Victoria laughed. “Have you anything in mind?”
“My dear girl, how can I have aught in mind when I don’t know it yet?”
Another burst of laughter escaped her. He could be rather entertaining when he chose, and his charm seemed effortless. “What interests you? That is what I meant to say.”
“Hmm.” He looked down at her, his eyes dancing with merry blue light. “What of your family? How many siblings have you?”
She pursed her lips. He ought to have known. “I told you while we were courting. Don’t you remember?”
His expression clouded. “Ah, yes. There are five of you, aren’t there?”
“Six,” she corrected, her tone tart. He hadn’t listened to a word she’d ever said, had he?
“Just so.” He cleared his throat. “Felicitations on your new sibling.”
“Libby is twelve years old,” she pointed out unkindly.
“Christ,” he muttered, abruptly halting their walk to face her and take both her hands in his. He was very serious as he gazed down upon her, his face stark with masculine beauty. “I have a confession to make, my dear. I wasn’t a good suitor to you. If you were speaking, chances are strong I wasn’t listening. Pray don’t hate me for it, but there it is.”
She had suspected as much by now, but his admission nevertheless stung. “I don’t hate you,” she allowed, “but I must admit I’m not terribly impressed. Am I so boring then?”
“Not at all.” He squeezed her fingers, trapped as they were in his large grasp. “It is merely that I was that much of an ass.”
No point in saving him the shame, she decided. For the first time in his life, he ought to pay what was due. “You were.”
He brought her hands to his lips for a pair of kisses that sent desire skittering through her. “Forgive me, my dear?”
“I suppose so,” she conceded. “But when next I ask you, you had better be able to tell me that I am the eldest of six daughters.”
“Six daughters?” He looked aghast. “Don’t tell me we’re to have all girls as well. I’ll go mad.”
The mentioning of their future children sent an entirely different sort of emotion washing over her. Good heavens. Even though she had reconciled herself to the fact that she was expected to produce an heir for his family, she hadn’t truly given the notion much thought beyond that. She thought of their lovemaking the previous night and earlier that morning. Victoria was certain she was flushing cherry red.
She forced her mind back to the topic at hand. She’d been berating him, not mooning over him, drat it all. “Yes, six girls,” she confirmed. “Take note of their names as well, since you ought to know them by now. There is Rose, Lillian, Edith, Pearl and Libby.”
As she spoke their names, it occurred to her just how much she missed them. They were all younger than she in age but dear in their own ways. Sometimes, New York and her old life there still beckoned her with its cozy familiarity and the comfort of knowing she was well-loved.
“Right,” he interrupted her thoughts. “Roberta, Laura, Edith, Pearl and Louisa.” His tone was hopeful.
“Rose, Lillian, and Libby.” She gave him a good-natured swat. “You’ll meet them all someday, I expect, and then you’ll be able to recall their names. I’m sure they plan to follow in my footsteps.”
“God help them,” he remarked, his voice drenched in self-deprecation.
“God and their sister,” she said, striving to lighten the mood. “I know how to navigate the treacherous social waters on this side of the world.”
“Thank Christ you’re a forgiving soul,” he muttered. “Lord knows I don’t deserve you.”
“No,” she granted, happy he’d noticed but wanting to make him squirm just a bit, “you don’t.”
Rose, Lillian, Edith, Pearl and Libby. Good Christ, he was going to have a gaggle of daughters before he ever had an heir. If he even sired an heir, that was. He should have been suitably horrified. But the devil of it was, he didn’t truly give a damn. If Victoria bore him a dozen daughters, they would all still be theirs, bright-eyed, flaxen-haired little girls to be cherished.
Damn it to hell. He was getting maudlin. He dropped her hands, determined to resume their walk without further sentimentality. He ought to have known better than to have brought up her family, by God. What was the matter with him? Had making love to her addled his mind? Very likely, for his cock was raging just standing at her side.
He’d thought his mad desire for her would dissipate, but it was growing worse.
What to do? Right, he’d been attempting to show her the river before he’d gone hopelessly afield. He offered her his arm once more. “Shall we continue on in our walk, my dear? Have you seen the river here yet? It’s something to behold.”
He recalled splashing about in it as a boy on the occasions his family had taken up residence at Carrington House. They had come often until that awful last visit. His mother had lost a babe, another brother, and had succumbed not long thereafter to childbed fever. While no one had been certain whether the father of the stillborn had been the duke or the duchess’s lover of the moment, the babe’s death had confirmed Pembroke as the sole heir.
