A Matter of Honor and Passion – Extended Epilogue

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A year and a day later.

“So, Dr Julian, this is the land we’ll use for the new project.” Laurence’s voice was laced with joy as the carriage drew to a stop before a great expanse of land. 

It had taken a long time, but Laurence had finally been able to convince his dear friend, Lord Pembroke to sell his own share of the proposed estate to him. They had finally reached amicable terms concerning the land, and Pembroke had grudgingly sold it to him, especially after what Laurence told him he hoped to do with the massive expanse of land.

After talking it over with his wife, Laurence had decided that he would commission Julian to oversee the construction of a new kind of estate in the country, a home for orphaned children and wayward boys, specializing in preparatory schooling for trades and academic endeavours, to strengthen the future of Britain’s working and ruling classes. He saw no other person who would be as dedicated as the good doctor to carry out such a project. The man had a passionate heart for the downtrodden and had over time, in the course of his practice, given free treatment to sick people who couldn’t afford to pay their bills. 

With the knowledge of mind disorders he had learned from Professor Redding, who was presently in the Colonies, he was able to help a duke out of his mind-boggling visions, and that earned him fame in all of England. Dr Julian became a highly sought after doctor. It was also known of him that the young man never went to attend to the sick without his wife, Mrs Aggie Beauchamp by his side.

Laurence laughed at the memory of the conversion he had heard in White’s from men who didn’t know that Julian was his brother-in-law. They had been stunned by the unconventional ways of the doctor taking his wife everywhere with him. One of them had been scandalized that Aggie even carried Julian’s black medical bag wherever they went.

Laurence had kept his mouth shut, understanding that the bachelors wouldn’t understand the concept of love and marriage which made a man and his wife equal. Well, for those of liberal minds, anyway. He admired Julian greatly for both his dedication to his work as well as his marriage.

Aggie, however, hadn’t been able to come with him on this trip from London because according to the joyous father-to-be, Aggie was being plagued by morning sickness and couldn’t travel yet, but promised that as soon as she was better, she would start coming with him to Sussex to oversee the project.

Laurence had sensed an eagerness in the doctor to return to his ailing wife, and so immediately after breakfast, they had taken his carriage to the construction site.

“Indeed, the land is massive,” Julian acknowledged, “even bigger than we thought when Harriet and I tried to stop you from building on it.”

Laurence chuckled. That seemed like such a long time ago; he wasn’t sure he would remember all the details of their petition at that time. 

“So, what do you think, Julian? Do you think you can handle the project?” he asked as a draught of dry autumn air blew past, lifting their coats.

Julian nodded. “With the help of my faithful wife and the builders, I think I can manage it.”

A broad smile marked Laurence’s face. “Splendid. It is my desire to bring the troubled boys and orphans you’ve accommodated in your townhouse to this place. That’s if you don’t mind.”

Laughing, Julian said, “Of course, I don’t mind. Aggie is already at her tether’s end with one of them who is very stubborn. She would be mighty glad to have them here. I’m certain that she wouldn’t abandon them but come to visit as often as she could.”

Laurence nodded. They needed more hands on deck for the success of the estate when they were done building it.

Nodding, Julian affirmed quietly, “I believe I can handle the project, Laurence, seeing that I also have a passion for such things. Although it can’t be compared to that of my sister.”

“Certainly not,” Laurence agreed with him. Harriet was in a world of her own when it came to helping people in need. Laurence usually joked that if he wasn’t already a rich man, he feared that he might one day become bankrupt due to her generosity.

He had, however, had to put his foot down to her inviting every stray person into the estate. Hence one of his reasons for changing the developmental plan from a park to that of a home for children in need.

“That’s marvellous to hear, Julian,” Laurence stated, happy to have the man as part of the rebuilding team.

In order not to further waste the time of the man who was eager to return home to his wife, Laurence swung into the carriage again, and they rode around the property before returning to the estate.

When Laurence summoned his wife to bid her brother goodbye, he was told that she wasn’t at home but had gone to help one of their neighbours whose wife was in labour.

“I guess I shouldn’t complain, should I?” Laurence said with a smile on his face. “Why, she even took me in like an injured stray animal that fateful night.” 

Julian laughed heartily at the recollection. So, he had come to accept that it was simply her way of doing things and should be left to it. Julian, nevertheless, agreed with him that he had to make sure she took security measures while leaving the estate. Some of the people weren’t happy that he was no longer interested in building a park, but rather a place for the downtrodden. Some of the tenants had hoped for some settlement that they were promised if their houses were demolished. So they were not thrilled that things didn’t go as planned when Laurence decided for the new project he had in mind there wasn’t a need to add the homes of the villagers. Most of them were drunks who desired to spend all their earnings on liquor.

Laurence was still waving at Julian’s carriage when Lord Pembroke’s carriage pulled up in front of the house. The young baron alighted from the conveyance, and both men shook hands with grins covering their faces. Their friendship had grown greater after they put aside their differences concerning the land. Harriet had gone out of her way to endear herself to the man so that there wouldn’t be any animosity between them, given that she was the reason Laurence had backed out of their initial business arrangement.

Lord Pembroke hadn’t been able to fight the friendship that Harriet thrust in his face. He loved partaking of her chicken dumplings that always had him salivating whenever she told him that she was preparing it especially for him.

The knight and the baron retired to the library where they spent about an hour discussing other business prospects and drinking. They also talked about the present project that Laurence intended working on with Julian.

Lord Pembroke was strained to share enthusiasm for Laurence’s project in place of their original, but was sated in the knowledge that from the sale of his share, and with Laurence’s blessing, he could build a cotton mill on his side of the estate, lending gainful employment for future generations of street urchins, which he had helped towards self-sufficiency in an academic and moral sense. 

Pembroke was a visionary, and like Laurence himself, could see the change of the future, and what it would bring. He was establishing himself as an industrialist at a time that was considered unpopular or unprofitable for the rich to engage in that pursuit.

Laurence had great admiration for his friend and hoped they could do more businesses together. They discussed for a while until Pembroke told him that he had a meeting with some men concerning the cotton mill.

Laurence bade him goodbye and went in search of his wife. He found the woman he loved so much walking out of the building, which served as a class for the wayward boys in the area. Billy was beside her, listening to her every word with obvious rapt attention.

The satisfied husband chuckled as Billy continued to look at Lady Harriet in hero worship. The boy had confided in him that if it wasn’t that Laurence had beaten him to it, he would have married Harriet in future. Laurence had engulfed in raucous laughter at the boy’s audacity.

He couldn’t blame him, though. Harriet was a rare kind, and he was glad that she was all his. Tenderness marked his features when his eyes lowered from her lovely face to the bump she carried. Although it wasn’t so visible yet since she was just a few months gone, Laurence took pride in the knowledge that his son or daughter nestled there.

As if sensing his presence, Harriet lifted her head and looked around until she fixed her eyes on him. A warm smile marked her rosy cheeks.

He strode over to her and drew her into his arms. Not minding that the young orphan was there, Laurence couldn’t resist placing his lips on his hers.

Billy snorted and left, which caused laughter to burst from the knight’s chest. His wife also laughed with him because he had told her what the chit said on the day of their wedding.

“Stop taunting poor Billy,” she chided, stabbing a finger in the air at him. The smile on her face belied the seriousness of her words.

“Serves him right for daring to reach higher than he could afford,” Laurence grumbled good-naturedly as he led his wife back to the carriage in the corner.

“You can’t blame him for that,” Harriet pointed out, “I teach them to think higher.”

Laurence chuckled. “Well, not so high as to have the audacity to tell me I was in luck in marrying my wife or he would have done.”

Harriet laughed, and the sound was like music to Laurence’s ears. A second later, her face started turning blue, and his eyes rose with alarm. Harriet began taking in deep breaths that caused him to be even more worried.

“What is it, beloved? Do I take you to Dr Weston immediately?”

Shaking her head, she offered him a small smile. “No, I’m fine, my love. I was only winded for some seconds. I guess we were walking too fast.”

Sighing with relief as colour came back to her rosy cheeks, he grimaced and said, “Then you should have told this old goat to walk slowly.”

Giggling, Harriet rejoined, “Alright, Old Goat, I need you to walk slowly.”

Rich laughter rumbled from her husband’s chest. “To be on the safe side,” he said as he bent and swung her in his arms, “mayhap you shouldn’t be working at all.”

“Please put me down, Laurence.” She hid her face in the crook of his arm. “My students will tease me silly tomorrow about you needing to carry me because I couldn’t walk.”

“I’d like to see them try,” he remarked with a smile on his face. “As a matter of fact, I’ll come with you for your lessons tomorrow.”

Harriet groaned, and Laurence laughed loudly.

***

Sighing with contentment, Harriet reclined back in bed after her husband just took her to heights otherwise unknown. A satisfied smile played at her lips as she watched her husband’s chest heave from the exertion of their lovemaking.

Even after a year of marriage and expecting a baby, their passion for each other was still very strong. She never failed to look forward to their coupling.

Laurence splayed his hand against her slightly protruding naked stomach. As if their baby knew they had a lot of projects to handle, he or she had taken a while coming, to the joy of both its parents.

Harriet was mainly happy that the baby hadn’t arrived early, which had given her and her husband time to enjoy marriage bliss before their occupation with each other was diverted by a crying baby.

“Are you alright?” her husband asked quietly. 

Turning a little on her side to look at his handsome face, she said, “I’m fine, my love. I’m just thinking how blessed we are that our baby decided to come at this point in time when we had achieved most of our aims.”

Chuckling, his hand left her stomach and clasped her breast. “Yes. I must thank him or her when it arrives for allowing me the sole pleasure of your body for so long.”

His wife giggled beside him. When the baby came, she didn’t think it would be much of a distraction to her and the course she had set out for herself. Married to the titled man she loved turned out to be a great blessing to her, for she found herself re-instated as her rightful role as governess, but to an age and a generation of future men and women. With Laurence at her side, and the perceived willingness of some things to change at least, she was optimistic for the future, and the brightness that could shine all around the world for generations to come. 

At first, she had started with only Billy, who went about begging for food when he did wrong and his master wouldn’t feed him. She and Aggie had chosen to feed the boy every day before Laurence found her and made her his wife. Billy had been afraid that the man wouldn’t want her to help him anymore and so had joined a group of boys who were up to no good. Eventually, Harriet found him and brought him to their home, along with his friends after seeking consent from her husband.

And so, it had started by just helping a few boys to keep from starving, but it then became as big as helping them to become responsible people in the future. Other boys had also been taken in, and she taught them every day.

“How was the birthing?” he asked her languidly, tracing circles across her nipples, having no idea that he was building sensations all over her body.

Breathlessly, she answered, “It was a false alarm. She wasn’t in labour, only fretting. She’s going to be a mother for the first time, and with her husband away at work in London, she was lonely and afraid. I helped her as much as I could and made sure someone was always with her to keep her company.”

Raising his brows, he remarked, “That’s wonderful of you, but I hope we aren’t going to have such false alarms with you. It would surely drive me crazy.”

Laughing softly, she said, “We’ll see.”

“Have I told you today how lucky I am to call you mine?” Laurence asked beside her, cutting into her thoughts.

“I believe you did when you woke me up with a kiss this morning,” she returned, beaming with joy.

“I’m the most fortunate of husbands in all of Britain and beyond,” he affirmed with pride.

“Then I guess I’m the most fortunate of wives to have such a wonderful and loving husband.”

“My arrogance and all, not minding?” he teased, tickling her sides.

Laughter rang out in the room as Harriet shook with it. Her heart was threatening to burst from so much love for him.

Moving slightly and capturing her face in his hands, Laurence passionately declared, “I love you, Harriet. Always.”

Tears of joy smarted in her eyes. “I love you, too, Laurence. Always.”

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