“Not marriage?”
Mark slipped off her and rolled to his side, tugging her with him, sliding an arm around her waist. “No. I do not think marriage is in the cards for either of us, if I am honest.”
This time, she did smile. “No. I think not.”
“But it also means that you are mine and mine alone. Mind, body, and heart.”
Judith placed a palm against his chest. “So no more young blades tripping in and out of my bedchambers after balls, keeping me warm and happy at night?”
“I will buy you a puppy.”
She laughed. A full-throated, body-shaking laugh that began with a startled bark and descended into girlish giggles. Mark held her, charmed, as she quivered against him, although the way she curled her fingers into the hair on his chest tested his every resolve to not pin her to the bed and take her for all they were both worth. “It is not that amusing.”
She nodded, her hair flowing over her shoulders and trailing down his body, then gulped for breath. “It is if you know how often I think of them as untrained pups.”
A sudden image of young Gower as a lanky young hound made Mark squeeze his eyes shut as he snickered.
As they calmed, Judith stroked his shoulder, testing his resolve once again. “Judith—”
“Yours alone?”
His hand slid from her waist, down along her hip, coming to rest mid-thigh, his thumb caressing her. “Mine alone.”
“You would pit me against Edmund? My boys?”
Mark scowled. “No. Family is too important, especially children. But otherwise, your loyalty would be to me.”
Judith remained silent a moment. “You say that almost as if you had children of your own.”
Mark’s mouth thinned, feeling almost as if he were being tested in some way. And perhaps he was. Given what he asked of her, perhaps it was time he extended the same... what? Trust?
Taking a deep breath, he pushed up and off the bed, holding out his hand. “I need to show you something. Let us get dressed first—no need to startle any unwary servants.”
She smiled and slipped from the bed, straightening her chemise and reaching for her stays, which he helped her lace up, along with her dress. He pulled on his trousers but reached for the banyan instead of his soiled shirt. He picked up one of the oil lamps, then led her out the door and up the back stairs. Judith followed, his hand grasping hers, without a word. On the fourth floor, he paused, his hand on the door of the room his workers had been focused on for more than a week.
“If, after I show you this, you wish to pursue your own course, I will understand.”
Her brow furrowed. “Then you must show me now.”
With a nod, he opened the door and led her inside, closing it behind them. He released her hand, urging her farther into the room, as he lifted the lamp to cast more light around the room.
Bright moonlight streamed through the windows of the room, adding a silver sheen to the golden glow of the lamp, both casting stark shadows over the furnishings and bare wooden floor. The room held a moist chill, and it smelled of fresh paint and recently sawed wood. Judith looked around, her eyes slowly growing so wide he could see the white around the emerald-green of her irises. She turned, taking in each element of the room as if viewing a museum exhibit.
The room, once that of a servant, had been transformed into a child’s room with study and play areas. In one corner, a tiny table sat flanked with a low bookcase filled with children’s lesson books and an armchair for an adult. Against the far wall, a rocking chair and a variety of toys clustered near a child’s bed.
Judith circled the room, touching a few items such as a rocking horse and a shelf full of painted rocks and dried flowers. Completing her circuit, she looked at Mark. “Who is this for?”
“Olivia. My daughter. She is almost four. Stella is—was—her mother, and she now lives with her grandmother, Stella’smother, Rose. But Rose is not in great health, and I want to bring them both here to live.”
Then he waited.
Twin spots of red tinged Judith’s cheekbones as she turned to survey the room again. She walked over, her fingers gliding along the head of the rocking horse. “Do you plan to hire a nanny? A governess?”
Mark blinked at the unexpected question. “Not yet. Rose has cared for her until now. But she should start her education soon, which I do not think Rose can handle. I hoped to hire a governess to handle her at that point.”
“Why have you not . . . claimed . . . her before now?”
“Because I could not protect her.”
