“Nor do I,” Joan replied, joy from deep within bending her lips in a warm expression. “I’m certain it will be.” She tipped her chin. “The hardest days can make the best ones all the sweeter.”

Rowles took a deep breath, his brows furrowing in an adorable way that distracted Joan from her earlier thoughts. He squeezed her hand, released it, and cupped her chin tenderly. “That is indeed true. Today was hard, dreadfully so, yet I find that all I want to do is look to the future…because that future holds you.”

Thirty-one

Rowles woke the next day with a fresh anticipation that surprised him. Yesterday had been difficult, to say the least, but it was a chapter in the book that was finished and closed. Moving onward, he looked toward a bright future, one that held far more blessings than he ever dared to hope for. With the funeral behind him, he was now able to focus on the wedding, and he couldn’t imagine a more worthy endeavor.

After he broke his fast, he sent a missive to Penderdale House. The marriage settlement needed attention, and he wished for Joan to meet with his housekeeper to organize the wedding breakfast.

There was but one damper on his mood, and that was the need to talk with Joan about the secret Morgan was keeping from her. He should tell her today, if she were able to come to him, but the devilish part of him whispered to wait. Didn’t he deserve one day without conflict? He’d just buried his mother, for heaven’s sake. Couldn’t he have one day without some sort of crisis? Yet, did he wish to keep this secret between them, even for a day longer?

The battle warred within him, and when Morgan replied to his missive that they’d come to visit directly, Rowles’s indecision didn’t improve.

He was in his study when the butler announced their arrival. Standing, he straightened his coat as Morgan entered, followed by Joan. “Good morning,” Rowles said as a greeting, furtively glancing at the clock on the mantel. It was indeed still morning but barely. In a quarter hour it would be noon.

“Good morning, I must say I was surprised you wished to address all this today. I thought you’d want at least a day to recover from yesterday’s events.” Morgan watched his friend coolly. “Not that I mind.”

“I’d much prefer to move forward, rather than dwell in the past,” Rowles answered honestly, thinking how such an answer applied to not just his own life at present, but Joan’s as well. A hope and a future… Those were the things he would focus on.

“Very well,” Morgan replied.

Joan stepped forward. “I, for one, was thankful you didn’t wish to tarry. I confess I was hoping you’d welcome us calling upon you,” she said shyly as she tugged at her gloves absentmindedly.