To Louisa’s astonishment, Gladys Waldo hastily transferred baby Emily into Lord Granborough’s care. “I haven’t eaten all day. They asked us to leave the dining saloon due to her crying. If I could just get a sandwich—”
“Of course, you must get a sandwich,” he soothed her. “Take, say, half an hour to enjoy your luncheon and return to us here. I promise we shan’t move from this spot.”
Mrs. Waldo hurried toward the door. She must have been desperate for a break.
Louisa frowned at her husband and his new bawling burden. “Five dollars says she doesn’t come back.”
“She’ll be back.” He rocked Emily in the crook of his arm, not the least bit worried. He offered the cup and saucer to Louisa. “This is for you, dear.”
He’d brought her coffee, which she accepted warily. “Where did you find this?”
“I begged it off a waiter. I thought you could use it, as you looked positively frosty. Double cream and sugar, just how you like it.”
Louisa was surprised he’d remembered her coffee order, though today her husband was full of surprises. She took a sip and set the cup and saucer aside. “Thank you.”
He held the baby as if it were perfectly natural. Soon, Emily’s frustrated screams became fussy little babbles as the infant marveled at this calm stranger.
“Is borrowing other people’s babies a common occurrence in your country?”
“Not really,” he said, “but Mrs. Waldo looked to be at the end of her tether.”
His Lordshipdidhave a heart beneath his icy façade.
Louisa was relieved to discover it. “I think she came to me for help, but I don’t know a thing about babies. I’ve never even held one.”
“Would you like to?” He threatened to shift Emily into her arms.
Louisa hid her hands beneath the blanket. “Thank you, no. I’d rather not.” Truthfully, she had no interest in little ones. “They’re too fragile at that age.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m a soft touch when it comes to babies.” He smiled as he cuddled the child.
Louisa’s breath hitched in her chest. Her heart must’ve ceased beating for a moment, because she stared at him, transfixed, as though she were seeing him for the first time.
Lord Granborough had never smiled in all the months she’d known him, yet he looked at her now with lips upturned and warmth shining in his eyes.
She’d thought him handsome before, but His Lordship was dazzlingly beautiful—there was no better word for this gleaming, golden-haired gentleman—clutching a baby to his chest. He was happy holding Emily and content to stand at Louisa’s side.
The scene was so domestic, so intimate, that she felt all ‘at sea’. She had not thought of Lord Granborough so sweetly, yet this was part of the deeper understanding she’d craved. He allowed her a closer look at the man she’d married, though Louisa shied away as surely as she’d done when he kissed her hand in their cabin.
His smile faded, and he became that shrewd, starchy nobleman to whom she’d pledged her body and fortune. Whatever harmony that passed between them had been fleeting. They returned to the shallows of their marriage, leaving Louisa floundering in his wake.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Why did you leave me earlier?” His Lordship asked.
Louisa sighed, feeling wind-whipped and salt-lashed. During their courtship and engagement, they’d hardly shared a private moment, yet her husband expected her to be within arms’ reach whenever it suited him. Again, must she survive on crumbs while he enjoyed the feast?
When she gave no answer to his question, he confessed, “I waited for you, but you never returned. Do you not care to be alone with me, Louisa?”
“It’s clear I serve one purpose where you’re concerned.” She gestured to the infant in his arms. He wanted offspring as quickly as he could sire them. “Your motives do not exactly foster intimacy, my lord.”
“I told you, the sooner we do our duty…” Lord Granborough shook his head. “No, that’s not entirely true.” His blue eyes met hers on the breezy promenade deck, as open and honest as the sea was wide. “Having a family would satisfy my responsibilities to the estate, but I happen to like children. I’ve friends with them, you know, who put me up from time to time. I’m not the sort of guest who requires the youngsters of the house to be shut away out of sight—I remember all too well how that felt growing up.”
Louisa listened, enraptured as he revealed a small, sincere piece of himself.
“My childhood was lonely, unhappy. I have not fared much better in adulthood, I’m afraid. I want to leave a better legacy than my forebears and should like to believe that all my suffering and sacrifice have not been in vain, because saving Granborough will cost meeverything. Would it not be a balm to look out across the parkland and see one’s little ones at play, safe and secure? When I am gone, the estate will continue to serve the county for generations. No man in my position could ask for anything more.”
Lord Granborough desired a family.
