Page 42 of Tempted By the English Marquis
And while the Gideon who stood before her was a slighter version of the man she remembered from London, the second he opened his mouth all her lovely, lustful memories of him came flooding back.
I just wish he wasn’t here under such difficult circumstances.
The Marquis of Holwell was clearly here under instructions from his father to bring the Kembal women home. Knowing the duchess, Serafina doubted she would go quietly.
Lying to Gideon about his sister wasn’t how she had ever pictured their possible reunion. The words sat sour in her mouth. But until she could gain a full understanding of where everyone in this English drama stood, she would keep her thoughts to herself. Augusta was likely to be the one caught in the middle of any future battle between Gideon and his mother, and someone had to protect her.
Serafina couldn’t do much to protect herself, but she could help Augusta.
“Have you had much of an opportunity to speak to your mother?” she ventured.
It was a dangerous question, one fraught with all manner of peril, but having grown up amongst the de Lucas she knew information held power. If she could discover how things had gone thus far between Gideon and Lady Anne, it would inform both her and Augusta’s next moves.
He gave a tired sigh, and her heart sank.
Oh dear. That does not sound good.
“To say that my mother was both surprised and more than a little angered to see me would just about sum up our meeting. She barely acknowledged me at supper.”
The weight of familial expectations was apparent in Gideon’s posture. His shoulders were slumped as if he were carrying a heavy burden.
Her fingers flexed. If only she could reach out and offer him comfort. While her heart quietly pleaded that she did just that, her sensible head overruled. With her own future so bleak, if anyone could understand the pressures of duty and commitment, it was her.
“I expect you surprised her with your sudden arrival. And there was every chance that she was more than a little embarrassed. Donna Francesca barely tolerates your mother, so she probably enjoyed witnessing the duchess’s moment of discomfort.”
The way she spoke about her own mother might have seemed odd to someone outside of the family—almost deliberately disrespectful. But it was just Serafina’s way of noting how the contessa behaved toward other females. If Enzo de Luca’s wife could win even the smallest of victories over another woman, she was well contented.
“Will you speak to your mother again before morning?” she asked.
Gideon shook his head. “No. I am tired and would more than likely say something which my mother would take the wrong way.” He gave a strangled half-laugh. “It seems both of us are burdened with mothers who live their lives beyond parenthood. Not that a woman should be merely defined by motherhood, but at times I wonder if my mother truly values that role.”
Her parents’ marriage had been the usual arranged one. A political union. Sometimes Serafina pondered what sort of woman Donna Francesca might have been if she had been permitted to marry for love. “Hopefully the morning will bring a fresh start. The shock of you being here will have worn off by then, and the duchess might be in a better frame of mind to talk.”
The quick look Gideon shot her told her that he seriously doubted that the dawn would bring peace between him and his mother.
“I am going to walk the grounds for a while longer, so I had better wish you a good night. Will you be around the palace later this morning? It would be nice for us to talk, maybe recall some fond memories of your trip to London,” said Gideon.
He was dismissing her, claiming a moment for himself to think. She couldn’t blame him. If it had been her in this position, she would want time alone.
“Of course. Good night, Gideon. It is lovely to see you again. I . . .”I have missed you more than you will ever know.
Serafina yearned so desperately to say those words out loud, to tell him what her heart had whispered into the long dark night for the past year and a half. She wasn’t brave or foolish enough to say such a thing, instead she offered a polite. “I hope you sleep well.”
Turning, she headed for the path and the set of steps which led into the palace. As far as she was concerned, Gideon had it all wrong. His battle with his mother was only a minor tussle compared to the war that Serafina fought with herself.
And as much as she tried to deny it, her heart was already making its demands loud and clear. It proclaimed that when the Marquis of Holwell set foot onboard the ship to take him and his family home, Serafina should be walking right alongside him, as his wife.
“That’s impossible,” she murmured.
It was all well and good to throw coins into the Trevi Fountain, but Serafina de Luca didn’t honestly believe in such wonders. And for her and Gideon to ever be together it would take a miracle.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Gideon managed to snatch a few hours’ sleep just before dawn, but he was still exhausted by the time a footman came to his room and spoke to him in the morning. He didn’t understand much of what was being said, so after grabbing hold of his Italian phrasebook, he put it under the man’s nose and pointed at the pages.
“Per favore,” Gideon said.
The servant flicked through the notebook. He stopped at a page a little way in and showed it to Gideon. The man’s finger sat under the wordcolazione.
