Page 62 of Her Notorious Rake
Aunt Philippa dissolved into a fit of laughter.
Gemma nearly sighed, lowering her voice to a whisper that shook with laughter. “I can’t say when, Mama. Only the Lord can know that.”
“Now, if you will excuse me. I will go over to see how that dear creature, Adelaide, is faring this evening. Her constitution mend before long, I daresay. But it is a pity she has endured so much at that man’s hands.
With that, Mama bustled away, and Gemma watched the dancing beside Aunt Philippa.
“What has become of your husband’s uncle?”
“Condemned to a life of penal servitude.”
“He must pay for everything he’s done. Fratricide is not to be taken lightly.”
“Indeed.” Gemma agreed.
“You, my dear,” Mother cupped her cheek in her worn hand. “You are to overrun your dear husband’s house with all of your cats.”
“Our cats, now,” Gemma laughed under her breath.
“What is this about cats? Has Udolpho come to live with us for good,” Dalton came up behind her, his eyes twinkling.
“He will, very soon.”
Later still, Theodore proposed a toast, a heartfelt tribute to Dalton and Gemma, telling the crowd how delighted he was to see the two of them at last find their way to each other. “Despite everything that the goddess fortune herself sent their way, they still sought each other, and if that doesn’t tell you what love is, then I have no idea what might.”
Everyone cried out in agreement with this, and the newlywed couple beamed, Gemma’s arm interlocked with Dalton’s. They made a beautiful couple, with his impressive height and striking eyes, her sun-warmed skin and soft smile.
Hours later, they sat alone on the terrace of Blakemore Manor, gazing up at the star-studded sky over their heads. Gemma leaned her head against her husband’s arm, exhaling a sigh of happiness. “I could spend every night doing this, just this,” she murmured rather sleepily against his shoulder. “Couldn’t you?”
“I could. Every night,” he whispered against her brow. He brushed his lips against her cheek and she smiled, her heart aching.
“Come, let me see your arm,” he asked her, in that gentle tone he seemed to employ only around her.
She lifted out her bare arm and he examined it, as they enjoyed their comfortable repose amongst the blankets on the terrace. Nightingales sang around them, in the trees and brambles of the vast garden, and the stars were clearer than most other nights.
Dalton held up her arm, examining it in the low light of the nearby torches lit for them, and them alone.
“See, on your arm here I see the constellation Andromeda.” He traced his forefinger from a freckle on her forearm, to another close to her elbow. Several more covered her arm, and he ran his fingertip from one to the next until the entire constellation was complete. Butterflies erupted in Gemma’s stomach.
Did you know that our eyes resemble the nebulae amongst the stars,” she asked him, peering into his blue eyes.
“I read that very thing once, and it is fascinating, isn’t it? I expect that rather than reading the news together at breakfast, we will consult the latest Royal Society publication. Do you find that satisfactory?”
Gemma laughed. “Very.”
***
The following day, he took her to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, a stately building overlooking the rest of the city. Gemma’s eyes were wide, her breathing coming quick with anticipation as they ascended the steps and were guided into the admission room. From there, they climbed up to the tower, both of them stopping short as they took in the sight of the massive telescope. Dalton had come here with his father years ago, as a boy, but there was something impressive about the fact that the instrument was as massive as he recalled. He and Gemma were permitted a chance to look through the telescope for the afternoon, and they lingered there, poring over the device’s impressive abilities to observe the stars.
“I can see Polaris so vividly,” Gemma cried. Her excitement tugged at something in Dalton, and he couldn’t suppress his smile as he watched her clasp her hands together.
“Perhaps we should build one of our own,” he murmured, and she rounded on him, her mouth open.
“Dalton!”
“Why shouldn’t we, at the home I wish to purchase for us in Hartfordshire?”
“You truly would?”
