Page 114 of Notorious

“Hmm.”

She squeezed his hand. “It was nothing. I’m just glad to be going home—glad this is the last big event of the Season.” She leaned against his shoulder. “Glad we will be going to Sizemore with Samir soon.”

Gabriel released her hand and slipped his arm around her. “He is a good little boy.”

“He is. I think he will make an excellent elder brother.”

Gabriel had to play her words over in his head before he gasped and grabbed her by the shoulders. “What?”

She looked up at him, the streetlights giving him brief glimpses of her smiling face. She nodded. “I believe it is true. It has been almost six weeks since we married and I should have started my courses by now.”

He pulled her into a crushing embrace, until he realized she was making slight choking sounds, and he released her, kissing her hard.

“You are happy?” she asked in a breathless voice.

He laughed. “I am happy.” She stiffened in his arms. “What is it?” he asked.

“I just realized that our child shall be only a bit younger than his or her aunts or uncles.”

Gabriel blinked. “Why, so they will.” He thought of something else, too. “And what of you, Drusilla? Are you happy with this? I know a marriage, husband, and children were not what you had planned for yourself.” She said something into his shoulder. “What was that, darling? I couldn’t hear you.”

“I said I never dreamed I could have such a thing with you.”

“Oh, why is that?”

She chewed her lower lip, her expression anguished.

“What is it, Dru?” he asked, the diminutive form of her name slipping easily from his tongue. “Why do you look so sad?”

“I’m just so happy.” The words were hard to understand they were so soft.

He chuckled. “And that is a reason to look sad?”

“I am afraid my happiness will not last.”

Gabriel made a tsking sound and drew her close. “My little porcupine,” he said into her plain straw bonnet. “We should both rejoice in our good fortune in finding each other. I will not lie to you, Drusilla; I did not enter this marriage with a great deal of optimism. But as you gave me glimpses beyond your mask, I realized what a treasure I had inadvertently—and undeservedly—been given.” She pulled away and looked up at him, her cheeks damp.

“Don’t cry, my lovely Drusilla.” He leaned in and kissed away her tears. “Have you not realized that I’ve come to love you?” He stared at her stunned expression and shook his head. “And here I thought you were so clever.”

Her jaw dropped. “Y-you love me?”

He laughed softly at her marveling tone. “I love you. I should have told you when I first deciphered my emotions, but you are so—self-contained, so stern, so remote. I couldn’t imagine you would appreciate my messy feelings.”

“When? When did you know?”

“I believe I began to love you when you were so generous and accepting of Samir. But every day I have found more and more about you to admire, respect, and—yes—to love very much. You’re kind, intelligent, generous—”

“Oh stop,” she said, burying her face in his chest. “You’re making me blush terribly.”

He laughed softly.

“Are you certain I’ll be enough, Gabriel? After all, you were raised to believe—”

He gave her a gentle squeeze. “You forget, my love, that my mother also had a hand in my raising. All my life she has taught me that love is real. Even before she found it herself, she always believed in it. It’s true I would have lived as my father lived had I stayed.” He stroked her soft cheek. “But I chose to come to England and live a different life. I love you, Drusilla—and I want you. Only you—there will be no other woman in my life.”

She shook against him, as if the violence of her emotions was too much.

“Shhh,” he murmured into her hair.