Page 25 of Gabriela and His Grace

“That’s sweet.” Gabby smiled. “Did your mother appreciate the sentiment, though?”

“She did.” Lucia’s gaze turned wistful. “They truly loved each other.”

Gabby thought of her own parents, who so often argued. She’d always believed her father was the dictator in the relationship because of his more vocal and arrogant manner, but with maturity, Gabby now realized the ways her mother manipulated her father to get what she wanted. What would her childhood have been like if they were loving, attentive parents, like Lucia’s? How would her life be different now?

It took her a moment to clear her throat. “I’m glad you have those happy memories of them together.”

“Me, too. Remembering the love and respect they shared for each other has convinced me that finding such happiness in marriage is possible.” Lucia grinned, the deep dimple in her right cheek flashing. “If not necessarily probable.”

“Do you wish to marry?” Gabby asked, resuming their walk.

She saw Lucia nod from the corner of her eye. “Of course. Aren’t all Mexican women, and even British women for that matter, taught that finding a husband and becoming a mother is their one goal in life?”

“Oh definitely.” Gabby swayed her shoulder into Lucia’s. “Marriage has always seemed like an inevitability, but it’s never been something I desired.”

“Truly?” Lucia turned to look at her as they walked. When Gabby nodded, she laughed in turn. “I suppose I’m not surprised. Now that I know you better. You don’t strike me as the kind of woman to allow a man to tell her what to do.”

“Indeed, I’m not.” And yet hadn’t she done just that with her father? Gabby shoved aside that thought. “I like the idea of a partnership between spouses. Ones like my sisters share with their husbands. Did you know that Gideon actively includes Ana in his work in Parliament?”

Lucia shook her head. “Everything I’ve read about them in the papers or seen with my own eyes says there is a good deal of love and respect between them.”

There was. Seeing her eldest sister so happy, and her brother-in-law so infatuated with her, brought Gabby a joy she didn’t think possible. And if Isabel’s letters were any indication, her marriage to Sirius was just as happy. And yet…

“I’m thrilled that Ana and Gideon share such love, but what if they didn’t? What if he was authoritative or, God forbid, abusive? What recourse would Ana have? As her husband, Gideon owns her. He owns her body, he owns any wealth she brought to the marriage, he owns any child she delivers. Under the law, she has no control over her future, and I find that terrifying.”

And Gabby was not being dramatic. Society, and thus the laws enacted within it, were not created to give women a voice. To give them power. Quite the opposite, in fact, and that knowledge infuriated her. Gabby hated that at some point in the future, whether she wanted to or not, she would have to choose between masters: her father or the nameless, faceless man who would one day be her husband.

“The older I become, the more I realize what a perilous existence it is to be a woman.” Lucia sighed, and wrapped her arm around Gabby’s. Pressing close to her side, she whispered, “That’s why it’s important to have friends to help make the way forward less unpleasant.”

“I agree.” Gabby squeezed her arm. She had her sisters and now Lucia. She was rich in friends, and so very grateful.

• • •

“It looks like you swallowed your tobacco instead of spitting it out.”

Smothering a sigh, Sebastian turned away from the porcelain bowl he was washing his hands in and accepted the towel Brodie extended to him. “You know I don’t chew tobacco. Foul habit.”

The valet waved away his response. “It looks like you swallowed a mouthful of gin when you were expecting brandy. Better?” he asked, cocking his brow.

“Quite.” Sebastian wandered from the dressing room to the bedroom, his eyes drifting along the trunks Brodie was packing. “I can’t believe we dock in Altamira tomorrow.”

“Is that why you were scowling? Because the voyage is coming to an end?”

“Christ, man, I wasn’t scowling,” Sebastian growled.

Brodie planted his hands on his hips. “Well, now you are.”

Sebastian raked a hand down his face. “It’s obvious you want to discuss my…expressions? Have at it, then.”

“I just want to know what you were thinking that had your face scrunched up like that,” Brodie said, gesturing to Sebastian with his chin.

Dropping into an armchair, he leaned back, propping an ankle on the opposite knee. Folding his hands over his stomach, Sebastian speared Brodie with a look. “I was thinking how very relaxing and enjoyable this trip would have been had I not employed the nosiest valet in all the United Kingdom.”

That was a lie, of course. Sebastian had been thinking of Gabriela. Of how she’d flashed him the smallest hint of a smile when he’d seen her earlier on the first-class deck. Sebastian hadn’t been able to attend to the conversation he was engaged in because he was so surprised.

He’d made sure to keep his distance from her since the lunch they shared after the hopscotch match. Sebastian had found himself charmed by her company, especially when the topic turned to Mexico and Gabriela had entertained him and Miss Moreno with what they should expect when they arrived. It had been apparent in the lilt of her voice and the sparkle in her eyes that she adored her homeland, and Sebastian had been entranced.

And that was a problem. Sebastian could not afford to be bewitched by the youngest Luna sister. Even if for some unfathomable reason Gabriela’s opinion of him had somehow changed, her future was in Mexico while his was home in England. Unlike his friend Sirius, who moved to Mexico to be with his wife, Isabel, Sebastian had vast responsibilities to the dukedom. And there were David and James to consider. He wouldn’t dream of abandoning the boys after finally finding them. A trip to Mexico to ensure the financial future of the dukedom was a necessity; deserting them at Whitfield Manor was a cruelty.