“Yes, I think so,” he said.
Cassian pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“Go on and write something,” he said in a slightly commanding tone, one that still had the power to make James swoon a bit. “I’m not letting us stay awakethe wholenight.”
With a playful roll of his eyes, James began to write.
Never before had he felt so loved.
Chapter Thirty-One
Cassian
November 26, 1912
Gazing out the window of his Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, Cassian was biting his fingernails and bouncing his leg. Beside him, Ethel was humming while moving the pendant on her necklace back and forth on its chain. In front, John Quinn was humming along with Ethel. After some time, Cassian began to hum with them, if only to take his focus off of how much time was left for their trip to his cottage in Upstate New York, though when Cassian soon fumbled behind the happy couple, forgetting the rest of the tune, his blunder ruined the song. Ethel laughed lightly, and Cassian bumped her leg with his knee in silent chastisement, although he couldn’t contain his smile. It was nice that he and Ethel had become so comfortable with one another. He rather enjoyed their occasional playfulness.
“How much longer until we reach the cottage?” he asked John.
Glancing over his shoulder, John replied, “Five minutes, maybe. Not to worry, Cassian, sir, you’ll see James soon enough.”
“You know, it isn’t exactly fair that you and Ethel areconstantlytogether, while James and I have to spendweeksapart at a time,” Cassian complained.
“Isn’t there a relevant saying for this sort of thing?” Ethel asked. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder, or something like that?”
Cassian smirked at her. “Does this mean that you have grown sick of poor John Quinn by now?”
“No, not yet,” Ethel said with a light chuckle. “I’m quite taken with him, in fact.”
“Yes, you’ve certainly proven your fondness for the man, I think,” Cassian jested, purposefully letting his eyes fall to Ethel’s slightly rounded stomach.
Ethel smacked Cassian halfheartedly with the back of her hand.
“Everyone must think that you and I couldn’t bear to wait until our wedding,” Cassian said haughtily. “Not that anyone could blame you, of course, seeing as you were engaged to someone so handsome.”
“You’re incorrigible,” Ethel said with a shake of her head.
“I’m obviously kidding,” he said. “For the most part.”
After huffing a soft laugh, Ethel let out a sigh.
“I’m still not sure how we’ll manage to uphold our little ruse once the baby is here. Children are not particularly adept at keeping things a secret, are they?”
“We’ll figure something out,” Cassian reassured her. “Besides, the child will see our strange situation as normal for a while, considering the fact that it will be all they know for the first portion of their life. Hopefully they’ll understand the importance of discretion by the time they’re old enough to head off to school.”
“Hopefully,” Ethel echoed, her hand finding her pendant again.
John briefly looked back at her before returning his eyes to the road.
“Don’t worry, miss,” he said. “I promise we’ll think of something. In the meantime, though, we ought to keep our spirits up, for the child’s sake. And our own. Remember how lucky we are.And how lucky our child is, too. Imagine how magical their childhood will be, since they’ll be surrounded by so many wonderful people who love them.”
“Yes, that’s true,” Ethel replied, letting her hands fall to her lap.
Cassian patted her knee. “James and Maggie are already excited to spoil your little one. After all, this is the closest that either James or I will ever get to becoming parents ourselves. And Maggie said that she isn’t eager to have children of her own, either. So, I have to concur with John on this. Your child will be surrounded by love, Ethel. Always.”
“Thank you, Cassian,” Ethel said with a warm smile.
Finally, they reached the road to the cottage. Cassian rubbed his hands together as John Quinn turned onto it, excitement making his heart pitter-patter as the modest-sized stone house came into view. Surrounded by nature, the house was perfectly secluded for the benefit of their privacy, yet still close enough to nearby small cities and towns so as to not be inconvenient when it came to purchasing necessities.
