“Aye, my lord,” both boys suddenly leapt from Remington’s lap as if they suddenly remembered they were pages and no longer young masters. With a quick bow to Remington and their lord, they dashed from the room.
Gaston turned to Remington, his gaze warm. “I should scold you, you know.”
She smiled, snuggling up against him saucily. “But you won’t. Not when I tell you it is Dane’s birthday today, and I was treating him to a story.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Hmpf. Of course I cannot become angry now. He is eight years old today?”
“Aye,” she nodded, her gaze softening. “I can hardly believe my tiny little boy is eight years old. They grow up far too quickly.”
“Aye,” he agreed, his gaze roving to her belly. He placed a huge, warm hand on her stomach. “As will this child. Have you decided on a selection of names?”
She placed her hand over his. “There will be no selection, for I have already decided on his name.”
He raised his brows reprovingly. “And?”
Her incredible eyes met his and she smiled gently, disarming him. “Erik. His name will be Erik.”
He felt sadness shoot though him like a bolt, his grief inadvertently swallowing him up. Her compassion, her thoughtfulness filled him and he enveloped her in his arms, burying his great head in her bosom as if to hide from the world.
“Of course,” he whispered against her flesh. “How considerate of you, my lady. I am ever grateful to you.”
She felt his pain as he held her and she sought to comfort him as one would comfort a small, lost child. She held him against her fiercely.
“And if it is a girl, which it will not be, but if it is, I would like to name her after your mother,” she said. “What was your mother’s name?”
He looked at her, rather softly. “Adeliza.”
“Adeliza,” she repeated with satisfaction. “’Tis a lovely name. I like it very much.”
They lay content together as the sun set and the smells of supper drifted on the warm evening air. Remington’s stomach growled and Gaston snickered.
“I believe our child is talking,” he said, sitting up.
“Not yet, at any rate,” she said as he rose from the bed. Extending his hand, he pulled her to stand.
“I would change before supping with Lord Ripley and his son,” she said, moving for the wardrobe.
Gaston eyed her a moment. “Ripley seems terribly fond of you.”
She jerked her head to look at him, just as quickly looking away. “Why do you say that?”
He was instantly suspicious. “Remi, did you have an affair with him?”
She looked shocked and angered. “How can you ask me that?” she flared. “I have never slept with any man other thanmy husband, and you. How dare you insinuate that I dispensed favors as a common whore!”
He put his hands up. “I am sorry, truly, but his gaze upon you is most….tender. I did not mean to offend you, angel. Forgive me.”
Her jaw ticked, still perturbed. “’Twas a terrible question, Gaston. You more than anyone should know just how foolish a question it was.”
He knew it, knowing he had spoken before he’d had a chance to think about what he was asking. But her evasiveness had prompted him.
“I am sorry,” he repeated. “Do you know him well, then?”
She cleared her throat, again looking uncomfortable. She fingered through a couple of surcoats before slowing her movements. When she spoke, she did not look at him. “You are correct in your observations, Gaston. Lord Ripley was very fond of me, as he told me repeatedly. He hated Guy for marrying me as much as anything else, and felt tremendously guilty for not being able to protect me from my husband,” she turned to look at him, ashamed. “He offered to take me away once, far away. He said he would leave his wife and children and all that he had if I would run away with him.”
Gaston began to understand the man’s gaze, his words, far better now. He was jealous, true, but he was also appreciative in a sense. It would appear that whether or not Remington realized it, she had many admirers who were aware of her plight, men who were willing to help her. First Brimley had shown deep concern, and then Derek claimed to be saving her from her captivity, and now Ripley.
She was unaware of how she had affected the men. True, she knew of their feelings, but they mattered not to her. She would force herself to stay in a loveless, hellish marriage simply because she had no desire to escape one man into the armsof another. Moreover, it would have meant leaving people who depended on her. She had said once that she had no use for men in general, until she met him.
