Page 134 of Aurelia

“No lying to your lord and master,” he said with exaggerated sternness.

She snorted. “Lord and master? If you recall, that position is still vacant. It might remain vacant if you—”

He kissed her, swallowing whatever she’d been about to say. She melted against him, making those soft little whimpery sounds he adored so much. Roland suspected she was not even aware she was making them. His prim Miss Burton would be mortified to know she whimpered.

Roland gave a groan of protest when she pulled away. He allowed her to break the kiss but kept her close and looked hard into her eyes. Yes, there was a shadow. “Tell me what has saddened you?”

“My family will be reuniting at Wych House for Christmas and I will miss them.”

“Have they not invited you?”

“Of course they have, but there was all this”—she gestured to his leg and vaguely in the direction of Rock Cove and all that happened there—“to be dealt with.”

“Darling, if you wish to go to Hampshire for Christmas, we must go.”

She caught her lush lower lip with her teeth. “I do not want our first Christmas together to be spent without Guustin.”

Roland felt an unpleasant twinge at her words. “I will not hide my relationship with him. Not for anyone.”

“No, no, it’s not that,” she hastily assured him. “It is just… what about Nora?”

“Nora?” he repeated, utterly befuddled.

“She will be so lonely if Guustin is not here.”

Roland’s eye widened. “You cannot be suggesting that we take my ex-lover with us?”

Aurelia continued to chew her lip.

“You are!” He gave a disbelieving laugh. “Darling, even if Nora agreed to make such a journey—which given the state of her health I am not sure about—what in the world would your family say?”

“Viscount Needham moved his former mistress and illegitimate daughter into my family’s ancestral home, Roland. And then my sister Phoebe agreed to marry him. And then,” she paused, giving him an impish look, “Phoebe and Needham’s ex-lover became quite good friends.”

Roland didn’t think much could surprise him anymore, but that certainly did.

“Hmm,” he said. Because, what else could a person say to that? “So, you believe your sister would not be shocked about Nora, then?”

“Phoebe is very practical. My mother would be horrified, but…” She stopped and gave a very slight shrug of her elegant shoulders.

Roland suspected Aurelia’s relationship with both her parents was something that would plague her for years to come.

“Well, darling, all you can do is write and tell your sister what you have in mind and see what she says.”

“What about my work? I shall never finish the last of the paintings if I spend a month away. I will be hard pressed to finish them even if I do stay.”

“I have already written to the publisher to move the date back a year. He was glad to do it. I think he overestimated how easy it would be to find enough competent people to finish the plates. I know you’ve been so busy caring for me that you’ve not been able to keep to the schedule,” he said. “Another year will not harm anything. And it would make a Christmas trip far more pleasurable for you.”

“But I have already written to say that I am not coming. Not just to Phoebe, but to the others, as well.”

He chuckled softly. “Is there some law that says you may not change your mind?”

“Well… no.”

“Then write to your sister Phoebe and tell her whatever you think she needs to know. She is our hostess, so it is her opinion that matters. As for your other siblings, let our visit be a surprise.”

She cupped his face and looked at him with so much love it robbed his breath. “You are so good to me.”

“I know,” he said with exaggerated modestly, making her laugh.