Page 161 of Ironvine

“The very finest pigments from the mines in the Forest of Dean at Clearwell.”

“They are the very best.”

“The very best, my darling.”

“Oh, this red…” She let out a soft moan.

“Joss has a cousin, who is a Freeminer, who specializes in the ochres. I asked him weeks ago for a selection for you. He gathered, milled, washed and dried these for you.”

Something caught in her chest and twisted there. “You did this for me?” She touched the side of his jaw. “My darling, thank you.”

A smile etched over his lips, almost shy yet deeply satisfied. He loved this, making her dream come true every step of the way. He lifted out one jar. “I was told this one is the finest and rarest pigment of them all, and I wanted you to have it.”

Her heart thudded in her chest as she opened the jar. Purple ochre. “The purple is the most unusual natural earth pigment.”

“That is what I was told.”

She dipped a finger in the fine powder and rubbed two fingers together, mesmerized. “This is exactly what I need for the vine.”

“Yes.”

Putting the casket on her worktable, where she had drawings and outlines of the grapevine motif from the castle along with sketches of the Duchess she was working on with her tutor, she went to her whitewashed wall and stroked her pigmented fingers across it in a great arc.

Charles let out a sound. “What a bloody outrageous colour.”

“It is, isn’t it? The colour of royals, so rare, so extraordinary.” She worked a bit of oil onto her fingers, creating a paste. Again, she stroked and smudged across the white wall, the tone of the purple different, richer.

He drew alongside her and he dipped his fingers in the purple on the wall, swirling, He brought his hand to her face and smudged purple across her silky skin, down her warm throat to the perfect rise of her breasts.

Georgina swiped her pigmented fingers across his cheek, down his throat, the purple marking his skin. She flew at him and took him in a deep kiss. “I love you, I love you so very much. I thank you, my darling. Thank you.”

On a groan, he lifted her up and brought her to the divan, quickly undoing his breeches as she lifted her skirts. Her intense emotions often led to a fierce response from Charles. Actions spoke louder than words, did they not?

“The best thing I’ve ever done in my life was choosing to leave Hyde Park with you after the duel. The second best thing was when I took you from your cousin’s house to mine with your family threatening us.” His tone was harsh, intent. “I offered you a choice, and you chose me.”He thrust inside her to the hilt, and she cried out, her hands clutching him. “You. Chose. Me.” He pounded inside her.

She clung to him, meeting his iron gaze. “You made a promise to me, and you kept it over and over again.” The rhythm of her hips met his. “Every day you keep that promise.”

The divan jerked and jostled across the sleek stone floor with his every savage thrust. The ochre mixed with their perspiration, and on their wet and heated skin, the purple pigment grew deeper and deeper.

ChapterSeventy-Two

Georgina

Georgina had decidedthat she did not want there to be any ill will between her and her family any longer and would take action. The loss of relations with her brother, mother, and sister had been a deep hole. The first step she decided to take was with her brother.

Charles had insisted on going to see Thomas on his own, and told him straight out that although it was unfortunate that their marriage had occurred through subterfuge, he could not be sorry for it because his sister was his greatest happiness, and it was for her that he had come.

“I miss her, Ryvves. I miss my sister desperately,” said Thomas.

“Of course you do.”

“And although I would never have thought you would be able to make her happy, I am pleased that she and you, my old friend, are well together. As for my mother and sister…”

“All in good time.” Charles then invited him to the house for tea.

“I look forward to it.” Thomas grinned.

Aunt Vivian and Miss Alice had also been invited to tea a half hour earlier than Thomas was told to arrive. “Oh…I…hello,” Thomas stammered as he stood before their table on the front lawn of Ironvine under a white canopy.

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