Page 348 of Historical Hotties
Bastian’s confusion cleared up rapidly as he understood what she had meant. She was more intuitive than he gave her credit for, and she was also far braver than he was in speaking offeelings. He had felt giddy at her statement but didn’t want her to know. It confused and frightened him to feel that way. But gazing into her blue eyes, he wasn’t so confused or frightened anymore. He rather liked the giddy feelings she provoked.
“You do not need to apologize,” he told her quietly. “You simply stated what I was thinking, too.”
Her eyes widened. “Truly?”
He nodded, enjoying the look of surprise on her face. “Truly.”
That left Gisella rather speechless. Was it possible that the warm feelings she had experienced around him hadn’t been her imagination, after all? She could hardly believe it. His response gave her hope.
“Then… then may I say something more?” she asked.
“Of course,” he replied.
She gathered her thoughts and words carefully. “I… I know we had a very rough beginning,” she said. “I suppose I was to blame for most of it. The truth is that I do not wish for our marriage to be contentious. I wish for it to be pleasant just as it is now. I will do my best to ensure that it is.”
She was talking about feelings more than he’d ever had experience with and the giddiness he was feeling deepened. But he didn’t run away, as was his instinct. He did the only thing he could think of. He lifted her hand to his lips for a gentle kiss. That was the best he could do at the moment in discussing what he was feeling and what his hopes and dreams were. Expressing those didn’t come easily. Perhaps someday he could with Gisella, but at the moment, he was both giddy and uncertain. It was best not to say anything for fear of making a fool of himself. Kissing her hand again and watching her cheeks flush red, he tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and took her into the hall.
Braxton stood up the moment he spied Bastian and Gisella enter the room. He had been waiting for his son’s wife to make an appearance for quite some time, or at least it seemed likea long time. He was eager to see her before Bastian took her away and he would probably not see her again until his first grandchild was born.
“Ah!” he called happily, waving them over to the table. “Lady de Russe, it is lovely to see you once more. I hear my son will be spiriting you off to London now.”
Bastian helped Gisella sit in the chair across the table from his father. “So I have been told,” Gisella replied, looking at the plethora of food spread out all over the table. “Although this time of year in London, the humidity from the river will be terrible. I am not fond of London in August.”
Braxton passed the plate of chunks of warm, cream-colored bread to Gisella, who took a piece. “I have told Bas to take you to Braidwood, our family townhome,” he said. “It is not far from the Tower and I think you would like it better than the halls of that terrible place.”
Gisella looked up from buttering her bread. “The Tower?” she clarified. “Truthfully, I have not spent any length of time there. Lady Gloucester does not like it.”
Braxton grunted. “Wise woman,” he said, slathering butter over his own piece of bread. He glanced at his son, quickly, and then his new daughter-in-law before speaking. “It is not a difficult ride to London. I have been thinking of going with you.”
Bastian looked at his father in surprise. “You have?”
Braxton nodded. “I should go, truly,” he said. “Martin is at Braidwood, after all, and you’ve never gotten on well with your cousin. If you two start fighting, who is going to stop it?”
Bastian gave him a rather intolerant expression. “I will not fight Martin,” he said. “As long as he gives me another horse comparable to the one he stole, there is no reason to fight.”
From down the table, Martin’s mother, Beatrice, spoke up. “Bas, Martin didnotsteal that horse and you know it,” she scolded. “Good Heavens, you boys were only five years old. Hedid not steal your toy horse. If you want him to give you another one, then I will get you one simply to settle the score. Would that make you happy?”
Gisella was listening seriously to the conversation until Lady Beatrice brought up the fact that the horse Bastian was speaking of had been a toy. Then, she broke into a grin, looking at her husband as if the man were mad.
“Atoyhorse?” she repeated. “You hold a grudge over a toy horse?”
Bastian was frowning. “Say what you like,” he said. “It was mine and he took it. I shall never forgive him.”
Something in his expression told Gisella that he wasn’t entirely serious and she started laughing. When he glared at her, without force, she pretended to bite her lip. He broke into a smile and she started laughing again as Braxton took a big bite of his bread, smearing butter all over his right cheek.
“Aye, I believe I shall go to London with you both,” he said, lifting a butter-smeared knife at Bastian as the man grinned at his wife. “You may need me.”
Bastian tore his gaze away from his wife and looked at his father. “Need you for what?” he wanted to know. “You can hardly hold a sword anymore. Moreover, Gisella and I will be with the king and you will be left alone at Braidwood.”
Braxton didn’t like to be denied although he didn’t want to say what he was really thinking– the threat against him and against Bastian. For some reason, he didn’t want to let his son out of his sight. He felt very strongly that he needed to be with him, especially in light of the Maid’s relic that Bastian had with him. That was an entirely new reason to stick close to him. Strange forces were at work around Bastian and Braxton could not let the man face it alone. His knightly intuition told him to stay close.
“I am good for other things, you know,” he said, miffed. “And I have not seen you in almost two years, Bas. Are you truly going to deny a father the right to be with his son?”
Bastian patted the old man’s shoulder. “Very well,” he said. “But at least wait until we get settled. I will send for you.”
Braxton’s face fell. “I cannot go with you now?”
Bastian shook his head. “Not now,” he said. “As I said, there will be enough change and upheaval between the two of us. Let us settle in before we add you to the mix.”
