At first, Gemma had seemed surprised that he’d begun asking her questions at breakfast. But now that they’d been carrying on long conversations for three days in a row, it seemed like second nature. As if they’d never not shared breakfast together. And Lucian found that he truly enjoyed her company.
Gemma’s brows shot up. “You want to…come with me…to see my family?” Surprise sounded in her voice.
“Yes. I’d very much like to.” They’d spent a great deal of time together over the last few days, talking and laughing. They’d gone on another ride in the park. They’d gone shopping on Bond Street where Gemma had ordered a new hat from the milliner. They’d enjoyed each other’s company, or at least Lucian thought so. But he could tell that even after moments where they shared stories from their childhoods and laughed with each other while enjoying their favorite sweets at Gunter’s, Gemma continued to eye him with caution. He didn’t blame her, of course. She’d told him she couldn’t be herself around him. He suspected she was the most herself around her family, and he’d been looking for an excuse to see her with them. This was the perfect opportunity. Of course, heaskedher if he could come with her. He hadn’ttoldher he would come.
Gemma pushed bits of potato around her plate with her fork for a few moments. “All right,” she finally allowed.
“Thank you,” Lucian replied, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief. “Oh, and before we go, I have a surprise for you.”
Not half an hour later,while Lucian was helping Gemma up into the coach, a movement under the seat caught her eye. She looked again to see a ball of brown fluffy curls just before the furball hurtled itself at her. She fell into the velvet-covered seat with a wiggling puppy grasped in her arms.
“What’s this?” she cried, absolutely delighted.
A smile spread across Lucian’s face. “What? I thought you’d know Oliver when you met him,” he said with a wink, settling into the seat across from her.
“Oh, Oliver!” Gemma grasped the squirming pup under his top legs and held him up in front of her. He didn’t look like any dog she’d ever seen before. He was a mess of both curls and long hair that fell into his eyes. He was tiny, no bigger than her foot. “Of course, I recognize you, you darling boy.” She clutched him to her chest possessively, which made Lucian throw back his head and laugh.
“What sort of dog is he? Not a spaniel?” she asked, supporting the puppy with a hand under his bum, the other clutching the barrel of his little puffed out chest.
“No. I found him in Covent Garden. They were selling him as a rat dog. I think he may have a bit of terrier in him. I told the seller my only requirements were a dog that was small and cute and happy.”
First? “Youwent to Covent Garden to buy this dog for me?”
“Of course,” he replied as Oliver jumped out of Gemma’s arms and bounced over to Lucian’s lap. He caught the pup and laughed. “How else was I to know which dog was Oliver?”
An unexpected tightness expanded in Gemma’s chest. She couldn’t quite picture Lucian, in his expensive clothing. strolling about Covent Garden with the vendors and sellers hawking their wares. It was loud and crowded and dirty, a place servants were sent to purchase things. Not a place a duke would normally befound. Especially not a duke as concerned with his reputation as Lucian was. But apparently he’d gone there…for her. For Oliver.
“I believe he’s a mixed breed,” Lucian continued, further surprising her.
Second? “A mixed breed?” she echoed. “Youpurchased a mixed breed.”
Lucian cuddled the puppy to his chest and patted him on the head. “I don’t want Oliver here to have any expectations placed upon him. He is a companion. His job is to be joyful. And to make you joyful, my lady.”
Their eyes met and the sincerity in Lucian’s gaze made Gemma glance away. He was being more and more unexpected with each passing day. She never would have thought he would put down the newspaper to talk to her each morning, or ask her what she wanted for dinner, or want to accompany her to visit her family. Now, he’d done the least expected thing of all. He’d given her a puppy without a care to its breeding. Most noblemen were quite particular about their dogs. They bought and sold from certain bloodlines the same way they did with horseflesh. But Lucian had purchased a mixed breed dog from Covent Garden with no greater order than to ensure it was small and cute and happy. That seemed to be completely unlike the uptight man she thought him to be. In fact, it was more difficult each day to recall that man.
“Do you think your mother and brother will approve?” Lucian asked as Oliver bounded back over to Gemma’s lap.
“I don’t know,” she replied, grinning and cuddling the squiggly puppy once again. “But we’re about to find out.”
Two hours later,Lucian sat in Southbury’s drawing room next to his wife. Southbury, his mother, and Meredith were all there too, and much of the afternoon’s conversation had centered on the newest addition to the family. Oliver Cromwell Helios Banks, Gemma had named him.
“He’s clearly got a bit of the Greek God in him and he’s full of sunshine, so Helios seems the most fitting,” she’d said when she’d picked the name.
Southbury had rolled his eyes. Meredith had declared it quite a fitting name indeed. But Lucian had just watched Gemma with pride bursting inside him. Her mind worked in such an interesting way. She looked on the bright side of everything, he realized after having spent as much time in her company as he had the last few days. The mistrustful way she’d treated him was truly not her normal style. It made him feel guilty for ever causing her to feel that way. For ever causing her to doubt his sincerity.
He’d been right about one thing. She was clearly never happier than in the company of her family. In fact, ever since he’d arrived here today, Lucian had been staring at them all in wonder. They laughed and jested and talked to each other as if they all were the best of friends.
But they were family. A very different family than the one Lucian had, to be sure. He’d quickly learned that Gemma’s family had scores of secret sayings and jests that only they understood. But instead of making Lucian feel like an outsider, to the contrary, Gemma’s mother and sister-in-law had explained every reference to him, and now he found himself longing to be part of such a close and fun-loving group.
His own family had been nothing like this. They’d barely spoken, let alone spent hours in each other’s company laughing. Lucian finally understood how alone Gemma must had felt when she’d first come to his house. It had been a tomb comparedto Southbury’s rowdy, cheerful drawing room. But with Gemma there now, it was no longer a tomb. It was a place filled with smiles and laughter and pleasure and joy. The thought made his throat tight.
Lucian stared at his wife in awe. His arm curved around her back as they sat side-by-side on a settee with each other. He was so intent on watching her profile that he barely noticed when the talk turned to an event the family had attended.
“You should have seen Cecily at the Wiltshires’ ball last night, Gemma,” Meredith said. “She looked radiant.”
“Oh, I’m sure she did,” Gemma said, her own face radiant with a wide smile. She was petting Oliver, who was asleep next to her thigh, tiny snores emitting from his fluffy little head. “She’s had her eye on Lord Albion this Season.”
“Ooh, I think I saw her dancing with Lord Albion,” Meredith replied, nodding.
