“We should evict the dowager before they arrive,” Kitty said. “No?”
“That decision will be Dorothy’s once she’s in full possession of the facts. It’s lamentably weak of me, but I feel Alfred’s mother should have her chance at repentance and reform. She will have a new vessel for the Godyson blood, which might gentle her. Consider the fact that Isabella doesn’t hate or even dislike her grandmother. She must have good memories of her.”
“Definitely not a cold marble box,” Kitty said, smiling. “I have a gift for you.” She took the box out of her pocket and offered it.
He rubbed his thumb over the old ivory. “It’s lovely, but why?”
“You’ve given me gifts. And this is the one-week anniversary of our wedding.”
“Is it only a week, Mrs. Braydon?”
“Mrs. Braydon?”
“It’s only prudent to cease using the title when my right is so uncertain. Do you mind?”
“Not in the slightest! I thought once that it suited you—Dauntry and daunting—but no longer. And I’ll bemuch more comfortable without pomp, precedence, and protocol.”
“You would have looked magnificent in scarlet robes and coronet.”
“But as compensation, we’re no longer tied to the Abbey. We can live in Town all year round.”
“How your eyes shine. We’ll have to take care of the place during the transition and to assist Dorothy.”
“But it won’t be a life sentence. And Ruth and I will be close again. What’s the Shakespeare play?All’s Well That Ends Well. How clever he was.”
“I could addMuch Ado about Nothing, for the princes’ affair.”
“And evenThe Comedy of Errors,” Kitty said. “But notThe Taming of the Shrew.”
He traced her cheek. “Shrewd, but not shrewish. Insightful and perceptive. Perhaps it comes from all those years observing and being kind to young men.”
She had to ask. “No jealousy?”
“I’m determined to transmute it into pride. Don’t answer if you don’t want to, but did Cateril ever hit you?”
Instinctively, Kitty wanted not to answer, even to deny it, but she said, “A few times. When his pain was bad and his spirits low.”
“That’s no excuse.”
“He never claimed it was. He was always repentant. Once I cracked a jug over his head, so I wasn’t above violence, either.”
“No meek Desdemona. I love my bold, strong wife, but I could wish you’d had a gentler life.”
“I’m not sure about that. Too much peace and quiet and I’d probably seek out mayhem. So I do hope you’ll find a way to involve me in your work.” But then she said, “Open the box.”
He did so. “A heart. Yours?”
“You have my heart, but that is yours. When we first met I thought you a cold marble box, but I sensed fire inside. There is fire, but above that, there’s a warm heart, and there’s nothing of cold marble about you, my love.”
He drew her onto his knee for a kiss that, as always, turned passionate, but they both controlled it. In this she could be patient, as could he. Especially as a kiss could last as long as a feast, with a banquet to follow in the night.
Epilogue
Christmas Day at Beauchamp Abbey
The five children chased Sillikin and Pirate around the brightly decorated hall, the dogs sometimes skidding on the marble floor. Pirate was Johnie’s dog and was a black-patched mongrel, but she had a friendly disposition, and she and Sillikin played together well.
The children were Johnie and Alice Braydon, their Edgware friends Harry and Bella Pickering, and little Arthur Lulworth. Arthur had been hesitant, but Johnie had befriended him, and Sillikin had added encouragement.
