps to return to her former life, Luke could tell that Isabella was never comfortable. She was never herself. Her new self. She had not regained her memories, and it made her uncomfortable to constantly be around people who were talking to her as if she did.