Page 111 of The Rogue's Last Scandal
“You may stay, if you wish, Charley,” she said.
“It is our wedding night.” His whisper warmed her neck.
When they reached her floor, she paused on the landing, planning to send him on to bed.
“I’m going with you to the nursery,” he said.
“You may do as you wish.”
What he wished was apparently to stay glued to her side. In the nursery’s outer chamber, Juan jumped to his feet, saluting them. Francisca, he said, was still waiting in Graciela’s chamber. A nursemaid was in with the child.
Her child.
The nursemaid dropped her knitting and rose also. “She’s sound asleep this last hour,” she whispered, and Graciela heard the implied caution.
She put a finger to her lips and went to the small bed.
Her heart swelled and pushed a smile to her lips. Reina curled around the soft knitted shawl that she’d slept with since she was born, her thumb in her mouth, her thick hair spread over the pillow cover. Tiny puffs of breath spelled out her slumber, and a twist of her lip signaled a dream.
Charley touched the tip of one finger to the round cheek and Reina’s grimace relaxed. “She’ll have a good life.” He whispered the promise, his warm breath stirring her.
Graciela straightened the light counterpane, touched a long curl, and let Charley lead her away.
In the outer room she stopped and spoke briefly to Juan. It was right that he should know the truth about Reina. He listened, his face solemn, and then he lifted her hand and kissed it.
She could not speak then. Charley steered her out into the hall.
“It’s good we did not wake her,” she said finally. “You would have had to hold her awhile.”
“I wouldn’t mind, though tonight, I’d rather be holding you.”
“Charley, I—”
“Holding you, Gracie. Holding you will suffice for a night such as this.” He paused at the landing and cast her a wicked grin. “Unless you want to do more.”
She reached for the handrail and started down the stairs.
He quickly caught up. “I shall give her our name, with your permission. Or, if you wish she will be Kingsley-Everly. She will have a good life, with aunts and uncles and cousins, and two grandfathers.” He stopped. “Your father probably suspected the truth, do you not think?”
Had he? She shook her head.
“Will he—”
“Accept her? I don’t know. I hope so. Even in all of his grief, he treated her fondly.”
“She’s part of you, so he will love her also. She’ll have those connections no matter where we take her. And of course, she’ll travel with us. She’ll have two parents who love her.”
Since the moment she fell into his arms, Charley had chipped away at the wall in her heart, and now it threatened to shatter. She breathed in, beating back tears. He could be such a good liar, her Charley, yet she believed these words. Reina believed in him.
It had been right to acknowledge her daughter, and right to bring her under the Earl of Shaldon’s protection.
In the light of a hall lamp, she caught Charley’s unguarded look, determined, thoughtful, and fierce.
No, she was right to bring her under Charles Everly’s protection.
She reached for him and pulled him into a long kiss before breaking away.
“We did not finish our lessons last night because you were being honorable,” she said.
“I was.” His hand slid around to her breast and began exploring. “And if you’re too tired, I won’t ask—”
“I’m asking.” She smiled up at him.
She wanted that lesson, and then she had more answers to pry from him.
