by Gabriel
Polly’s insides went reeling, again, and the sensation should have been familiar, but it wasn’t. Not in any particular. “What about my labor being too long and difficult? It took me forever to recover.”
“First babies are the hardest, or so Nicholas’s countess has told me.” Sara took Polly’s hand. “Your recovery was difficult because of the circumstances, and because the entire time you were carrying, we were haring all over the Continent, making do in drafty inns with damp sheets and questionable rations. Our situation was little better once Allie appeared, and you were so… upset.”
“I was,” Polly said. “I was very, very upset.” She was quiet a minute, trying to grasp the ramifications. “So I could be… carrying?”
“You very likely are, if you took no precautions. Are you happy?”
“I am… you can’t know how pleased I am, to be able to give Gabriel children. We will never take our children for granted, Sara. Never.” She was quiet a moment, joy expanding in a crescendo that came to a grand pause. “Good lord, what will I tell Allie?”
“Nothing for the present, because it’s early days. If you tell Gabriel, he might forbid you to travel, as Beck tried to do with me.”
“Beck has his reasons to be overly protective of you, but a baby. Oh, Sara… A baby and a husband and my daughter and a studio of my own and a niece or a nephew…”
“Go ahead and cry.” Sara handed her back the nightgown to use as a handkerchief. “Gabriel will see your tears and demand an explanation.”
“And I will give him one,” Polly said, rising and passing the abused nightgown to her sister. “Right now.” She paused to hug her sister hard then left the room on winged feet.
She found her husband ruining his supper with spice muffins and a pot of tea at the kitchen counter, and had to stand for a moment in the doorway, loving the sight of him.
“Come, Polonaise.” He extended a hand to her. “You should have some sustenance. Your sister leaves tomorrow, and you will need to keep up your strength.”
“I will,” she agreed, tucking herself against his side. “If it weren’t for Allie on guard in my room all night, you’d no doubt have me worn to a shadow.”
Gabriel kissed her cheek. “Fortunately for me, there are libraries and saddle rooms and other locations where one can make love with one’s wife, though after that little session this morning, I’d best inspect your backside for splinters.”
“Eat your muffin. You may inspect at length, when Tremaine takes Allie riding this afternoon.”
“He has his uses. Now, why have you been crying, beloved? I won’t have it, you know. You’re my wife, and crying—other than for lack of me—is not permitted.”
“May I cry over good tidings?”
Gabriel set his muffin down. “This depends on the nature of the tidings. I do not necessarily consider another three years of commissions the best of tidings, selfish brute that I am.”
“You don’t?” Polly felt nonplussed until she caught the devilment in his eyes.
“I do not. Unless you’ve decided to accept a commission from a certain newly minted marquess, who wants you to paint him in the nude, and, my dear, a miniature of that subject will most assuredly not do.”
“Well, as to that, I have accepted yet another commission, though this one will not directly involve paints, at least not for a while.”
Gabriel considered her, his smile nowhere in evidence. “You tease me, Polonaise. I do not enjoy this kind of teasing, when the limited charms of the pantry are the only ones close at hand.”
She pressed her cheek to his chest. “Gabriel, I’m carrying.”
His hand went still mid-slide around her waist, then detoured lower, over her womb. “Carrying?”
“Your child.” Then, more softly, “Our child.”
His closed his arms around her, the most tender and cherishing embrace Polonaise Hunt Wendover could recall them sharing, and then began to speak in a torrent of low whispers right to her ear.
He told her he loved her, told her he’d take unceasing care of her and of their child—of all their children, for they would have many. He told her she must endure his doting, must learn to bear up under the strain of his clumsy efforts to care for her, and give him at least fifty years to perfect his efforts in that regard.
He told her again that he loved her, and again, and again, and again.
Five days later, five years later, five decades later, Gabriel was still prone to frequent and lavish lectures along these selfsame lines, and his marchioness, his love, his wife, and the mother of his eight children, was prone to listening to every word, and believing each one.
Acknowledgments
A reader characterized my upbringing—“riding horses and reading novels”—as a bit of heaven, and it was. I am indebted to my late godparents, Bob and Jeanne McCarthy, for adding me to their brood of six as a shirttail cousin, and for making room for my first horse, Buck, on their farm. Bob was a professor of food science; Jeanne had a master’s degree in dairy science. They made a move, midcareer, from our college town to a 138-acre farm twenty-five miles up the valley.
I loved that farm, in part because on a farm, everybody’s contribution is valued. A three-year-old can help shell the peas; a thirteen-year-old can stack the hay wagon. I learned how truly wonderful corn on the cob is when it’s picked only an hour before dinner. I learned how to make ice cream, can peaches, pluck chickens, mind sheep, mend fence, and have an enormous amount of fun.
If I have any insight into the “country squire” aspect of Regency England, it’s because this wonderful family opened their home and their hearts to me—and to my horse!—long before I had any notion I’d ever become a writer.
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New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
Darius
by Grace Burrowes
A story that breaks all the rules…
Darius is a gripping and remarkable tale of desperation, devotion, and redemption from award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes. Her gorgeous writing and lush Regency world will stay with you long after you turn the final page…
With his beloved sister tainted by scandal, his widowed brother shattered by grief, and his funds cut off, Darius Lindsey sees no option but to sell himself—body and soul. Until the day he encounters lovely, beguiling Lady Vivian Longstreet, whose tenderness and understanding wrap his soul in a grace he knows he’ll never deserve…
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
Lady Jenny’s Christmas Portrait
by Grace Burrowes
They share a dream…
Elijah Harrison is working on the commission that could finally gain him a place at the Royal Academy of Artists when he meets Jenny Windham. She is both a talented artist and an inspiring muse, but if Elijah supports Jenny’s career at the cost of his own, he could lose her forever.
…but can only one achieve it?
Jenny Windham is thrilled to assist Elijah with his portraits for a holiday open house. Working with an artist of Elijah’s stature is her greatest desire…until chemistry develops between them and other desires begin to burn. Jenny isn’t sure which path her life should take, but Christmas with Elijah might be just the thing to light the way.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
Gareth
by Grace Burrowes
The next book in the Lonely Lords series
Gareth Alexander, Marquess of Heathgate, has spent nine years indulging every whim
allowed the wealthy and titled—also grieving five family members who died in the yachting accident that left him with the title. To meet an obligation to a deceased friend, Gareth, a confirmed rake, must teach Felicity Worthington, an equally confirmed spinster how to run a brothel in ninety days. Time is running out to ensure Felicity has the security the brothel will provide, but Gareth becomes increasingly reluctant to ruin a woman he respects as much as he desires.
Praise for Grace Burrowes:
“You can’t go wrong with any book that Grace has written!”—Romance Junkies
“Grace Burrowes skillfully balances the seriousness with love, excitement, and passion.”—Book Savvy Babe
“Burrowes is superb at creating connections that feel honest and real.”—Publishers Weekly
About the Author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes hit the bestseller lists with her debut, The Heir, followed by The Soldier and Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal. The Heir was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2010, The Soldier was a Publishers Weekly Best Spring Romance of 2011, Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish won Best Historical Romance of the Year in 2011 from RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards, Lady Louisa’s Christmas Knight was a Library Journal Best Book of 2012, and The Bridegroom Wore Plaid, the first in her trilogy of Scotland-set Victorian romances, was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2012. All her Regency romances have received extensive praise, including several starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist.
Grace is a practicing family law attorney and lives in rural Maryland. She loves to hear from her readers and can be reached through her website at graceburrowes.com.
