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He shook his head, joining her under the covers. “No, far from it. They both seem vastly contented, all told.”

“You – you did not tell me of your visit to them,” she reminded him as he drew her close.

He paused a moment. “I thought the subject could likely wait.”

“Until we were far from Caer Lyoness?” she asked with sudden suspicion. “In case I went rushing around there trying to take charge of their lives?”

He gave a muffled laugh against her hair. “If it is any consolation, you have always acted far better toward your sister than I ever did to mine. My decision was not impartial. I wanted you to worry your pretty head less about your sister and more about me.”

“You do realize,” she said hesitantly. “That it is probably Ursula and Renlow that are dining downstairs presently with Freda. And maybe my father.”

“I do realize it,” he responded, frankly. “Though I was not so sure you did.”

“Because I did not go barging in there, you mean?” she asked with a little asperity. “Trying to organize them all to my satisfaction?”

He squeezed her waist. “I know you have done wonders with Freda,” he said placatingly. “She is much happier here than in Vettel.” He slipped a finger under her chin and gently tipped her head up, touching his brow to hers. “Forgive me for this morning,” he said abruptly. “I was a fool.

“When I first woke beside you, I felt good, really good. For the first time since I cannot remember when. Then I started to panic as I’m just not used to feeling that way.” He paused a moment, as though searching for the right words. “I knew the earth was shifting beneath my feet, and I was left scrambling for well-trod ground.”

Aimee was listening carefully. “You were?” she asked quietly. She could tell he was trying to explain himself to her.

“I was,” he agreed firmly. “I realized that things were changing in my life, and nothing was going to be the same again.”

“And that panicked you. But now it does not?”

He shook his head. “No,” he said, propping his head up on his hand. “Now I am actually looking forward to it.”

“What exactly are you looking forward to?” she asked suspiciously.

“Everything,” he said promptly. “Even the bloody awful blue and yellow pavilion I have no doubt you are going to commission, and which will be a complete eyesore to all who behold it.” Aimee spluttered. “To you sweeping through Bartree Castle, setting the place to rights. To you being at my side,” he shrugged. “Always.”

Aimee opened her mouth to respond, but it seemed he had not finished. “You have turned everything on its head, wife,” he continued in an odd tone. “Everything I thought was important to me … I no longer seem to care about at all.”

She reached up to stroke the hair from his brow. “Such as … ?” she asked.

“Bartree Castle,” he answered promptly. “The north. I don’t even …” he broke off, looking baffled. “I don’t feel the slightest desire to travel north to see how the restorations are going.” The admission left him looking dazed.

She shrugged. “You may feel differently when it nears completion,” she suggested. “Or when you have an heir.”

His gaze snapped to hers as though that aspect had not occurred to him. “Yes,” he growled after a moment. “That may be true.” He shrugged. “But even so, I can see us living most of the year in Caer Lyoness.” He directed a searching glance at her. “What say you to that, wife?”

“I have lived in Caer Lyoness all my life, my lord,” she told him with a smile. “That will be no hardship to me. The rest of my family is here.”

“Yes, but when you decided to marry me,” he persisted, waving that aside, “you wanted to live in a castle, did you not?”

Aimee gazed at him in some confusion. “Not particularly. Why is that important?”

“I want to give you your every heart’s desire,” he persisted stubbornly.

Aimee laughed. “I just wanted to be with you,” she confessed. “I knew you had a castle, so I thought I would live in it one day. But that was neither here nor there with me, and it was far from the reason I fell in love with you.”

His clasp of her tightened again, and he was silent, crossing one ankle over the other. “’Tis the strangest thing to me,” he pondered, glancing around the bedchamber distractedly. “But I think I like it here best of all.” There was just a hint of accusation in the baffled look he directed at her.

“This house?” Aimee asked. “Or this city?”

“Both are one and the same to me now. If anyone would have ever told me that the southern capital could be my most beloved place, I would ne’er have believed them. But these past few days, nay, this past month has been the happiest I think have ever been in my life. Because of you.” Aimee gazed back at him, but before she could speak, another thought seemed to strike him.

“And Beres Caple is now my favorite tournament,” he added looking thunderstruck. “It’s a backwater event for yokels, and I didn’t even win it!”