Page 40 of The Baron Takes a Wife

He set his cane down and sat on her bed, watching her as she finished braiding the ends of her hair. He had never come to her room like this before, and Elena felt a rush of awareness take hold of her body. As she finished her hair, she turned and looked at him.

“So?”

“So?”

“How did Goliath do today?”

“I think you were correct. He was, what did you say, a ‘calming influence’?

“I am indeed very wise.” She tentatively stood and walked over to join him on her bed.

“And modest,” he added. She playfully smacked his arm, and he responded with that boyish grin she liked so very much, but then his expression sobered.

“McDaniel wanted me to bring him back soon. I think he rather liked him. And…” He looked reluctantly pleased with himself. “And he agreed to let me write his sister for him. When we went back inside, he dictated a letter for me.”

“Oh, David, that is wonderful!” She grabbed his hand, which he entwined in his own.

Looking down at their joined hands, he went on. “He was all alone, Elena. He’s been living in his own mind all these years, with nothing, no loved ones to support him. No profession or industry to distract him. I don’t know how he hasn’t gone mad.” He pressed his lips to her knuckles and held them there. While she felt the thrill of the contact between them, this moment did not feel erotically charged. It felt like he was trying to tell her something important.

“I found myself telling him about that day, that day you yelled at me—”

“It wasn’t yelling so much—”

“Where you gave me a stern talking to and told me to find something to occupy myself. I hadn’t realized how much I had taken it to heart, even in the clinic. How much giving myself small tasks and goals helped keep me from despair, especially in the early days when I was so frustrated with my body and with myself.”

She swallowed and nodded. She did not remember everything she had said to him that day. In truth, she had been somewhat embarrassed for her outburst, but she was moved that he had taken her words to heart. He wrapped his other arm around her and pulled both of them back on the bed, not in heat, but in warmth and comfort.

“I don’t know where I would be without you,” he whispered as his head found the space between her breasts he seemed to like so well. She stroked his hair until she heard his breathing change, then lightly kissed the top of his head and joined him in sleep.

Chapter Twelve

Elena had written to Annamaria, who responded that she and Sophie could visit the next day. Of course, Elena had not been prepared for her husband to balk at the neighborhood.

“Elena, you can’t go there.” He looked up from the desk in his study as she stood in front of him.

“I did not take you for a snob.” Her husband glanced down at her words, but she saw the tick in his jaw.

“It isn’t that I’m a snob. St. Giles is dangerous.”

“I’ll be with Aunt Sophie.”

“Aunt Sophie, while formidable, is small enough that someone could easily throw her over their shoulder.”

“I would like to hear you say that in Sophie’s presence. I’m sure Sophie has some kind of protection.” Elena would not be surprised to discover Sophie carried a pistol. For some reason, she imagined a small, dainty pistol that could fit into a reticule, even though dainty was at odds with everything she knew about Sophie.

“Even so, you do not know London that well, Elena. Yes,” he went on as she opened her mouth to speak. “I know you have been here the last few years, but how many neighborhoods have you gone to? Are you familiar with?”

She realized she did not know London all that well, but she still felt like he was being something of a snob and a worrier.

“David, what if we take Goliath? And a footman? Would that make you feel better? Because we are going with or without your blessing. You realize a woman sits on the throne of your country, and yet women can go nowhere by themselves? You know, I made it across borders on my own. I am very capable of taking care of myself.”

“Yes, and look what—” He stopped himself, though Elena felt the words he did not say in her bones. Look what happened to you. She couldn’t believe he would bring that up right now when it had taken so much to tell him in the first place. He seemed to realize he had gone too far as his face eased, and he rested a hand on the side of his head.

“You have crossed borders, haven’t you? I suppose that’s more than I can say.” He sighed, rubbing his temple on the uninjured side. “I’m sorry, Elena. I just don’t want anything to happen to you.” He looked strained and earnest. Elena felt herself melt just a little.

“With two such companions, what more could I ask for?”

He gave her a small smile, and she knew she had won this round.