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Angele threw both hands in the air and began to pace the room, turning her back on him. “Christopher will have to sleep in a guest suite until they are cleaned and prepared for him.”
“An admirable solution. Now perhaps I may be allowed to get on with estate business?”
Angele spun about to face him, her eyes narrowed. “What could you possibly have to do that could be more important than preparing for our son’s imminent arrival?”
“You will moderate your tone of voice, madam. I understand that you are excited by our son’s homecoming, but he is not likely to be here for a few days yet. Relax, my dear. Instruct the servants with any preparations or changes you wish to be made. Mrs. Berry will see to it that he has adequate accommodation, never fear.”
She’d slapped him before she considered her action.
Merde,why ever did I do that?
He was being perfectly reasonable, and yet it was for that very reason she’d become so enraged. She was nervous about the meeting of the two males she loved best in the world. She wanted Gabriel to be as excited as she about the arrival of their son, but he so clearly wasn’t, and it was that which infuriated her.
He drew himself up to full height and glowered down his patrician nose. “I had hoped that the final session across my knee the other evening might have been the last time you would require correction this year. It seems I was sadly mistaken in that assumption. Come here.”
With hesitant steps of trepidation, she went to him. He drew her over to the fireside chair. Tears of regret filled her eyes. She deserved his retribution, but to her astonishment, instead he seated himself before the crackling fire and drew her down to sit upon his lap. While one arm cradled her, his other arm rose; he used his thumb to wipe away her tears.
“Why so overwrought, angel?” he enquired.
She drew in an unsteady breath.
“Je suis ennuye parce queI want you and Christopher to love each other as much I love you both. I am afraid that you might dislike one another,” she confided. More tears misted her sapphire gaze.
He was silent for a while. The sound of the ticking mantel clock and the occasional popping spark from the blazing fire soothed her rattled nerves. She relaxed against his chest, staring into the dancing flames.
Finally, he stirred. “I cannot tell you that my son and I will never fall out, for such is human nature, but I can promise you that I will love him as unequivocally as you do. I pledge my love to you and our son, Angele. I shall always do my utmost to do what is right for the both of you. I cannot promise it will always be what you want but I will give you whatever you need. I love you more than myself. You need never be in doubt that my love is sincere.”
She placed her small palms either side of his face and sat up to gaze into his eyes. Only honest integrity and pure love shone out at her. She lowered her mouth to his, kissing him, putting every fibre of passionate love into her time-honoured gesture.
This was what she had always loved about him. Her husband understood her to the very depths of her soul. He always gave her what she needed. Her lips quirked as she pressed them against his mouth, and she recalled his words—no, he did not always give her what shewantedbut he instinctively knew, just as now, what sheneeded. She had expected a spanking at the very least for the harsh slap she’d dealt him, but instead he had comforted her. She broke their kiss.
“I apologise for slapping you,mon amour. It was uncalled for,” she admitted sheepishly.
He winked at her. “Never fear, I shall find a way for you to repay me.”
She flushed at his meaning, smiling as he chuckled throatily at her discomfiture.
And so a compromise was reached, and guest rooms were prepared for Christopher a few doors down from theirs. A nursery maid was selected using Ivy’s knowledge of the existing staff. In the meantime, servants were set the task of cleaning and emptying the nursery in readiness for a programme of redecoration. Gabriel suggested Christopher might like to give suggestions to help the nursery feel more like home to him. Angele knew at once that her son would like that.
They received word from Robin and Mary, stating that they would arrive Christmas Eve to spend the twelve days of Christmas with them at the ancestral home. Angele was disappointed that she would have to wait until then to be reunited with her son, but her husband’s love making each night, and sometimes during the day, was more than enough compensation.
Chapter 13
The house was full of excited anticipation, it was the night of the ball. Angele took a leisurely bath in the linen-draped copper tub, surrounded by flickering candelabras.
Ivy dressed her hair high with artful curls. Her gown of ice-blue silk, scattered with tiny glittering crystals, showed her snowy white skin off to perfection. The flush of nervous excitement that bloomed in her cheeks would be well hidden under her mask. The diamond drops in her ears and the circlet that surrounded her neck had been a wedding gift from her husband. Indeed, Gabriel was moved to comment that on this occasion more than any other, she looked like the angel she was named for.
The queue of guests wove from the entrance hall, up the stairs, and ended at the ballroom door where Carroll, the butler, announced each couple as they entered. St. Nicholas and Angele stood ready to meet and greet each and every one.
The line seemed interminable, but finally Carroll announced their final guest. “Milady Misrule!”
Angele frowned and cast Gabriel a curious glance. “Who...?” she mouthed to him.
He raised a questioning eyebrow in reply, indicating that he was none the wiser. They turned to watch an unknown lady come towards them. She was dressed in crimson velvet and wore a black eye mask. Her golden hair was piled severely high and ornamented with three crimson ostrich feathers. Matching rubies glittered in her ears. Her mouth was rouged red, while her cheek sported a black beauty spot, so placed as to indicate that she was unwed and free for dalliance.
“Who on earth is she?” Angele whispered,sotto voce.
“I have absolutely no idea,” Gabriel replied out of the corner of his mouth. He inclined his head towards the siren. “Welcome to Michaelmas Hall, milady. I do not believe that we have been introduced?”
