Page 27 of Tempting the Bluestocking
After a long day of eating and toasting over champagne, then seeing their guests out, Edward and Clare had spent the afternoon resting and recovering from their whirlwind of a wedding and enjoying the freedom of being together in their own home.
That evening, she left the washroom adjacent to their bedroom to find Edward waiting for her before the hearth with a small wooden box in his hands. Joining him near the warmth of the fire, she gazed at him and allowed adoration to overwhelm her. She didn’t think there would ever be a time she could look upon him without her stomach erupting into mad flutters or her blood heating with desire. The firelight made his hair gleam like bronze, his eyes appearing like dark emeralds in the dim lighting of the room.
“I have a wedding gift for you,” he declared, extending the box to her. “It took me weeks to find just the right thing, but when I saw this I knew it was perfect.”
Thinking of her own gift nestled in the pocket of her dressing gown, she smiled. “What a coincidence. I have something for you, too.”
“Mine first,” he insisted, his gaze alighting with excitement as he watched her open the box.
Nestled inside was one of the most stunning watches she’d ever seen. The outer casing was made of brilliant gold ringed with iridescent pearls, in the center of which sat a vivid enamel painting of an angel surrounded by billowy white clouds, her wings outstretched . She opened the watch to find a pristine white face, and more of the perfect pearls and delicate gold hands ticking away the minutes. From it hung a chatelaine made of large pearls adorned with gold.
“Oh, Edward…it’s stunning.”
“It isn’t as old as some of your other watches, having been made only recently. But I knew you would appreciate the workmanship as well as the artistry of it. Now you are one purchase closer to your fiftieth watch.”
After taking a moment to study his beautiful gift, she set it back inside its box and laughed while reaching into her dressing gown pocket.
“Actually, I still have a few more watches to collect to reach fifty. You see, I’ve decided it was time to part ways with one of them.”
She placed her gift in his hand and stood back to watch him study it. She hadn’t bothered to wrap it or put it in a box, wanting to feel the transfer of the silver from her hand to his as she gave him her most precious possession.
Edward frowned, then his face eased into shock as he ran a finger over the shining silver casing. “Your father’s watch? Clare, I cannot accept this.”
Placing a hand over his atop the watch, she nodded. “You can and you will. It is too important to go on sitting in a box collecting dust, and no one is more important to me than you. See, I had it repaired, so the glass is no longer cracked and it tells time quite accurately.”
She opened the watch, displaying the new circle of glass enclosing the face. Then, she closed the watch again and turned it over so he could see the inscription engraved onto the back of the casing.
Love Always, Clare
“Ah, CeCe,” he whispered, closing his hand around the watch and pulling her against him with one arm. “It’s the best gift anyone’s ever given to me. I’ll take good care of it, I promise.”
“I know you will,” she replied, pressing a kiss to his jaw. “I trust you with it just like I trust you with everything else—my heart and soul, my life.”
“I’ll treasure them all, my bride,” he replied, nuzzling her hair and planting a kiss atop her head. “Forever and always.”
“I find it very telling that we exchanged identical wedding gifts,” she said as the thought occurred to her suddenly. “Surely that must mean something—a sure sign that we are fated to be together.”
“Fate is all well and good,” Edward replied, setting his new watch upon the mantle, then prizing the box from her hand and setting it beside the timepiece. “But at the moment I am more interested in science. Chiefly, whether or not you are exhibiting the signs of arousal. I believe an examination is in order.”
With a wicked grin, she began backing away from him, her fingers coming to the sash of her dressing gown. “I suppose I will allow that…all in the name of science, of course.”
His eyes grew heavy-lidded and his lips parted as she dropped the robe to the floor to reveal that she wore nothing underneath.
“This will require research,” he rasped, stalking her as she backed toward the bed. “Vigorous research.”
Climbing up onto the bed, she lay back and crooked her finger at him. “What are you waiting for?”
She collapsed into a fit of giggles as he rushed to bed and came atop her with a leap, the sounds of her joy echoing through the chamber.
Epilogue
Exeter, Devon
1819, 1 year later …
“Sir, you have a visitor…a Mr. and Mrs. Radcliffe.”
Edward glanced up from the letter from Caroline and frowned. He’d just received the missive and had sat in the library to read the news out of London. He and Clare had left his sister in the care of Helene, who’d acted as a chaperone during the recently ended Season. His sister had been filled with exciting details of various outings and balls, as well as a gentleman she’d met and come to grow quite fond of. He’d just gotten to the part where she’d begun to fill him in on how Jacob was managing the business in his absence.
