Page 44 of The Baron Takes a Wife

“Yes.” He started massaging her fingers with his thumb, sending shivers up her arms, when the pad of his thumb grazed over her wedding band.

“That reminds me, I also have something for you to wear tonight.” He set the plate on her vanity, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small box. David opened the lid of the box and produced the most beautiful necklace Elena had ever seen. If she was correct in the name of the gem, the dangling amethysts would go perfectly with her gown.

“How did you know?” she asked when she recovered her breath.

“That you liked the color? I am slightly observant, Elena.” He waggled his eyebrows devilishly.

She was usually a little jealous that he could move both eyebrows while she could only manage the one, but in that moment, she was so touched that she launched herself at him, almost knocking the box, him, and his cane over. He caught them all and returned her embrace, enveloping her in his strong arms as he sat them down on her bed.

“Oh, David, no one has ever given me anything so beautiful before. Or found me baklava in London. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“I should hope no one has brought you baklava in London,” he grumbled, but he could feel him smile against her skin, a smile she knew by heart. “At first, I wanted to give you something of my mother’s. I also thought about replacing your grandmother’s cross you had to sell, but then I decided you ought to have something distinctly you. Not your common diamond, something more mysterious, but still infinitely precious.”

She wanted to sit in his embrace for the rest of the evening, but she knew they were running behind, and Irene was anxious to go. She pulled back and looked up at him.

“Tell me about the opera. I have only heard of it from Irene.” She turned so he could place the necklace around her neck. She closed her eyes briefly, feeling his rough fingers brush against her skin.

“Then you’ve heard more than you would want to know about it.”

“I want to know it from you.”

“Well, it is a bit of a social event for the ton.” After he clasped the necklace, he ran his hands along the space where her shoulders met, which was bare due to the low cut of her dress, sending a shiver down her spine.

“They love music so much?” She tried to focus back on her question.

“No, more for the purpose to see and be seen.”

“Ahhhh.” The sound was one of understanding and of pleasure, as he had begun to knead her shoulders gently.

“Honestly, I would rather stay in and spend all night with you,” he murmured against her ear.

“We must go. Irene has been dying to go, and it’s the only thing she is excited about.”

“Then we’ll go, but I get to spend the rest of the evening afterward with you.”

Elena rose to put her gloves on, then turned back to face him and pretended to think this through as she adjusted her glove, even though she had already planned to do just that. She could viscerally feel his gaze on her as the fabric covered her bare skin.

“I suppose that seems like a fair deal.” She started to smile, then remembered something that had worried her. “Husband?”

He paused for a moment as his lip seemed to quirk up involuntarily.

“Yes?” he asked quietly.

“What language is the opera in?”

“This is the Magic Flute by Mozart, so I believe the libretto is in German. Though he may have written a few in Italian. You would have to ask Irene. ”

“Oh.” Elena felt rather disappointed. She struggled so much with English already, and she had so wanted to understand what they were saying. Some Germans came through Dobruja, but not many, and she had never learned more than hello and goodbye. Before she arrived at her next thought, he had taken her gloved hand.

“I can translate any part you wish. But I think you will enjoy much of it without understanding the language. Beautiful music has the power to do that.”

She smiled up at him, grateful for all he did and was doing for her. She still didn’t think she deserved such kindness, but David had a way of talking one into accepting help, and later, she would come to reflect, accepting happiness.

****

The building itself was large and imposing, but inside, it was beautiful beyond imagination, with its deep reds and burnished golds. They sat in what David called a box with a few other friends of his, including Lord Gaius and Annie, who sat next to Irene. Irene was practically buzzing with suppressed excitement, and Elena saw Annie lay a hand on top of her friend’s as if to calm her. That left Elena to sit next to her husband. Leaning on his cane, he gave his arm to help her sit. When their gloved hands touched, there was that spark of combustible energy that Elena was coming to expect and understand better. After so many sparks, she ought to be used to it by now.

Once she sat, she quickly became aware of all the people sitting about the theater, the murmur of the crowd. Even though she had liked the cut of her dress, she did feel a little exposed. She would never have worn anything so revealing at home, where modesty was much more the fashion. She could feel the eyes all around her burning into her skin, branding her a fraud, a foreign whore, a peasant. While no doubt some of them thought that way, the voice she heard in her head was Anatole’s, not the ton’s. She reminded herself that on her own, she had crossed borders and survived war, poverty, and hunger. If she could survive that, she could survive anything. She would not let Anatole or anyone here stop her from enjoying something she had so looked forward to.