After a while he produced an apple from his pocket and proceeded to cut slices for the little girl to eat.When all that was left was the core, he was ready to feed it to Tessa’s horse, when Flora said “Non!”and grabbed it from him.She ate it, seeds and all, until only the stem was left.She inspected it gravely, decided she had no use for it and gave it to him.
“Thank you,” he said in all seriousness.She frowned up at him in puzzlement.“Good girl,” he said, nodding, and her brow cleared.
On the way, they passed the stark stone skeleton of a ruined abbey.“Is that the abbey the landlady mentioned?The one the smith said he would take Flora to?
“No,” Marcus said.“We passed the turnoff to Nivelles a while back.This is ..” With some difficulty he pulled his pamphlet from a pocket and consulted it.“According to this, that one is—or was—theAbbaye de Villers.I suppose it was destroyed in the revolution as well.”
They rode on in a somber frame of mind.The destruction of war and revolution was all around them.
#
THE ACCOMMODATION TOMAShad found for them in Genappe was clean and comfortable and, after a good meal, they’d all settled in for an early night.Clothilde and little Flora were housed together in a separate small room, as was Tomas, who was sharing with young Léon.
It was the first time Tessa had been entirely alone with Marcus since Brussels, and he had wasted no time taking her to bed and making love with her.It was blissful.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go to Paris?”Marcus asked Tessa some time later.“The Army of Occupation left France several years ago, but it’s perfectly safe.I’m told the French are relieved to have the war behind them and are anxious to rebuild their country.”
She stretched luxuriantly and ran her hand down his chest. It was still hard for her to believe that the activity she had endured in her previous marriages had such potential for ...bliss.She could never get enough of the feeling of his skin against hers.“I don’t really care about Paris, but of course, if you want to go there—”
“I don’t.”He smoothed her hair back and kissed her.“I just wanted to check with you.Women are usually keen to shop in Paris.”
She laughed.“I’m happy to do any shopping I need in London, thank you.You forget, for most of my life, I’ve never been allowed to go shopping at all.”
Looking back, it was almost as if her previous two marriages were just one long, unpleasant dream.For all her initial reluctance to accept Marcus’s proposal, and despite his very lukewarm declaration when he made it—we need to marry...I haven’t a romantic bone in my body ...I’ve never wanted a love match ...Our marriage will be a practical solution—this marriage was turning out wonderfully well.
He wasn’t the cold, repressed, proud man so many people thought him.Underneath that reserved, hard-to-read exterior he was kind, and thoughtful, and he had a wonderfully dry sense of humor.
And she didn’t just feel listened to, she feltseen.Respected, as if she were an equal partner in their marriage.
And when they made love, she felt ...cherished.
#
THE FOLLOWING MORNING, Marcus made the arrangements to begin the journey back to England.First he had to hire a carriage and driver.
“But we already have Tomas and a carriage,” Tessa said when he told her.
“I’ve decided to send Tomas and the carriage back with young Léon,” he said brusquely, and before she could ask why, he added in a gruff voice, “Léon is only ten.I won’t send a child of his age on the journey back to his village—not alone, for all that he considers himself the man of the family.He and the mule would be targets for any passing villains.Tomas will look after them.”
Tessa simply nodded, understanding.Of course Marcus would feel it his responsibility to see Léon safely returned to his mother.He was always protective of children—witness the way he’d looked after young Joey back in London, and Flora, currently playing at her feet.
He would make a wonderful father.She felt completely safe with him too—not that he treated her like a child.She smiled to herself, thinking of the way they had made love the previous night, and again this morning.Very much not like a child.
Deliciously not like a child.
“We will make for the coast—to Calais I think, depending on the roads,” he continued.“I’ll send a note with Tomas to have my yacht sent there.He’ll no doubt make better time than we will—we’re not in a hurry, are we?”
“Not at all,” she agreed.“And I think it will be easier, traveling with Flora, if we’re not cooped up in a carriage all day.Besides, the countryside is so pretty.”And having had so little opportunity in her life to travel anywhere, she was enjoying every minute of it—apart from the endless jolting of the carriage.It took her a little time every morning to get used to the swaying and bouncing.Another reason to travel in short stages.
He gave a brisk nod.“Very well then.We’ll take our time, and do a bit of exploring along the way.”
#
THEY MADE A SLOW, LEISURELYtrip to Calais, stopping whenever they felt like it, to view the sights, or to have a picnic, or simply to stretch their legs in a pretty area.And of course for ‘pipi’ because, napkin or not, Flora insisted on stopping to relieve herself and became almost frantic trying to get the napkin off.They decided in the end to use a napkin only at night.
The little girl took to carriage riding as easily as she’d taken to being on a horse, gazing out of the window at the scenery passing by.She’d also taken to Clothilde, though only as a secondary choice, her preference being to be with Marcus or Tessa, preferably both.
“She’s a bright, happy little soul, isn't she?”Marcus commented as, sitting on Tessa’s knee, she pointed out some sheep in a nearby paddock.“Remarkable that the neglect she was suffering when we found her doesn’t seem to have made a permanent impression.”
