Page 41 of The Heir's Fortune
“Well, I am rather untoward,” she said with a smile. “I shall be back. Jack enjoys the back parlor.”
Gideon held the baby out in front of him. Jack’s lips turned up, and Gideon wondered whether it was an actual smile or if he made those expressions for everyone.
“Very well,” he said with a sigh. “To the back parlor we go, as, apparently, that is your preference.” He turned to look at Scout,who stood to follow along. “What do you think, Scout? Doyoulike the back parlor?”
He was still shaking his head once they made it to the parlor, wondering how a baby could enjoy one room over the other, when he came to a complete stop, inwardly cursing his sister for he suddenly had a feeling that she had known exactly what she was doing.
“Madeline, what a surprise,” he said wryly, wondering how much she had told Cassandra about last night.
Madeline dropped her feet from the overstuffed blue Chesterfield to the floor as though she were a child who had been caught in mischief, her book falling from her hands as she rather comically tried to stuff it between the sofa and the cushion. Gideon wished he could read the title.
“Gideon, is that a baby in your arms?”
“It is,” he said, suddenly relieved that she was here despite how they had left things. At least she would likely know what to do with the child. Her presence still disconcerted him after her parting comment that morning, and he didn’t know how to make her understand the position he was in.
“What do I do with him?” he asked her as the dog jumped on the Chesterfield and curled up beside Madeline, dropping his head on her lap and looking up at her adoringly. Gideon was rather jealous of his position but he was far too occupied with the baby.
Gideon had always assumed he would be a father but had never considered what that would actually be like. Madeline laughed slightly as she gently moved Scout, stood, and walked over to them.
“He seems a little sleepy. Try placing his tummy against your shoulder and rocking with him back and forth.”
Gideon tried, but he knew he was far too stiff and soon enough the baby began to wriggle and whimper slightly.
“Why do you not do it?,” he said, holding him out to her, and Madeline stood with her arms out. The moment she took Jack, the baby settled against her shoulder and sighed contentedly before closing his eyes. Gideon stared at her in awe, both not understanding how a baby could sense the difference in the person holding him, and disconcerted at how Madeline with a baby was affecting him. She was much more motherly than he had imagined, and he was struck with images of her holding another baby – his baby.
“Do you like children?” he asked suddenly, and she scrutinized him with a brow raised.
“I did come here to help your sister with her baby.”
“I know, but I was uncertain if you would ever be interested in having children of your own.”
“Is that not what women of my standing are good for?”
He heard the sarcasm in her tone and lifted a shoulder. “I suppose that is why I wondered. You seem like a woman who wants more of life than being someone’s wife.”
“Can I not be someone’s wife and also be more?” she asked. “Men are someone’s husband and yet are still lauded for their accomplishments. Besides, I do not ask for much. I would like to be a mother, yes, if God wills it. I would also like to continue to ride my horses and?—”
She stopped abruptly.
“And?” he said probingly. “You can tell me.”
“I would like to spend more timetraininghorses,” she said shyly. “I love working with them, learning to understand the bond between human and horse and have them respond to me. Yet all of my horses have been trained by others before they are given to me to ride. I know my father did that out of safety, for no one would give a green horse to a lady, and yet, I would so dearly love to be the one to be there from the beginning.”
Gideon reached over and placed a hand on her knee. “If… if we find the treasure and it is, indeed, a fortune, then I will make sure that your dream comes true.”
She scoffed as she shook her head. “Do not make promises that you cannot keep.”
“I am not,” he said with a shrug. “I saidifwe find the treasure.”
“If,” she said, shaking her head. “If, if, if. That damn treasure.”
“That damn treasure,” he said, his voice rising slightly, “is what could make all of the difference in our lives.”
“Because you and I are not enough,” she said, her voice matching his.
“I wish we were!” he countered. “I wish with everything within me. But it is not just me, Madeline. If I wanted to be selfish, I would marry you and to hell with the rest of it. But people rely on me. Servants, tenants, and the people in the village. Others in thetonmight believe that my family has suffered by not having the fortune we used to. But my family has been just fine. We can survive with tired furniture and wilted vegetables. When we cannot afford to pay the village blacksmiths, or hire more maids, or provide for groundskeepers and gamekeepers, however, that means that all of those people who should be in those positions are the ones who suffer. For then they cannot even put food on their tables.”
He finished, breathing heavily, and Madeline stared at him, stunned.
