Page 100 of When a Duke Loves a Woman
“When it matters the most, you’re always so damned practical.”
Lifting her hands, she brushed her fingers over his hair. “Make love to me again.”
And he did, again and again. With her on top, him from behind, spooned around each other, then finally once more face-to-face, with her beneath him, relishing everything about him.
She could have sworn she did indeed hear a lark trilling outside her window that morning as they both dressed, he in his ballroom finery and she in her plain shirt and skirt. Last night she’d been a princess, but she was once again a tavern owner as she walked him to the door. “I’m not going to follow you down.”
He merely nodded and cupped her cheek with one hand. “You are a remarkable woman, Gillie Trewlove. I am a better man for having known you.”
“Find a bride who will not leave you standing at the altar.”
Leaning forward, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Goodbye, Gillie.”
Then he walked out of her flat, out of her life. And she, who had no memory of ever crying, curled up into a ball on her sofa and wept.
Chapter 25
From the outside, the small house in the rookeries of London’s east end gave the appearance of abandonment, dilapidated and worn, but inside it provided a wealth of warmth and love. Even as a girl, after scrubbing steps all day, Gillie had looked forward to returning here, where her mum’s arms would come tightly around her and the aromas of cinnamon and vanilla would waft about her, where a freshly brewed cup of tea was always waiting for her.
“You’ve not been to see me in a while,” her mum said now, releasing her hold on Gillie and stepping back. “I suppose it has something to do with those worry lines between your brows. You never was any good at hiding your troubles from me. Let me prepare you a cuppa and then we’ll have a nice little chat.”
Only it wasn’t going to be a nice little chat, no matter how much her mum wanted it to be. A cup of tea wasn’t going to help. Neither was all the liquor in her stores at the tavern. “I’ve done something really stupid, Mum. I went and fell in love. And now his babe is growing inside me.”
In spite of the precautions they’d taken or tried to take. Perhaps he hadn’t left quickly enough, perhaps some of his seed had spilled inside her before he’d withdrawn completely. It had been nearly a month since she’d seen him; two since she’d first welcomed him into her bed. Her breasts had become tender, but she’d thought it was just because they were no longer bound, and the freedom she’d given them didn’t offer enough support. Then she’d looked at her calendar and realized she’d not had a menses since she’d first been intimate with Thorne. She’d always hated being cursed each month, so she hadn’t missed the inconvenience of having to deal with it, not until she comprehended what its absence portended.
Sympathy washed over the dear woman’s face. “Ah, you silly girl.”
“I’m sorry, Mum, I’m so sorry.” Tears welled in her eyes, clogged her throat. “I know it’s shameful and you’ll never want to see me again—”
Her mum’s arms came around her once more. “Oh, pet, now you’re being an even sillier girl. You come over here and sit down.”
Her mum guided her to a chair by the fireplace, and even though no fire burned, Gillie suddenly felt warmer. The woman she’d loved for as long as she could remember knelt in front her, gave her a handkerchief, and took the hand that wasn’t busily wiping away the irritating avalanche of tears. “You’re not the first to lose her head over a fella and do things she wished she hadn’t.”
She sniffed, an incredibly unladylike noise. “That’s the thing, Mum. I don’t wish I hadn’t. I’m glad I did. As I said, I love him. So much. I always knew we couldn’t have forever, but it was enough to have for now. Until we couldn’t have that anymore either.”
“He won’t do right by you, then?”
Shaking her head, she wiped away the last remnants of her tears. Putting everything into words, saying it aloud was making it easier. “He’s a bloody duke. He’s to marry some lord’s daughter, someone who knows all the fancy ways of being a lady. I told him I wouldn’t step out with him any longer. But I’m going to keep it, Mum. The babe.”
“Gillie—”
“I know it’ll mark me. I know people will probably stop coming to my tavern, but I’ve been saving my money, so maybe I’ll sell my place and move to a little cottage in the country. I don’t know. I just know I can’t give it up. It’s all I’ll have of him, but it’ll be enough.”
Her mum squeezed her hand. “Then we’ll make that be enough, won’t we?”
“You don’t have to stand by me, Mum.”
Brushing Gillie’s hair back from her face, her mum offered a tender smile. “Where else would I stand, love? You’re my daughter. I’ve raised six children who came to me because of a bit of naughtiness. I’m not going to turn my back on a little one who belongs to one of my precious children.”
“Thanks, Mum.”
She patted her hand. “Now don’t you be fretting. Everything will work out.”
She was accustomed to doing for herself, so it was with a bit of resentment she accepted the recent limitations of her body and decided hauling kegs would be tempting fate to take the precious babe from her. Although the suspicious perusal Roger gave her when she asked him to bring up a box of assorted whisky bottles tempted her to plant her fist in the center of his face.
“You’ve never needed my help before.”
“I don’t need it now. It’s just that you’re brawny and it’s silly for me not to take advantage of that, especially considering how well I pay you.”
