Page 156

Oswald hitched a shoulder, impatiently. “Well, I don’t plan to retire for a few years yet anyway and frankly I don’t feel the need to build a legacy of that kind anymore-”

“No, you misunderstand me,” Fen interrupted him painstakingly. “I mean, why do you no longer want to spend your leisure time drawing up your plans?”

Oswald crooked an eyebrow at her. “Seriously?” he asked. “I have better things to do with my evenings these days.”

Fen continued to look at him expectantly. Then the penny dropped. “You mean me?”

He gave a choked laugh. “I hope I would not be so blunt.”

Fen rested her head back against his shoulder with a sigh. “You make me very happy too,” she said softly. His arms came down to wrap around her and hold her tight and they lay quietly a moment. Then she asked, “What kind of legacy do you want now?”

His hand slid down to rest on her stomach. “Has it occurred to you, that in the three months we’ve been married, you’ve not had your women’s time once? Oswald asked.

Fen stared at him. “I’m always very regular,” she blurted in surprise. “But you’re right, I haven’t…” Her eyes widened. “Do you suppose-?”

“I do,” said Oswald softly, his hand still resting on her belly. “I think you might be carrying my legacy.” Fen laid her hand on top of his and their eyes met. Then his hands shifted to her hips and he urged her up his body. “I want you on top this time.”

“What about the mattress?” asked Fen as she shifted over him. It was sagging in an alarming fashion.

“Go slow,” her husband recommended with a grin.

**

“How did you know I would be here?” she asked him after she’d collapsed on top of him some twenty minutes later.

“Meldon.”

“How?”

“He left a message for me, with Trudy.”

“That sly fox,” said Fen indignantly. Then she seemed to reconsider. “I suppose really, he’s my guardian angel.”

Oswald snorted. “Meldon’s even less angelic than I am. Don’t you dare turn him into a haloed tapestry.”

Fen gurgled with laughter.

“Old scoundrel still thinks I’m wet behind the ears,” complained Oswald.

“Actually,” said Fen raising her head, “He referred to you as ‘the master’ today. It was the first time I’ve ever heard him call you that.”

“Well, today was the first time I learned he has a first name,” said Oswald. “It’s Walter. Walter Meldon. I still haven’t recovered from the shock.”

“He doesn’t really look like a Walter,” Fen agreed.

“I’m exhausted,” Oswald yawned. “You’ve worn me out. Emotionally and physically.”

Fen smiled against his chest.

“There is just one thing I ought to say,” said Oswald reluctantly. “I lied earlier. When I said I didn’t feel guilty about jilting you over our betrothal. I do. I think we should renew our wedding vows at the earliest opportunity.”

Fen raised her head again to frown at him. “But you only forgot with your head,” she said with a sigh. “Here,” she said, placing a hand over his chest. “you never forgot. That’s why you wore my locket all those years.” She pulled the chain around his neck until the locket lay in her palm.

A look of regret crossed Oswald’s face. He seemed to struggle with this a moment. “I didn’t remember you gave me the locket,” he admitted. “At one point, I even thought it must have been my mother.”

Fen tipped her head to one side. “That just means, on some level, you knew it was given you by someone who loved you,” she said softly. “I still have the key you know,” she said, struggling to raise up from the bed. His arms tightened around her and he gave a low rumble from his chest. “I only wanted to fetch it,” she gurgled with laughter. “To show you.”

“No, stay like this,” he objected with a growl. She subsided against him with a sigh.