His expression softened. “You were right about her,” he told Amelia. “You are no longer a child. You have become… a very intelligent young woman.”
Valerie blinked at him, surprised but pleased.
“I love you,” Gabriel added simply. “And everything has been taken care of. That woman will not trouble us again.”
Relief flickered across Valerie’s face like sunlight breaking through cloud. “Good,” she said with a small breath. “I am glad.”
Lady Provie cleared her throat abruptly, drawing attention back toward her. She rose from her chair with exaggerated dignity, but there was something uncharacteristically subdued in her expression.
“I owe an apology,” she said briskly. “My actions were… out of line. I hope you will forgive me. I see now that what I did was wrong and misguided.”
David looked up immediately. “What did you do, Aunt?”
Amelia caught Gabriel’s eye instinctively and gave a subtle shake of her head,No,implying David did not know about Helen.
Lady Provie, however, did not hesitate. “Well,” she said after a pause, “I ate all the custard.”
There was a beat of silence.
David gasped. “How could you?” he demanded, scandalized.
And then, unexpectedly, the entire room broke into laughter. Even Gabriel exhaled something that might have been amusement, though it was tempered by exhaustion.
Amelia pressed a hand lightly to her mouth, trying and failing to suppress her smile as she looked at him properly. His eyes met hers briefly across the room. Tired. Grounded. Present.
And safe.
The relief she felt was so intense it almost startled her.
Lady Provie straightened her shawl. “It is time for bed,” she declared firmly.
David protested immediately. “But Uncle Gabriel has just returned.”
Lady Provie gave him a look. “Then all the more reason to allow him rest. A proper reunion requires a proper breakfast, so we should get to bed so that breakfast comes sooner.”
David considered this carefully, then nodded with sudden seriousness. “I like breakfast,” he decided.
Gabriel crouched again and pulled him into another brief hug. “Tomorrow,” he promised, “we will have breakfast together.”
David beamed, then turned and hugged Amelia tightly around the waist. “Goodnight,” he said earnestly.
“Goodnight,” Amelia replied softly, brushing his hair back from his forehead.
Lady Provie guided him toward the door with surprising gentleness, Grover padding behind them while Shadow leaped up to follow at the last moment.
Valerie lingered a moment longer. She looked between Gabriel and Amelia, something thoughtful in her gaze, before offering a small, knowing smile. Then she left, closing the door quietly behind her.
Silence settled in the room.
Amelia stood still, suddenly aware of the quiet weight of it. The fire crackled softly. The clock ticked.
And Gabriel stood only a few paces away. She did not speak.
She only waited, holding her breath, as though anything she said might break whatever fragile thing had just been returned to them.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The room felt suddenly too large for two people and yet, impossibly, too small for everything left unspoken between them.
