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‘But Joanna is a lady,’ Jamie persisted. ‘And so is Susanna.’
They all looked to the other bedpost where Joanna was sitting, her new sister held very carefully. ‘Lady Susanna Maria Frost Graystone,’ she recited.
‘That is the rule, I’m afraid,’ Gaby said. ‘There’s no arguing with the College of Heralds. Even if it would be nice to have two matching sets of twins.’
Constantia, the new nurse, came in. ‘Time for the little ones to sleep,’ she said in her heavily accented English. ‘And for their mama to sleep also.’ She retrieved the babies competently, one in each arm. ‘Come with me, children, and let your mama rest. Your grandmama is waiting for you.’ The look she gave Gray was, Gaby thought, enough to rout most men. He took his son’s place at the foot of the bed and just smiled until Constantia left, the children with her.
‘Well, Lady Leybourne?’ he asked, moving so he was sitting next to her, his legs up on the bed, his back against the pillows.
‘Very well, Lord Leybourne.’ Gaby rested her head on his shoulder. ‘Tired, but so happy.’ The shutters were half-drawn against the August sun and the filmy white curtains fluttered in the afternoon breeze that brought the scent of herbs and roses with it and, distantly, the sound of the river.
‘Was it not clever of me to present you with twins?’ he asked.
‘And have me lumbering about like an elephant all through the summer heat?’ She nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder. ‘Yes, very clever. You have given me a ready-made family. Four children and we have only been married eight months.’
‘Jamie and Joanna love you, you know.’
‘I know. They explained very carefully the other day why they had begun calling me Mama. Their first mother was, obviously, Mother, which meant I was Mama. They are sweet, the pair of them. I just want to smother them in kisses sometimes. You know Jamie brought me a salamander last week?’
‘If I bring you a salamander, will I get kisses?’ Gray asked, his voice hopeful.
‘You will get kisses whether you bring me salamanders, diamonds or simply yourself. You will get kisses for ever.’
He slid down the bed and held her carefully against his chest. ‘I’m amazed you can still love me after yesterday. All husbands should be chained to the foot of the bed when their wives give birth, then there would be no nonsense about who is the weaker sex. Sleep now, my love.’
‘You sleep, too. And we will wake up and this will be no dream, but the reality of the rest of our lives.’
Gabrielle drifted off into sleep, Gray’s murmured words mingling with the sound of the river, the sigh of the warm breeze, the beat of their hearts, and knew she would wake to a love that would last a lifetime.
* * * * *
If you enjoyed this story
don’t miss these other great reads by Louise Allen:
Marrying His Cinderella Countess
The Earl’s Practical Marriage
And check out her
Lords of Disgrace miniseries
starting with
His Housekeeper’s Christmas Wish
Keep reading for an excerpt from Seduced by the Prince’s Kiss by Bronwyn Scott.
Seduced by the Prince’s Kiss
by Bronwyn Scott
Chapter One
Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex—March 1824
Spring had come again in all its glory: blustering winds, lashing rains and always the peculiar English dampness that conspired to keep a person indoors far beyond the body’s patience for inactivity—at least his body’s. Stepan Shevchenko braced himself against the sea winds buffeting the bluffs. He peered through the eyepiece of his spyglass, searching the empty horizon.
