If Isolde had harbored any concerns over his reaction, the incandescent joy on Tristan’s face removed all trace of worry.
He looked between her face to his palm on her belly and back again. “Truly?”
“Aye,” she smiled through her tears. “I consulted a physician earlier today, just to be sure. But yes, we are going to be parents.” She swiped at her damp cheeks. “Och, this bairn needs to stop making megreit. I fear I shall be forever wiping tears.”
“Permit me.” Bending, he began kissing the tears from her face, murmuring endearments against her skin. “My love. My darling.Amore mio.”
Though he spoke fluent Italian courtesy of his Italian mother, Tristan rarely lapsed into it. But in this moment, he released a string of melodic words, the only ones that Isolde understood werebellissimafor most beautiful andla mia inamoratafor my lover.
Finally, he pulled back and pressed his forehead to hers. “So if you are currently growing our daughter—”
“Or son,” Isolde interrupted. “We truly do need a son.”
“Yes, in due time, darling. But this one—” He put his large hand on her stomach once more. “—this babe will be a girl. A daughter as bonny and wild as her mother. I will settle for nothing less.”
“Absurd,” Isolde laughed through the tears that continued to fall. Was this the reality of pregnancy? Crying the day long?
“But I must ask, if you are merelyincinta, as the Italians say, why are you sopping wet? What is the ‘incident’ Fredericks mentioned?”
Ah, that.
Well . . .
Isolde sighed, her lip quivering once more. “Lady Lavinia pushed me into the Serpentine.”
Tristan went terrifyingly still beside her.
“I believe I am going to need you to repeat what you just said, Wife.” He said the words innocuously enough, but the deathly quiet in his tone and murderous glint to his gaze sent a chill down Isolde’s spine.
“Just that.” Isolde relayed their stroll into Hyde Park and what had occurred, trying to keep her tears at bay. “We all turned to leave, and I stopped to let the children race by. That was when someone pushed me in the back with two hands and sent me tumbling into the lake. It had to have been Lady Lavinia, as she was the only person behind me.”
“That damn harpy is fortunate you didn’t crack your head! I would have seen her hang for such an offense.”
“Fortunately, I am no stranger to near drowning, as well ye know. I swam to shore easily enough, and Ethan helped pull me out of the water.”
“I should never wish you to revisit the horror of a near drowning, Wife. Did Lady Lavinia offer an excuse?”
“Of course not. She declared herself innocent. However, two of the children and their nurse saw what happened and kept saying, ‘The lady pushed her’ and pointing at Lady Lavinia. But, naturally, Lady Lavinia claimed the nurse and children were lying to cover their perfidy. The Duchess of Andover believed her daughter.” Isolde swallowed, lifting a hand to cover her eyes.
It was just . . .
She wassotired. It was exhausting spending every day with an eye fixed over her shoulder, fretting about what awful thing Lady Lavinia would contrive to do next. Surely, the termagant would find a way to sabotage the ball.
“Lady Lavinia has been making your life a living hell,” Tristan said.
“Aye,” Isolde sniffed. “Your cousin has terrible taste in wives.”
“Another example of Aubrey’s imbecilic nature.”
Isolde managed a gasping laugh. She simply wanted off this Catherine Wheel. She wanted peace and harmony restored to her life.
But that wasn’t quite the hand she had been dealt at the moment.
She took in a stuttering breath and, once again, wiped her face. “I will confront Lady Lavinia about this tomorrow—”
“No.” Tristan’s voice held a sharp finality.
She met his gaze.
