Page 108 of One Night with a Prince
“He could ruinhimself, ” she said hoarsely. “Be quiet, blast you.”
Himself. She was worried about him being ruined. Not her father or even her, buthim . Had any woman, other than his mother, ever considered him and his needs first? Or put his welfare and future ahead of her own?
The weight of that love rained down on his long-dried-up soul, renewing and restoring it, until he realized he had no choice but to honor it.
He stepped over to the fireplace, then looked at her again. “Yes?”
As always, she understood without his having to explain. She nodded. He tossed the letters into the fire, feeling peace steal over him as they burst into flame. One fire had begun his torment; it was only fitting that another should end it. Stokely shot up from his chair. “You’re insane! Do you know what those areworth ?”
“Yes. That’s why I burned them. As long as they’re intact, someone can and will use them.” Gavin flashed Christabel a rueful smile. “I can’t take the chance it might be me.”
Her heart shone in her answering smile, as wide and giving as any man could wish for in a sweetheart, a lover…a wife. Coming to his side, she stretched up to press a kiss to his mouth, then took his hand.
“Come, my love, I think it’s high time we go home.”
Home. He didn’t bother to ask if she meant his town house or hers, or even the estate at Bath. BecauseGenerated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlit didn’t matter. From now on, home was wherevershe was.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Occasionally, a man will actually marry
his mistress, but that is rare enough as to
be remarkable.
—Anonymous,Memoirs of a Mistress
So much had happened that Christabel could scarcely believe it had been two weeks since Lord Stokely’s house party. First there’d been the quiet wedding at Gavin’s house in Bath, with his mother meeting his half brothers and their wives for the first time. Then she’d reported to His Highness about the outcome of the mission, though he didn’t yet know that the letters had gone up in smoke. She was waiting to revealthat until Gavin received his part of the bargain. She didn’t trust the prince any more than he did.
All week she’d been busy settling her household matters so she could move out of the Haversham town house and into her new husband’s. Not to mention planning for today’s ceremony. She glanced over at Gavin, who stared pensively out the window of the waiting room at Westminster Palace. Her heart swelled with love. What a dear he was. Marriage suited him.
“Clearly His Highness isn’t going to meet with me privately as he promised.” Gavin turned from the window to face her. “I knew he’d renege on that term of our agreement.”
She didn’t blame him for his skepticism. The ceremony to bestow his barony on him began in only thirty minutes. His half brothers were already inside, taking their seats with the rest of the lords.
“He’ll come.” Going to his side, she tapped his arm with her fan. “If he doesn’t, he’ll force me to use this.”
A faint smile touched his lips, the first in the past hour. “Assaulting a prince is a treasonous offense. You’d hang, my sweet.”
“Nonsense,” she teased. “How could he possibly hang the wife of his son?”
Gavin’s smile faded. “His son, whom he has yet to acknowledge and never will.” He took her hand in his. “At least he’s giving me the barony. That’s something, I suppose.”
But then the door opened, and His Highness entered. He’d kept his promise after all. Christabel dropped into a deep curtsy, but Gavin, for better or worse, just stood there and stared. He’d never met his father, had he? The very thought of not knowing one’s own father made her heart ache for him.
Especially when the prince said in a remotely formal voice, “Good afternoon, Mr. Byrne, Lady Haversham.”
“Mrs. Byrne,” she corrected him fiercely. “I’ve taken my new husband’s name.”
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
“Ah, yes, I’d heard that the two of you were married. But I rather thought you’d prefer to continue going by Lady Haversham.”
Widows of high rank had a choice when they married a man of lower rank, and plenty of them chose to retain their loftier appellation. Christabel had been thrilled to rid herself of the title of marchioness.
“Of course,” His Highness went on, “you will shortly be able to don a new title—Lady Byrne.” The prince turned to Gavin. “You still wish to have Byrne as the name of the barony?”
Gavin nodded. “It’s the least I can do to honor my mother.”
