Page 99 of Married to the Icy Duke
“Not just for me. For any woman who wants to join.”
“Tristan will mock me, I think,” Isaac sighed, grinning. “Being ruled by my wife.”
She rolled her eyes. “Nobody could rule you, Isaac. I imagine that even an emperor would struggle. And since when did you allow yourself to be dictated to byTristan?”
He grinned, that wolfish grin that her insidesstillwobble with desire.
“You are quite right. You are the one that I love, after all.”
She rolled over onto her side, kissing him. She did not have breath for a long or deep kiss, but in a few minutes, who could say? They had hours before supper. That was plenty of time.Plenty.
“And I love you too, Isaac,” she whispered, reaching out to touch his eyepatch. He did not resist when she lifted it, revealing the scarred flesh and missing eye underneath. “I love you more than I could have imagined. Heavens, look at me—married to a Devil, and happier than ever!”
“Well, you are a special woman, make no mistake,” Isaac responded, his voice gravelly. “Because the Devil loves you, too.”
EPILOGUE
THREE MONTHS LATER
“Want to see! Want to see!” Tommy chirped, jumping up and down at Charlotte’s side.
“Just a moment, you troublesome little thing!” Charlotte laughed affectionately. She transferred the covered canvas to her other arm, reaching down to ruffle Tommy’s hair. He beamed up at her.
Getting Tommy to talk, it seemed, had been the easy part. Getting him to quieten down again was nearly impossible. Since the little boy already had quite an impressive vocabulary, more and more words appeared every day, with Charlotte having no idea where he’d gotten them.
The source of his original block was unclear. Charlotte’s guess was that the loss of his parents and the upheaval that followed had caused Tommy to fall silent. Isaac’s panicked, well-meaning attempts to get Tommy to talk—to say nothing of the endless professionals—had only forced him deeper into his silence.
It didn’t matter. It was in the past. They were safe. Tommy was growing. All was well. Matthew was no longer in London, for one thing. He had not been charged, based on temporary insanity and Isaac’s reluctance to press charges. He had written a long letter, begging forgiveness, and promised to ensure that his path would never again cross Isaac’s, Charlotte’s, or Tommy’s. He had gone back to his country estate, by all accounts. Charlotte did pity him, but she was glad not to see him anymore.
But all of this paled into insignificance beside the greatest news of Charlotte’s life so far.
Isaac loves me.
Still tingling from this happy thought, Charlotte reached down to take Tommy’s hand. They hurried along the last stretch of hallway, towards the drawing room. The door was thrown wide open, bright morning light filtering out.
Generally, now was the time to receive morning callers, but Isaac had given notice to Perling that they would not be receiving any callers today. Already, there was a small pile of calling cards from various disappointed visitors. The Duke and Duchess and Devils were as infamous and popular as ever. Charlotte was tempted to throw another sudden party, simply to see what new scandal would be made of it.
She reached the drawing room and peeped inside.
“Papa!” Tommy squealed, hurrying towards Isaac. The man sat, long legs folded, in an armchair facing towards the window.He unfolded himself with a laugh, springing to his feet in time to snatch Tommy up into the air. The little boy shrieked with delight, and Charlotte tried not to panic as Isaac tossed him high into the air, catching him neatly.
“Oh, heavens, my heart is in my mouth whenever you do that,” she remarked, laughing.
Chuckling, Isaac carefully placed Tommy on his feet and came towards her.
“I should not like you to feel that way, my love,” he murmured, placing one arm around her shoulder. “I’d kiss you to make up for it, but this overlarge canvas is in the way.”
“Yes, well, I’m just relieved to have finished it at last,” Charlotte laughed, placing the canvas carefully down on an easel set out for just this purpose. “I do so hope it doesn’t look silly.”
“Your paintings are never silly,” Isaac said firmly. “Tommy adores them, and so do I. I may have no artistic talent myself, but Tommy is quite determined to become a painter because of you.”
“A duke and a painter, eh?” Charlotte chuckled. “He won’t need a wealthy patron. Heisa wealthy patron.”
“That is what I thought. And who wouldn’t like to own a painting done by a duke?”
Charlotte took a step back, eyeing the covered canvas. She wasn’t used to feeling nervous before displaying her work. She had never thought of selling it or displaying it publicly. Generally, she only did a few watercolors to display at gatherings or for her own benefit.
This painting was something different, however.
