Page 34 of Duke of Winter (The Matchmaker’s Scheme #4)

Five Years Later

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Luke asked as they made their way towards the carriage.

Emily gave her husband a look. “We have been planning this for months, and I promised Natalie that we would. Nathaniel, do not put that in your mouth!”

A little way in front of them, her oldest son, Nathaniel stood up and hastily dropped the object he had been about to eat. At four, he was quickly discovering the joy of running and getting into all sorts of trouble.

He had her amber eyes, with Luke’s shaggy hair. Luke insisted their son looked more like her, but she thought he took after his father. The colour of their laugh is almost the same, but Nathaniel’s is a shade darker.

“Come here and hold my hand.” Emily held out her hand to the boy, muttering. “I should have kept his leading strings on. Especially since I sent Elsa and Lucy ahead.”

“But I want to hold Father’s hand.” Nathaniel pouted.

“Your father is holding the twins.” Emily gestured to the sleeping toddlers in Luke’s arms. “Now take my hand.”

“Listen to your mother, Nathaniel.” Luke said, his voice firm but kind.

His familiar amber scent washed over her, mixing with the briny sea air. She felt her shoulders relax.

“Okay.” Nathaniel obediently slipped his hand into Emily’s. “But can I hold your hand later?”

Luke smiled at his son, and Emily’s heart flipped over. “Of course you can.”

She reached over and brushed a stray lock of hair out of Luke’s face, and as she did so, the faint, flowery scent of her babies washed over her, mingling with the familiar amber that was Luke. Her twin girls, Erin and Elspeth. They had Luke’s eyes, her hair and smiles full of innocence.

Unless it is time for them to sleep, and then I swear they are the devil incarnate. But in that moment, they were perfect.

“What are you smiling at?” Luke asked, arching an eyebrow at Emily.

“You, and how wonderful you are.” She replied.

“If you are trying to butter me up so I will think better of this ridiculous escapade, I must warn you that it will not work.” Luke shook his head, but clearly was trying not to disturb the sleeping babes in his arms.

“I think it is exciting!” Nathaniel said.

“Exactly! It will be a wonderful adventure. And we promised Aunty Natalie that we would meet her.” Emily gently moved her sons thumb away from his mouth. “Darling, please do not suck your thumb. Not when you have been touching all sorts of things in the street. I think I have a sweetie in my bag.”

She fished around and found a small, boiled sweet and handed it to him as they clambered into the carriage. “You can suck on that. I expect it will taste far better than your thumb anyway.”

?Nathaniel ??considered the offering, then ?popped the sweet in his mouth.

“What do you say when someone gives you something?” Luke jerked his head towards Nathaniel and then to Emily as he clambered into the carriage behind them.

“Thank you, Mama.” Nathaniel said, his mouth full of sweet.

“It is my pleasure, my darling boy.” Emily squeezed him to her and then turned to Luke. “Are you sure you do not want me to hold one of the girls?”

“I have them, do not worry.” Luke smiled at them, gazing at his daughter’s with eyes soft and full of love.

Emily’s heart swelled and she wished in that moment she was a painter, so that she might capture the moment forever. She hummed, trying to make a pattern that would capture the feeling.

“Why are you humming like Wednesdays?” Nathaniel asked, frowning at her. “It is Thursday.”

Emily laughed and ruffled her son’s hair. “It is not like Wednesdays to me.”

Nathaniel shook his head, his bottom lip protruding in a way that said he was about to argue the point, but it was made difficult by the sweet in his mouth.

He had the same odd quirk of seeing patterns and colours with certain sounds and smells. Both Emily and Luke had gone out of their way to help him feel normal, not wanting him to feel the same loneliness they had both felt.

“That reminds me, Jane sent me the most fascinating article a few days ago, but with packing for the trip, I completely forgot about it.” Emily clapped a hand to her forehead and rummaged in her bag. “Aha!”

She took out a folded bit of paper, and glanced at Luke.

“My hands are a little full, perhaps you would read it for me?” Luke smiled at her.

She nodded, the old ache of fear worming its way through her body. Even after all this time, she got nervous reading. And yet once she started, the joy she felt was unlike anything else.

“Well, I shall read you bits of the letter, because the excerpts themselves are far too dry for me to even try and unpick right now.” Emily cleared her throat. “In his writings, Woolhouse references a blind man who perceived colours in response to sound. And he is not the first to make such a reference. So, this got me to thinking, clearly you and the Duke are not the only ones.

“And well, my dearest Emily, I happened upon an account by a ?G???erman physician – Georg Tobias Ludwig Sachs – where he talks about coloured vowels. And I knew I had to share it with you. I have sent the little of his research I could find, but this means that you are not the only ones!”

Emily met Luke’s gaze, and saw the same excitement and joy in his face that she had felt when she had read Jane’s letter all those days ago. “One day, they will have a name for this, I am sure of it.”

Luke nodded. “I am sure they will. I do hope they give it a good name.”

“We can only hope.” Emily agreed.

The carriage rocked from side to side as they trundled down the road. Nathaniel let out a yawn and leaned against Emily. She put an arm around him.

“How long will it take us to get to the Lake District?” Nathaniel asked sleepily.

“A while, little one. But if you sleep it will pass faster.” Luke said.

Nathaniel nodded and moved closer to Emily, his breathing slowing as he let himself drift into sleep. She could feel his heartbeat against her, reassuring in its steadiness.

“I still cannot believe you have talked me into this.” Luke muttered, looking at his sleeping children.

“It will be fun. And it will be nice to spend time with Natalie and her new husband.” Emily looked out of the window. “I have not seen her since their wedding.”

“She has been on her honeymoon. And if I recall, you had no desire to see anyone on our own honeymoon.” Luke’s eyes were full of mischief. “Well, no one but me.”

Emily’s cheeks flushed and she made a rude gesture at her husband who chortled softly. “There are children present.”

“They are all sleeping.” Luke muttered, his eyes dancing.

“I know you are worried about them, but country air is good for them.”

“They have plenty of that at Warren.”

“And the Lake District is somewhere new. It will be an adventure for them, and I want them to have a sense of adventure.”

“They are your children, I think it is safe to say they have a sense of adventure.”

“Well… Perhaps I simply wish to get them used to travelling.” Emily gave Luke a sidelong look.

“And why is that, Duchess Warren?” Luke arched an eyebrow at her, his voice serious, but the look on his face amused.

A thrill went through her. Even after all this time, the sound of her title sent a spark of joy through her. It reminded her that she was his wife. That they had promised to spend the rest of their lives together.

“Because you never got your Grand Tour. And you have always wanted to go to Greece.” Emily’s chest squeezed. “And though we travelled a bit in our first year of marriage, it was cut short because well…”

Emily jerked her head towards Nathaniel. Once they had learned she was pregnant, Luke had insisted they return to England. He had not wanted to risk dealing with physicians on the continent.

“I do not need a grand tour.” Luke smiled at her, and then looked meaningfully at their children. “I have everything I need right here. I am not some boy, fresh into manhood. And I do not wish to act like one.”

“I know that. And I would not wish you to behave like that.” Emily gently brushed her leg against his. “But there is such a lot of world out there. And I want to see it. I want to see it with you, with our family.”

“I do have responsibilities, my darling. There is a duchy to run.” Luke pointed out, and Emily could hear the sadness in his voice.

“I know that. I am not proposing we go for a year. To be honest, I do not want to be away from the comforts of home that long.” Emily laughed. “We do have a very comfortable bed.”

“Indeed we do.” Luke laughed softly.

Erin and Elspeth shifted slightly, Elspeth making a small grunt of dissatisfaction. It was the colour that told Emily which of the girls had made the sound?;?? ? Elspeth was almost always indigo, where Erin was midnight blue.

“But I think… Well, a month or two. That would not be so very bad? I am sure your brother would not mind acting the steward while we are away.” Emily watched Luke’s face for a sign that he might agree.

“Rodger has his own family.” Luke said, his face impassive. But Emily could hear something in his tone that told her he was tempted.

“He does, but given they live at the parsonage down the road and are at our house more often than they are not, I doubt he would be opposed to spending more time with us.” Emily laughed.

Though she and Lord Baine were by no means fast friends, when he was with Marie he simply came alive. And the four of them spent much time together, especially as their families grew. She knew that Luke loved the chaos of his huge family, and Lord Baine would retreat to the parsonage with Marie whenever they needed a break.

“I suppose not.” Luke nodded. “Very well, let us see how this trip goes.”

“Oh Luke!” Emily wanted to kiss him, but could not move with Nathaniel sleeping against her. “This is going to be perfect.”

“It will be chaos.” Luke said. “But I would not have it any other way.”

“I love you.” Emily whispered.

“I love you too.” Luke held her gaze. “And I will spend the rest of my life loving you.”

“I look forward to it.” Emily looked out of the window, breathing in the familiar scent of her family.

And knowing that they had all the time in the ?world.