“What would that be?”
“What if you find yourself with child?”
A chill swept through her because it was something that she had not even considered. “I…um…”
“You will tell me, Lavinia,” he instructed before she could find the words for a proper response because she had no idea what would become of her. She certainly would not be able to go into Society and would need to hide away for the rest of her life.
“Yes, of course.”
“My child, if there is one, will have my name, as will his mother.”
She stared into his eyes. Perhaps Demetrius should have claimed that he would not marry unless he got a woman with child, but she did not want him if it was the only reason he would marry her. Yet would she really have a choice?
Not if she wanted her family to avoid another scandal.
“I understand,” she said.
He then leaned in and pressed his lips gently against hers. “Goodbye, Lavinia.”
“Goodbye, Demetrius.”
With that, she left him standing, entered the cottage and made her way to her chamber. Once there and safe in her own bed, Lavinia allowed herself to cry for the first time since her mother had died when she was six and ten.
He dreaded the day that Lavinia would leave, but she was correct that it wouldn’t be right to be lovers for part of the year and apart the rest.
It was unfair to her, especially if she found someone that she could love, and someone who was worthy to love her back.
It was probably a mistake to even continue now knowing that it would soon come to an end, but Demetrius was going to take every moment he was allowed.
It was also all he could do not to beg her to remain, but her family relied on her and he had no doubt that if she didn’t return to London after Twelfth Night His Grace would come to Seaford and that was a meeting that Demetrius did not want, though it would be convenient in telling him that he could no longer be his solicitor.
He snorted as he settled into the chair and tossed a ball for Max.
Now that the servants had returned to Sea View, he was no longer free to call on her in the morning and remain until it was time to retire. Instead, their time was reduced to dinner and evenings, unless Lavinia chose to take a stroll.
But, as the day wore on, she never appeared. He spent far more time outside with Max and Cal because Max would be the very first to know if Lavinia stepped from her cottage, but he never barked, nor ran in that direction and as it neared time for dinner, Demetrius returned inside to wash and dress then made his way to her cottage.
The door was answered by the butler and, without a word, Demetrius made his way to the parlor where she waited with a glass of brandy.
She looked radiant with her mahogany hair pulled back with small ringlets about her face, wearing a blue gown that only emphasized her breasts.
He looked up into her eyes and though she smiled with her lips, sadness lingered in the blue depths and his stomach tightened.
“How was your day?” she asked as she pressed the brandy into his hand.
“Uneventful unless you consider throwing a ball to Max to fetch was productive.”
“Max likely believes so,” she chuckled.
“Is all well, Lavinia?”
“Yes, of course,” she answered just as Mrs. Trenton announced dinner.
As the night before, their discussion was strained and Demetrius knew that he was losing her. She had not said the words, but her demeanor and even the way she held herself was reminiscent of the woman he knew in London, not the one that he had come to know in Seaford.
When they returned to the parlor, she poured him a glass of wine.
“Will you find a space for an office in town, or will you work out of the cottage?” she asked politely.
