Page 49 of The Vagabond Viscount
Gideon is clueless when it comes to women. If I let him dictate how things are to go, he will still be trying to make up his mind as Serafina walks up the aisle and marries the odious Signore Giovanni Magri.
She could play subtly when it was needed. Someday, hopefully very soon, her brother would be thanking her for the small things she had done to ensure he had made Serafina his marchioness.
After the Colosseum, they headed to Via del Corso and the tailor’s shop which Count Nico de Luca had suggested to Gideon. While Serafina assisted her brother with choosing the right fabrics for his new waistcoats, a delighted but watchful Augusta kept her distance.
Hidden behind a rack of linen shirts, watching while the two tentative sweethearts worked their way through a pile of fabric swatches, Augusta sensed a shift in the relationship between Gideon and Serafina. A budding connection that hadn’t been there before.
When Gideon picked up a pale blue piece of fabric and offered it to Serafina, she simply smiled at him, shook her head, and placed it back on the table saying, “No, it would wash you out too much, Gideon. You are a man who can wear stronger colors.”
Emotion clogged Augusta’s throat as she witnessed the loving exchange. When their hands brushed against one another, and the touch lingered, it was all Augusta could do not to break down and sob with grief.
It was impossible to ever resent them this moment, but it was still so heartbreakingly painful to watch. To know that she and Flynn would never have the chance to share the simple pleasure of shopping for clothes. Augusta gripped tight to the ring on her hand—the only thing she had left of her lost love.
Augusta was still fighting to maintain her composure when Serafina finally handed Gideon over into the care of the tailor and his staff. Her friend grinned at the men as they fussed over the marquis. While Gideon stood arms and legs akimbo, the tailor and his team set to work taking his measurements. They spoke in rapid-fire Italian. Augusta could understand quite a bit of what they were saying, but from the expression on her brother’s face, it was evident that he didn’t have a clue as to what was being said about him or his choice of clothes.
When she met Augusta’s gaze, the happiness slipped from Serafina’s face. She glanced at Augusta’s hands. At the ring. She softly sighed.
“How about you and I go to the drapers shop and let Gideon finish being measured for his new wardrobe?” she offered.
A grateful Augusta forced a smile to her lips. Serafina was the one person other than Victoria who fully understood what the past year had been like for her, of what she had lost.
She waved to Gideon. “While you get measured for your new clothes, Serafina and I are going to visit the drapery a few doors up the street. She wants to look at ribbons and bonnets. We won’t be too long. After we come back, we can go and find some food. I, for one, am starving.”
At times, it was hard to put on a brave face, but she was determined not to cry in front of her brother. If she did, he would likely think it was on account of the breakdown of their parent’s marriage.
He would be wrong. She was yet to process that shocking piece of news, still in a state of denial over the lies her mother had spun. Until she spoke to the duchess and heard the truth from her own lips, Augusta was prepared to cling to the hope that the letter Lady Anne had sent to her husband had just been yet another tantrum in a long melodramatic list of them.
Serafina ushered her quickly out of the shop and up the street. Once they were inside the draper’s shop, she didn’t stop to look at the ribbons or bonnets. Instead, she towed Augusta to the very back of the store. When they were out of earshot of the other customers, she brushed a hand on Augusta’s cheek. “Are you alright? You look about ready to cry?”
The social mask which Augusta had worn for the better part of a year now slipped into place. It was either that, or breaking down and sobbing her heart out all over the fine Venetian lace. “I am alright. I’m just a little emotional after having watched you and Gideon. Please tell me my brother realizes how close he stands to losing any chance he might have of a future with you. And that you won’t let him do such a foolish thing? Please, Serafina. I beg of you.”
Her friend gave a small nod in response. “Gideon certainly seems more in earnest than he was when he and I met in the garden late last night. I don’t know what you might have said to him this morning before we left Palazzo Lazio, but whatever it was, it seems to have spurred him into action.”
Good.He had been paying attention.
Augusta moved away and began to examine a nearby rack of ribbons. Serafina followed. She sensed her friend had more she wished to say, but Augusta had heard enough. “It’s alright, Serafina. I understand I should leave things alone. As we were leaving the Colosseum, Gideon cautioned me not to attempt to meddle any further.”
“Thank you,” replied Serafina. “I know you mean well, and I expect your brother understands that too, but this is a delicate situation. My father is set on me marrying Signore Magri, and it is going to take more than just a few polite words from Gideon to change his mind. Besides, things are only just becoming clear between your brother and me. No one should be making assumptions about what feelings we might have for one another.”
You don’t really expect me to believe that do you? I know you have a soft spot for Gideon, and he was more than a little interested in seeing you this morning. And I saw the two of you kiss when you thought you were out of sight at the Colosseum.
Augusta held her hands up in surrender. She had been officially warned off from interfering with Gideon and Serafina’s budding romance. “I shall hold my tongue. But I warn you, if it looks like you are not going to be accompanying us back to England, then all bets are off. I swear if you end up being wed to that old man, all of Rome will hear my displeasure.”
A pretty blue bonnet caught her eye, and she took that as a good sign to change the topic of conversation. “I thought you wanted to look at hats. What do you think of this one?”
Serafina glanced at it, then shrugged her shoulders. “I have two others very similar to it.” She pointed at a cream capote bonnet. “That would be lovely for the summer. I could buy some green ribbons and have them stitched around the front of the bonnet. Then I might put a couple of matching ribbons on the back, where they could drape nicely. I saw a few scoop-shaped hats like it when I was in London. What do you think?”
Her beautiful, raven-haired friend could wear anything and make it look stunning. “That would be lovely. Let’s finish up here and then head back to Gideon. I am famished. If I don’t see a large plate of pasta in the next half an hour, I am positive I shall faint dead away.”
“Are you sure you are alright, G? Your brother will understand if you want to go home.”
Serafina was being her usual kind self, thinking of others. It was lovely, and she appreciated her friend’s sentiments. But to Augusta’s way of thinking, it was also completely ridiculous.
You need to be thinking of yourself, and my idiot brother. Not worrying about me.
Augusta pondered her options. “I think it would be nice of us to take Gideon to our favorite restaurant and introduce him to the joys of Roman pasta. Food, then home.”
Gideon was more than likely exhausted from his trip, and in dire need of sleep. But if she was going to make sure that he and Serafina were to become a couple, Augusta wasn’t going to waste a single opportunity when the two of them could be spending time together.
