Page 96 of The Rules of Matrimony
“Our fight for progress, which has been more than a decade in the making, has passed from the House of Commons to the House of Lords and has been given the Royal Seal. The criminal law, as we know it, will no longer exist with the creation of what will be known as the Judgment of Death Act. This, along with a few other acts, will lift the death penalty from over one hundred thirty crimes. In all but treason or murder, judges will now use personal discretion to execute a lesser sentence.”
Gooseflesh rippled down his arms at the mere thought of the hundreds of thousands of lives that would be spared in the coming years. “Thank you for your help, Rebels. The part we played might have been small, but any effort for good is noteworthy and the effect immeasurable.”
A humbled silence permeated the room. There would still be evil in the world and never enough of them to save everyone, but this felt good.
“Are you trying to make us cry?” Tom asked, wiping at one eye. There was no teasing in his voice this time. Cassandra leaned her head on his shoulder.
“If he is, it’s working,” Lisette said, mopping her face with her husband’s handkerchief.
“Well done, Ian,” Amie whispered from beside him. “You changed the world after all.”
In his small way, he supposed he had. But what mattered more was that he had changed himself. “Thank you, Amie. For helping me.”
It did not take long after Ian’s announcement for all of them to shift their focus and crowd around Paul’s baby, where Ian finally got his turn to hold her.
A girl.
And her name was Katherine Harriet, after both Paul’s and Louisa’s mothers. Fitting that the mothers should be honored since they really deserved a thank-you for all their effort in bearing children and then tricking them into marriage so that more children could be born.
Ian held Katie-Cat, as Tom had dubbed her, close to his chest, bringing up his large finger for her dainty hand to grasp.
“She’s perfect,” Amie said, standing on her toes to see the baby.
He lowered Katie so Amie could see better. “She is indeed.”
“I haven’t seen you hold a child before, but I can tell you have a fondness for them,” she said.
Ian had to agree. “I never had younger siblings, but I rather like Tom’s son, and I have a feeling that little Katie will be just as easy to love.”
“Good.”
He raised a brow. “What does that mean?”
“Well, our children might be a littledifferent.”
“Different?”
“Madness runs on both sides of the family. Do they have a chance?”
He chuckled. “I’ve always thought that those who are mad generally possess a higher capacity to feel. So yes, our children have a chance. They might even be happier than we are.”
“Beautifully said, Ian.” She grinned at him before reaching to run her hand over Katie’s feather-soft brown hair.
“What project comes next?” Miles asked, coming to stand by them. “None of us can be without a purpose for long.”
Miles had an entire congregation to care for, yet he always had more to give.
Ian hummed. “The prisons will soon be pushed past their capacity. With less hangings and more prisoners, we’ll need prison reforms straightaway.”
The room quieted at that moment, so all the other Rebels heard his response.
“Is that possible?” Louisa asked from the sofa.
Paul stretched his arm around his wife. “If the criminal law can be overturned, anything is possible.”
Ian let Amie take the baby. “I’ve already written to Robert Peel and asked to join his committee.”
“You know we will support you,” Tom said. “Let me know if you need someone to sneak inside the prisons in disguise. I might know someone capable.”
