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‘I am awake,’ Avery said. ‘And hungry.’
‘So am I. Shall we raid the pantry? There is plum cake and cheese.’
‘A recipe for indigestion,’ Avery teased, but he belted his banyan and followed her downstairs, through the sleeping house. They filled plates and made tea and then tiptoed out again.
‘Goodness knows what we are going to have to tell Miss Pemberton,’ Laura said as they curled up against the pillows and tried not to get cake crumbs in the bed.
‘I will tell her that I was a foolishly suspicious husband. Miss Pemberton will consider me a brute and will probably order A Vindication of the Rights of Women from the library for you.’
‘Poor Avery,’ she teased and then, suddenly anxious, added, ‘Are you truly comfortable with Alice realising you are not her blood father?’
‘I am very happy. It has done my conscience no end of good, confessing. She’ll have lots of questions, but we will deal with them honestly as they come up.’ He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.
‘Thank you for agreeing to let Alice have a puppy,’ Laura said.
‘I had forgotten I had a bone to pick with you, my lady,’ Avery said sternly. ‘Whatever possessed you to promise Alice a puppy at dinner time? I foresee months of puddles on carpets, shredded upholstery and missing slippers.’
‘Um…’ Laura wriggled free and caught Avery’s left hand in hers, fiddling with his wedding ring, keeping her eyes fixed on it. ‘I thought it might be a good idea, because her nose is going to be very out of joint in a little while, I suspect, bless her.’
There was a moment when she thought he did not understand, then Avery pulled her round to face him, his fingers tipping up her chin so he could look into her face, his own intent and flushed. ‘You are with child?’
‘I think so. So does Mab. But it is very early, just weeks, and I have not seen a physician yet.’
‘Oh, my love.’ His arms around her were strong, possessive yet strangely tentative. ‘You should be resting… You shouldn’t have had all the strain and anxiety. You—’
‘Avery.’ She gave him a little shake. ‘I am pregnant, not sick! Are you pleased?’
‘Pleased?’ He sat back and regarded her as if she had asked whether he had a head. ‘Pleased? I am delighted. Why did you not tell me before?’
‘Because I thought I would never find out your true feelings for me once you knew,’ Laura admitted.
‘I see.’ Avery rolled off the bed and got to his feet in one fluid motion and turned away. Her heart sank. ‘Trust. It keeps getting in the way, doesn’t it?’
‘Lack of it does,’ Laura admitted.
‘You thought I would lie to you, pretend an affection I did not feel, if you gave me a child?’
She swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘I wondered.’ Surely, after all that had passed between them, she had not had lost him again? Trust was so important to him and so fragile and she had shown she doubted him. Her hand went instinctively to her belly. She shouldn’t have said anything yet. It was to soon, she could be wrong and then he would think—
Avery paced back to stand in front of her. He looking down, his face shadowed. ‘I wonder if perhaps we are being too hard on ourselves,’ he said. ‘We are going to make mistakes, hurt each other, I am certain. But that is part of it, part of growing together. Love cannot be a magic potion, can it? One moment we are just two fallible human beings full of faults and fears, the next we are in perfect harmony? No, this isn’t a fairy tale, this is real life and real love.’
He reached out and pulled her gently to her feet. ‘I love you. You love me. We will work it out, Laura. We will learn how to trust and how to tell each other of our fears. We will learn to argue and make up and not see that as a sign of failure.’
Her hand was still pressed over where she hoped his child lay. ‘I may not be…’
Avery caressed her cheek. When he spoke his voice was husky. ‘I think you are.’ He laid his hand over hers. ‘But if not, then we have time and love and what will be, will be.’ He bent closer to look into her face. It was shadowy under the bed canopy, but the candlelight threw his face into relief, showed her both the strong man she loved and the tender lover she was coming to know. ‘Are you crying? Oh, Laura, my love.’
She found her voice from somewhere. ‘Only because I am happy. Ever since Alice was born there has been an empty, hollow place inside me. When I found her again it was filled and yet, somehow, something was still missing. I was not complete. Avery, I am complete now, with you.’
When he pulled her into his arms and kissed her there was no need for words. Impossibly, when she had given up all hope of happiness she had it all. A husband she loved, who loved her. Her daughter and the hope of all the years ahead would bring.
‘Tomorrow, shall we pack and go to Wykeham Hall?’
‘Start afresh?’ Avery asked. ‘Yes, my love. That house has been long neglected. It is waiting so we can make it ours. Let’s go and build a home together. Raise a family.’
As he embraced her she saw their shadows, strong against the subtle silk of the wall hangings. Two figures entwined, two hearts as one, Laura thought as Avery began to kiss her and her eyelids fluttered closed. Finally at peace.
*
