“Then why the devil did you send him?”
“Because the Tsar left me no choice.” Grentham steepled his fingers and touched the point to his chin. “It was either your wife . . .”
A deliberate pause. “Or someone closely connected to her.”
Saybrook frowned. “I’m afraid I can’t quite unravel the Machiavellian twists and turns of your devious mind.”
“Think a little harder.”
“I’m in no mood for mind games, Grentham,” snapped the earl. He paused, suddenly aware of a chill slithering down his spine. “Surely you can’t mean . . .”
Grentham arched a brow.
“Hell’s teeth.” Saybrook added a more colorful curse under his breath. “Please tell me you didn’t really send Arianna’s half-brother to Russia.”
Chapter3
Arianna put down her pen,too unsettled to return to translating the cacao recipes of an eighteenth-century Spanish missionary that Saybrook’s grandmother had copied into her journal. Turning to the window—she hadn’t yet bothered to close the draperies that her friend had so ruthlessly thrown open—she watched the play of light on the autumn hues of the gardens. Change was part of Life’s elemental rhythms. Living things shriveled and died . . . new ones bloomed to take their place . . .
“Much of what Sophia said makes sense,” she whispered. And yet she still couldn’t muster the will to forgive herself. And even if she did, another fear was lurking at the back of her mind.
Maybe I’ve lost my nerve.Her breath seemed to stick in her throat.And won’t ever get it back.
A light knock on the door drew her away from her brooding. “Come in,” she called.
Saybrook entered and came to join her by the window. “Did you have a pleasant walk?”
“Yes,” Arianna replied, feeling a stab of guilt at the pain she was causing him with her blue-deviled moods. She placed a hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry, Sandro. I know I should . . .”
Should not be sunk in shadows.
He enfolded her in a hug. “My love, you have nothing—nothing!—about which to apologize.” The steady beat of his heart resonated through her body. “Rather it is I who feel I’ve failed you. I—I should be able to make you smile again, and it pains me that I can’t find a way to do so.”
Arianna slipped her arms around his middle and held him tightly as Sophia’s words about honesty and trust echoed inside her head. “Smiles don’t come easily right now, but not because of you. I worry . . .”
“Worries often become less frightening when you share them,” he murmured after she didn’t elaborate.
Courage.Arianna took a moment to find the right words. “I worry about disappointing you, now that expectations have changed.”
Saybrook took a moment to consider the statement. “Then allow me to dispel any misunderstandings that may be causing your worry.” Another pause. “You are the light of my life, and I love you with all the breadth and depth of my heart.”
He feathered a kiss to her brow. “If by expectations you mean the possibility that we might have a child in the future, that would indeed be an additional joy. But it has no bearing on the elemental connection between the two of us. You make my life complete.”
Arianna felt tears welling up in her eyes as she lifted her gaze to meet his. “I love you.” She smiled, feeling the blackness imprisoning her spirits begin to recede. “More than words can possibly express.”
He kissed her. “Now that the question of expectations has been settled, shall we ring for a pot of hot chocolate and a platter of your cacao pastries? Sophia is of the opinion that both of us are looking peaked and far too thin.”
“An excellent suggestion,” murmured Arianna. “There are very few ills in the world thatTheobroma cacaocannot cure.”
Saybrook cleared his throat. “As to that, while you were out, I received a summons from Grentham . . .”
“Go ahead and spit it out,”said Arianna, once the refreshments arrived and the maid withdrew. “As you see, my cup is now empty.”
The earl had refused to elaborate until she drank down a measure of the brewed chocolate.
“Have a pastry first.”
“Clearly you’re trying to sweeten the minister’s words,” she retorted. “Don’t bother. Whatever he said to you, it’s of no interest to me.”
