“I think that you like her, too, and you find it scary,” Phoebe said softly. “It is our nature to hide from things that are frightening, but I think you are made of sterner stuff. You should go and have a chat with her, perhaps even a stroll in your gardens. The flowers are beautiful.”
A flush worked itself over his father’s cheekbones, then he sighed with heavy resignation. “I am dying, you know. It makes no sense to indulge in any flirtation.”
Hugh wasn’t certain what to think about his father who would turn eighty in a few months talking about flirtation.
She gently touched the old earl’s shoulder. “I understand, but I dare to say now is also the time to live life without regrets,” she said, a heavy throb of familiar grief in her tone. “My brother…Francis died with remorse in his heart. Since then, I’ve always thought that our lives are too fleeting to live with any sort of contrition.”
It occurred to him that he hadn’t even begun to know the sincere heart of his wife, for in their long talks she had never mentioned this brother.
I will enjoy getting to know all of you.
The earl’s eyes lowered to her rounded belly.
“Is that the distinction you used to act with recklessness?”
Hugh stepped forward, ready to intervene. He wanted no words to be said that had the power to injure her heart, and his father could be harsh at times.
“I daresay it was, and I cannot hold any remorse or guilt in my heart because my actions saved me from a life of unhappiness and guided me to meet Hugh. A meeting I believe should have happened last year when I took Wolf home with me. We were fated to meet, but something interrupted it.”
The earl cast her a suspicious frown. “So, you are the one putting such nonsense in my son’s head! Fate! Pffts. A man makes his own destiny. There is no mystical power behind any bit of it!”
His wife gasped, delighted. Her body, her face, every bit of her seemed to radiate vitality, strength, and delicacy. The need to wrap her in his arms and never let go surged through him. The immediacy of the urge confounded him.
“Did…did Hugh also tell you that he thinks we were fated to meet?” She clapped her hands together in evident excitement. “Oh, please tell me about it. What did he say exactly?”
His father sent her a look of such astonishment, Hugh smiled. He clapped his hands, and she whirled around, joy lighting her features. Her golden-brown eyes glowed with warmth and yearning. That look…how it unravelled him. The pleasure she took in seeing him never ceased to astound Hugh, and this smile that lit her entire face threw him into disorder.
He’d learned that for a wife in the ton to display such obvious liking and admiration for her husband was intolerably bourgeois. Yet his wife did not seem to conform in that regard, either. She liked him…and did nothing to hide her feelings. Something inside him awakened, a terrible need he’d never felt before, and it was all for his wife.
She took a step toward him only to falter with a sharp gasp, looking down in horror at the unexpected puddle of water at her feet. A spasm of pain crossed her features, and she paled alarmingly. “What is happening?” she cried fretfully.
Hugh rushed to her side as she stumbled, and he swept her into his arms.
“I am too heavy,” she tried to protest, before groaning and leaning her head weakly on his shoulder.
He glanced at his father, who was scrambling to remove his leg from over the windows.
“I will send for the doctor and midwives right away!”
Her hands tightened around Hugh’s neck, and her eyes lifted quickly to his face. “Is it the baby?”
He was not sure and hated that he could offer no reassurance. Hugh strode from the room with her in his arms and toward the stairs. Phoebe moaned, the sound of distress squeezing around his heart.
“Dr. Edward said yesterday that it would be a few more weeks! Hugh, I am scared!”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead, wishing he had the words to communicate that he was with her and there was nothing of which to be afraid. He made his way to the stairs and toward their wing of the house as gently as possible. Once in the room, he deposited her on the bed in a reclined position, putting a few cushions behind her back and the headboard.
She lifted stricken eyes to his. “I am wet!” Then she groaned as another spasm gripped her.
He sat beside her. “All will be well. I am here. The doctor and midwives will be summoned immediately.” And he prayed that he was right. The terror striking his heart was one he had never felt before. But he composed his mien, only wanting to offer her comfort.
Servants bustled inside with basins of hot water and soft towels.
He stood and bowed briefly. “I will go and ensure all the proper orders are relayed.”
As he turned away, her voice halted him.
“Hugh?”