uch later, after I had pulled myself out of Philip’s embrace and Betsy had fixed the damage he had done to my hair, I found Cecily on the terrace. She smiled at me as I walked toward her.

“I hope you don’t mind that I read your letter,” she said. “I went to your room this morning while you were still asleep and saw it on your table. I confess I couldn’t contain my curiosity.”

“I don’t mind, considering how everything has turned out.”

She took my hand. “I hope you’re very happy.”

“I am,” I sighed, unable to restrain my smile. I wondered if she could tell that I had just been thoroughly kissed. “But, Cecily, I’m sorry if it comes at the cost of your happiness.”

She waved a hand in the air. “There are plenty of other wealthy gentlemen for me to choose from. And, to be perfectly honest, I knew Philip wasn’t interested in me. I saw that as soon as I arrived. There is no scheming that can help a lady’s cause when the man is in love with someone else. What I didn’t see, though, was how you felt.” She looked seriously at me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

I shrugged. “You said you were in love with him.”

“Yes, I did say that. But I think I must have been very self-centered not to recognize your feelings. I’m sorry if I wasn’t the kind of sister you deserved.” She gripped my hand.

We stood in silence, listening to the strains of music floating through the ballroom windows. I thought of my fairy-tale childhood with my twin sister. There once were two girls born to parents who had wished dearly for a child. The girls were the sun and the moon to them. I had spent my life being the moon, reflecting Cecily’s light and allowing her to shine. But here, with Philip, I was the sun. I couldn’t imagine a better beginning to the rest of my life.

“I hope we will always be close,” I said, thinking of my mother and Lady Caroline.

“Of course we will be.” She pulled me to her and we hugged. I held her until she pulled away. Looking over my shoulder, she said, “I have someone I need to talk to.”

I turned and saw Mr. Kellet standing at the edge of the terrace. “What are you going to say to him?”

She bit her lip. “I’m not sure. But it may take a while.”

She flashed me a sly smile before she walked away. Mr. Kellet disappeared around the corner of the house and she followed him.

I was the last one to enter the dining room for breakfast the next morning. Philip and William and my father all stood at my entrance. In Philip’s eyes was such a look of warm affection that I blushed to have everyone see it.

As I sat down, I noticed the stares of everyone present, and then Rachel suddenly said, “Oh, have you two finally worked everything out? Thank goodness! Now we can all talk openly.”

Philip chuckled, and I blushed even harder. Every person in the room, from Lady Caroline to the footman standing behind Philip, smiled. Louisa’s smile was more tentative than the others’, but I was happy to see any sign of friendliness from her. I was also happy to see Cecily there, and not off somewhere in Mr. Kellet’s arms. I would not put it past him to run off with her, but Cecily had more sense than that, it seemed.

Congratulations were offered, and Rachel and Lady Caroline began discussing the glorious task of planning a wedding. Philip, I discovered, had already spoken to my father, who looked very happy as he smiled at me from across the table. My home was only one county away from here, which meant we would be close enough to visit as often as we wished. Cecily would return to London and our cousin Edith, where she could enjoy the diversions of Town life.

A footman appeared at my side with a letter on a silver salver. It was from Grandmother. I opened it and read it over my breakfast.

I breathed a sigh of relief. My meddling had worked. And thinking of what my grandmother had written about Philip’s assignment, an idea suddenly occurred to me. I looked across the table at Philip’s aunt and uncle. Mr. Clumpett had a book propped open in front of his plate, and Mrs. Clumpett was smiling as Lady Caroline talked about the success of the ball.

I turned to Philip. “Did you ask Mr. Clumpett to protect me while you and William were gone?”

“I did. Why?”

I smiled. “He has been miserable here with your disorganized library, you know. And Mrs. Clumpett has missed her birds.”

Philip laughed. “Well, they will be free to go home now to their own library and birds. I will have to look for some books on India to send to him as thanks for protecting you so well while I was gone. I can’t imagine what would have happened if he hadn’t been wandering through the woods that day.”

I glanced at the Clumpetts again, reminding myself to thank them for all they had done for me. Both of them.

I reread my grandmother’s letter and realized with a deep sense of contentment that I had not had to change at all in order to have every hope for happiness in life. I had not had to learn to sing for company or to behave like Cecily or to stop twirling. I could be myself and be loved deeply. I was, in fact, a lot like Meg, who had always been a racehorse. I just hadn’t known it.

After breakfast, I escaped to the orchard. I was so happy to be here that I felt the same way I had upon arriving at Edenbrooke: as if I had come home to paradise. Mixed with the feeling of homecoming was the great surge of joy I felt about my future with Philip.

I closed my eyes and tipped back my head and felt the sun warm my face and head and outstretched arms. And then I did it. I twirled. I twirled and twirled with my eyes closed and my head back and my arms outstretched.

I suddenly heard a crunch of branches and felt a scratch on my cheek. I stopped moving and opened my eyes to find myself within an inch of having my eye poked out by a branch. I tried to move away from the branch but found my hair was stuck.

Oh, when would I ever learn to not twirl?

I pulled at the branch without success. I tried to untangle my hair, but I could tell I was making a huge mess of it as more of it got tangled. In frustration, and with aching arms, I said, “Oh, drat!”

I heard a rustle of leaves and looked toward the sound. Philip ducked beneath a tree limb and walked toward me. I blushed hard and wished I was not attached to this tree. But I had to stand and wait while he walked toward me, looking so well put-together I couldn’t imagine him ever being caught doing something as embarrassing as being stuck in a tree. Why hadn’t I learned my lesson the last time?

“Don’t laugh,” I told him, noticing the amusement building in his eyes.

His eyes darted to the branch and my tangled hair and his lips twitched. “How did this happen?”

“I was twirling.”

I could tell Philip was working hard to keep back a laugh. “Have you ever considered twirling with your eyes open?”

“It’s not something I plan in advance.” I reached up and tried again to pull my hair loose, then winced with the pain.

Philip stepped right up to me, took my hands in his, and lowered them so that they rested against his chest.

“Allow me,” he said. Then he moved his arms around me and began to untangle my hair. If someone saw us from a distance, I suspected it might look as if we were embracing. I could feel him breathe, and I watched my hands move with the rise and fall of his chest. I could smell him—that mixture of clean linen and soap and something that reminded me of the woods on a sunny day. Something inside of me melted.

I felt a gentle tug and his fingers brushed my ear, my neck. I was getting hot and rather breathless. To distract myself, I asked a question I had had on my mind for quite a while.

“Philip, why did you keep your identity a secret from me when we met at the inn?”

He paused to look into my eyes. “Fate handed me a rare opportunity to talk to a lady without wondering if she was only interested in my wealth or title. And not just any lady.” He smiled crookedly, and my heart skittered in my chest. “I couldn’t pass up that opportunity. Your candor was worth the risk of your anger.”

It was as if his words had turned on a light. I understood Philip now in a way I never had before. I thought of how he had not wanted me to call him “sir,” even though that was exactly what I should have called him. And the day we talked in the library, he had gone to the kitchen himself to get us our food instead of sending a servant to do it. I thought of the promises we had made to each other. And I thought of how he had tried to run away from Cecily, who was only interested in his title and wealth. Philip wanted to be loved for who he was, without consideration of his inheritance.

He gave one last tug and all of my hair fell free, cascading down my back. Philip had taken out all of my pins, and I felt undone. He stroked my hair from the top of my head all the way down my back. Then his hands circled my waist and he pulled me closer.

“You know, we have some unfinished business,” he said. “I still want that painting, and now I have something of value to offer for it.”

“What is that?” I was having a hard time focusing on his words because my gaze had caught on his mouth, and the line of his jaw, and the way the corner of his lips twitched when he was trying not to smile. I wanted to kiss it all.

He touched my chin, lifting my face so that my eyes met his. “I will give you a title for it.”

I chewed on my lip, regarding him with misgiving. This was wrong. In light of my recent understanding, I couldn’t accept his offer. I shook my head. “I’ve never cared very much about having a title.”

His eyebrows drew together, and his gaze turned questioning. “Then what about everything around you? Would Edenbrooke be enough?”

I pushed away the lock of hair that fell across his brow and sighed. “No, as much as I love it here, I can’t sell it to you for your land.”

He looked utterly solemn now, and more than a little worried. “You don’t need my money.”

“That’s correct.”

He bent his head. I felt bad for the distress I was obviously causing him, but I knew this needed to be done.

“I have nothing more to offer,” he whispered.

I grasped his lapels and stood on my toes so I could look clearly into his eyes—so he could not mistake my meaning. “I do not want anything you can offer me. Remember our vows?”

He nodded. His hands rested on my waist, pulling me closer.

“I just want you, Philip. You. I will give you the painting in exchange for your heart.”

He looked away quickly, and I sensed a great struggle within him. When he finally looked back at me, his eyes were shining with amazement and admiration and that great secret I had seen at the inn after his fight with Mr. Beaufort. It was shining just as clearly now as it had that night, but now I knew what to call it. Philip loved me.

“Marianne,” he said in a throaty voice that made my heart thud hard in my chest. He lifted a hand from my waist and stroked my blushing cheek with the back of his fingers, his touch as light as a breeze. His skin felt cool against the heat of my blush.

“You darling girl,” he murmured, tilting my chin up as he lowered his lips to mine. This time I knew enough to kiss him back. He caught his breath, and then I felt his lips curl up into his wicked grin. It was delicious.

A few minutes later, he moved his lips from mine to kiss my cheek, the corner of my jaw, the soft spot behind my ear. “I was just thinking about our honeymoon.” His breath tickled my neck.

“So was I,” I breathed. My heart was pounding so hard I was sure he could hear it.

Philip lifted his head to look at me, his eyes bright with amusement. “Well, that too,” he said with a low chuckle.

I blushed as I realized what I had just admitted.

“But I was actually referring to our trip. How would you like to go to the Continent? I could give you your very own Grand Tour.”

I couldn’t speak.

“You’re welcome to twirl if you need to,” he said with a laugh.

“You don’t mind?”

He shook his head. “I’ve been dying to see it, actually.”

So I twirled for Philip, with my hair flying around me, feeling like I could break into flight at any moment. He grabbed me around the waist when I was close to colliding with another tree. “That was lovely,” he said, pulling me close. “But perhaps you should keep your eyes open in the future.”

“Good idea,” I murmured, smiling into the eyes of my best friend, who did not mind my twirling at all.

“I just remembered,” Philip said, reaching into the pocket of his coat. “I forgot to give you this.”

It was my locket, which Philip had demanded from Mr. Beaufort. I had forgotten about it after the drama of the events at the inn. Now Philip clasped it around my neck, and I felt it settle like a charm about me. I put my hand over the locket, pressing the precious reminder of my mother against my chest. My own heart beat strong and sure beneath it, and I felt that everything that had been missing was restored and that all was right in the world.

Then Philip and I walked hand in hand back to the house and made our way to the library, where we finally played that game of chess.