“Camilla, forgive me for not speaking my worries sooner.” He paused, assisting her with preparing the food.
“Will you tell me now?”
“The night you were spying on me and I caught you with Wilkes, I had been meeting with a prospective client. You see, before I married your sister, I had my own business. Your sister didn’t think I made enough money, and so she arranged for me to become one of Mr. Kennedy’s partners. But I wasn’t happy. I knew he and Kat were having an affair. Of course, I wasn’t in love with Kat, but I hated how that man gloated every time he was around. I hated his telling me what I could and couldn’t do. I realized I wanted to go back in business for myself. Of course,it doesn’t help that I think he has something to do with stealing my drawings.”
He took a deep breath, took her hands in his, and continued. “One of the secrets I’ve been hiding is that I’m secretly gaining my clients back, but I’m in constant fear that Kennedy will find out and break our partnership before I’m ready. I don’t want to leave my family desolate because I can’t make enough money.”
“Oh, no, Malcolm.” She shook her head and kissed his knuckles. “We shall be fine. If you’re not happy with Kennedy, I will support you in leaving the partnership. If we run low on funds, I was a seamstress before I married Lord Hardy—”
“I wouldn’t dream of asking you to do that again.” Malcolm caressed her cheek. “But before I can leave him, I need to repair my reputation. I want to prove that Kennedy and Wilkes are behind this. Of course”—he frowned—“I’ll have to find outwhyKennedy is doing this to his partner when it’s clear that my downfall will hurt his name, as well.”
She nodded. “Indeed, it would. Are you certain he is behind it?”
Closing his eyes, he shook his head. “I wish I could be certain, but I’m not. I thought Colonel Burwell was involved, and I had wanted to snoop through his study during our stay, but because I broke my leg, that stopped my plans.”
“Oh, my dear husband.” She leaned over and kissed his mouth briefly. “I wish I could assist you in some way.”
He clutched her shoulders, trying to keep her close to him. Whenever she was near, doubt had no room in his heart.
He gazed into her troubled green eyes. “My dear, it’s as I told you before—I don’t know how dangerous this is. I would rather know you and my children are protected, so please don’t try to help me.” He stroked his thumb across her bottom lip. “Promise me now that you will do as I say.”
She placed a kiss on the tip of his thumb. “Of course, my wonderful husband. You know all I want is to make you happy.”
He sighed, and relief flooded through him like a broken dam. It pleased him to hear her confession. He wouldn’t ask her if she was the unknown woman who had that letter delivered to Broderick. Malcolm’s heart told him she wouldn’t have done such a thing.
“Now we have that out of the way,” he said, “tell me what you and the children have done today.”
Her face lit up, and that familiar twinkle came back in her eyes. His heart melted with love the longer he stared at her, and he thanked the Lord once again for his good fortune in finding her.
The time passed much too fast, and soon the meal was over, and he needed to return to work. But before he ruined this perfect setting, and the mood, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a small box.
“Camilla, I have a surprise for you. I thought about presenting this to you at home with the children, but I feel I must give it to you now.”
She wiped her mouth with the linen napkin. When she spotted the box, her eyes widened, and her face pinkened. “What is it, Malcolm?”
“I want to give you a token of my love for you and our marriage.” Reaching over, he took her left hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss.
“But Malcolm, I missed our first marriage. And I want to marry you in a church, and actually be present this time.”
He chuckled. “And we shall. Soon.”
“With the children in attendance?”
“Of course. Anything you would like.”
He opened the small box and withdrew a diamond ring. She gasped. “Oh, Malcolm.”
He slipped the band over her finger then kissed it. “I hope you will wear it always.”
“Yes, of course.” She laughed and cried at the same time.
He cupped her face and drew her near, sealing their promise with a kiss. She flung her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him, causing him to lose his balance and fall backward. They laughed together, but, thankfully, their mouths didn’t part.
Although the position was most intimate, he didn’t care. Especially since the position of her lying on him was very comfortable and brought back memories of their night of pleasure. He moved his hands down her back to her hips and pressed her against him.
A deep cooing sound rattled through her throat, and her body relaxed completely. He groaned in delight… and agony. He wanted to repeat what they had done last night—however, they were where anyone could walk by and see them. What a scandal that would make. He really didn’t care about himself, but now that Camilla was making others respect her, he couldn’t ruin it now.
The horses neighed and brought him more alert. Grumbling in defeat, he broke away and smiled. “As much as I would enjoy doing nothing for the rest of the day but making love to you, I think we are in the wrong location for that.”
