Page 141 of Aurelia

Aurelia and Roland had been pleased when Celsa had come home after her year at finishing school—which she had loved—having shed her infatuation with Guustin.

They had taken her to London where Celsa had enjoyed a successful Season without giving her heart to any of the young men who had pursued her.

You could have knocked Aurelia down with a feather when three years later, just when they’d begun to believe Celsa had no interest in men or marriage or children at all, the girl had decided that nobody would do for her but Gideon.

Although Gideon had remained one of the most sought-after bachelors in the area, he’d become more set in his bachelor ways with each year that passed, until Aurelia had begun to fear that her dear friend would never marry. But when Celsa set her mind on him, Gideon had not stood a chance.

Roland had been delighted that Celsa had settled so close to Crewe and the two had become closer than ever after he had purchased land not far from Gideon’s home as a wedding gift for Celsa. Enough land that Celsa could indulge her dream of breeding horses. A dream which Aurelia quickly discovered her husband also shared.

Roland spent hours every week with Celsa, the two of them making such a roaring success of the modest operation that they had doubled the size of the holding only the year before. It had been Roland who had been managing the stud these past few months when Celsa could scarcely walk, her feet were so swollen.

The pregnancy had been hard on Celsa and Aurelia hoped there would be a long lull before the next child.

As for her, it seemed that bearing children was something Aurelia had been born to do. While she had suffered aches and pains and discomfort just like any woman, she hadn’t vomited nonstop like Celsa nor had her labors been more than a few hours each. She’d had such easy pregnancies that she had worked all the way through both, illustrating not only for Roland but also for a select few friends.

Roland’s book had been a great success and was going into its third printing. He was not resting on his laurels, however, and the two of them had taken a necessarily brief journey to Portugal last year where he had begun the process of documenting the birds of the Peninsula. They would need to make several trips rather than one long one, but Roland’s wandering spirit seemed to have gentled these past few years. Between the children and the horse breeding business with Celsa he was less driven to explore new frontiers.

Christmas was less than a month away and Aurelia and Roland would make the journey to Wych House, they were just waiting for Celsa’s baby to arrive before they departed.

Aurelia and her siblings had decided last Christmas they would begin taking turns hosting the celebrations after this year, so this would be the last time they met at Wych House for another six years.

They had drawn lots to see who went first and Aurelia had won, which meant next year they would host the holiday gathering at Crewe Castle. She could not wait to welcome her siblings and their families to Crewe. While Doddy and Katie had both visited, her other sisters had not yet made the journey to the island.

Aurelia felt a light touch on her hand and pulled herself from her musing to see that Erik was holding out his little hand. She glanced at Roland, but he had pulled a chair closer to Celsa and the two were deep in a discussion about some horse or other while Judith’s legs stuck out from beneath Celsa’s chaise lounge. Doubtless, her daughter was searching for insects. Unfortunately, Beekman still ran the household with an iron fist so poor Judith was destined to be disappointed in her search.

Aurelia turned back to her son and patted the cushion beside her. He solemnly climbed up and then looked at her before holding out his tightly closed fist.

“Do you have something for me?” she whispered.

He nodded and opened his hand.

Aurelia was relieved that it wasn’t a mangled moth on his palm but a piece of paper that had obviously been folded and re-folded many times, until it fit in his hand.

“For me?”

He nodded.

She unfolded it and her eyes widened. “Did you draw this, Erik?”

He nodded.

“Is it… Papa’s horse?”

Erik flashed her one of his rare smiles and nodded.

“It is a very good likeness,” she praised. “Are you going to be an artist, like mama?” His answer was to burrow in close to her, sigh happily, and promptly fall asleep.

She glanced up from the three-legged gray smudge on the paper he’d given her to find Roland looking at her.

I love you, he mouthed.

I love you.

He grinned and turned back to his conversation.

Aurelia sighed, utterly contented and happy. Life on an island might not be exciting, but there was something to be said for peace. She closed her eyes and settled in for a nice nap.

“Aurelia!” Celsa’s sharp voice jerked Aurelia instantly awake.