Page 32 of Her Ice-Hearted Duke (The Brides of Elderglen #2)

One Year Later

“Maggie, would you please sit down?”

“Oh, Theo, you fuss too much. I am completely fine.” Even as she said the words though, she teetered to the side in the entrance hall, clutching to her rounded stomach.

“Woah!” Theo ran forward, catching her around the waist and keeping her steady. They ended up embracing in the middle of the hall, Margaret laughing as she looked up at the concern in Theo’s face.

“I’m perfectly all right,” she assured him. “You are increasingly protective these days.”

“It might have something to do with the fact you look as if you are about to pop,” he teased her, glancing down at her belly. She giggled, looking down too.

She was certainly very rounded at the moment, but according to the doctor, it was not long until their baby would arrive. Another couple of weeks, and they would be parents.

“I’m not that big,” she said in pretend frustration. Theo merely responded by raising his eyebrows. “Oi!” She poked him, prompting him to laugh again.

“Forgive my fussing, but I’m allowed to be worried. You have a habit of looking like you are about to fall over all the time now that you’re waddling everywhere.”

“I’m not waddling!” she insisted, just as Mrs. Lancaster and Betsy appeared from the nearest room. “Mrs. Lancaster, am I waddling these days?”

Poor Mrs. Lancaster blushed a deep shade of crimson as Betsy hid her laughter behind her hand.

“On second thoughts, please don’t answer that,” Margaret pleaded.

“All is ready in the drawing room for your sisters’ arrival, Your Grace,” Mrs. Lancaster said, appearing much happier to be on familiar ground now. “Yates is on the drive ready to welcome the carriages.”

“Thank you,” Theo said smoothly as he took Margaret’s arm and led her back to the drawing room.

“Where are you taking me? I’m perfectly capable of greeting my sisters at the door!” Margaret insisted.

“Of course, you are.” Theo smiled. “Yet humor me, please, and sit down whilst I bring them to you.”

“You make it seem as if I am an invalid.” She rolled her eyes. “I cannot wait for this baby to be here. Then you can fuss about them instead and leave me alone.”

“Ha!” He laughed then moved his lips to whisper in her ear. “You know I could never leave you alone.”

She leaned into him, warmed by his words. This last year had proved a wonder to her. She had never expected for Theo to become the loving husband he had turned into, for the two of them to be as happy as they had been.

The day she had realized she carried their child had shifted things between them as well. There had been a moment where Theo was panicked, with the shadows of the past playing on his mind, but as they talked it through, that panic left. In its place had been excitement and a determination to raise the child with the love and care that he never had.

“I’m still confident it will be a girl,” Betsy said as she laid cakes out on a table in the drawing room.

Theo ushered Margaret into a chair as Mrs. Lancaster rearranged the teapot and milk.

“Oh, no.” Mrs. Lancaster shook her head firmly. “She carries low, that means it will be a boy.”

“A boy?” Betsy wrinkled her nose. “I am sure you are quite wrong, Mrs. Lancaster.”

“We shall see, soon enough.”

Margaret laughed at the two of them. For some months now the two of them had been in debate about whether the child would be a girl or a boy.

“What do you think it will be?” she asked Theo as he stood behind her, his hand softly on her shoulder as he peered out of the window in anticipation of their guest’s arrival.

“I do not know.” Theo shook his head. “I confess… I’m rather hoping for a boy, though. Perhaps we’ll just have to have more than one child, love, so we can have at least one of both.”

Margaret smiled indulgently at the idea. She had always wanted a big family, but the thought of telling Theo this had always made her nervous. After all, there had been a time when he wasn’t keen on the idea of having children at all. She nodded enthusiastically all the same now.

“I think that’s them,” Mrs. Lancaster said suddenly, turning to face the window. “Ah, yes, here come the carriages.”

Margaret nearly rose out of her seat until Theo playfully pushed down on her shoulder, insisting she stay seated.

“Let me,” he pleaded, hurrying out of the room and to the door. Margaret strained in her seat all the same, trying to catch a glimpse of the arriving carriages.

Two came to a sudden halt on the gravel driveway. There was Evelina and Gabriel’s carriage first. Their door flew open so fast that Yates could not hurry forward in time in order to catch it. The door ricocheted off the wall of the carriage as Gabriel practically fell out, carrying a small bundle in his arms.

“Please, would you stop crying for one minute?” he said to the bundle.

His son, Tommy, was screaming in his arms. Now just under a year old, Tommy didn’t seem to have lost his enjoyment of crying. He was so loud that Margaret could hear him now through the windows. Mrs. Lancaster and Betsy exchanged an uncertain look.

“Give him to me,” Evelina called, hurrying down behind Gabriel and taking their son out of his arms. “He just wants his mother.”

“Of course, he does.” Gabriel chuckled as he patted his son on the head. “He just knows he can get what he wants by screaming.” They both laughed as behind them, his elder daughter, Evelina’s stepdaughter, stepped down. Poor Eliza was yawning, for clearly the boy’s crying was taking its toll on them all.

“Not all babies cry so much,” Mrs. Lancaster whispered to Margaret in comfort as she adjusted the last of the teacups.

“I don’t mind.” Margaret smiled as she shook her head. “Evelina and Gabriel are ridiculously happy with Tommy. That’s what I look forward to.” She rubbed her stomach, thinking of the baby she carried and how much she couldn’t wait to meet them.

The second carriage that had stopped on the driveway opened and her other sisters stepped down. Louisa led the way, looking beautiful dressed in pale blue, as she carried one of her usual books tucked under her arm. Next came Penelope, who was wringing her hands together, for something clearly worried her. Following behind her was Alexandra, who surprisingly was also nervous, chewing her lip.

Margaret frowned as she looked at her sisters. She had seen Penelope so nervous as of late, she could guess what was bothering her. Penelope dwelled on the matter of their father more than the rest of them. Clearly, their father’s absence that day and his probably presence in a gambling hall was niggling at her.

I wonder why Alexandra is so nervous?

Within seconds, the whole family was in the drawing room with Margaret. She was descended on by all her sisters in turn who embraced her tightly. Theo and Gabriel quickly sat down together, and Evelina placed baby Tommy into Theo’s hands.

At first, Theo looked rather startled, struggling to adjust the lad until Gabriel gave him some tips on how to hold him. When Tommy looked exhausted, having cried himself out, he curled himself into a ball against Theo’s chest, his eyes falling closed as he fell asleep.

Margaret found it hard to look away from the expression of wonder on Theo’s face.

Soon… he will be looking at our own child with such wonder!

“Oh now, tell us how you are feeling?” Evelina pleaded as she sat down beside Margaret and poured the tea.

“Uncomfortable.” Margaret sighed. “I just want the baby to be here now.”

“I remember this stage.” Evelina grimaced. “But do not worry, it will be over before you know it. Now, there is something else we must talk of. Alexandra’s debut!”

Alexandra nearly dropped the teacup which had just been passed into her grasp by Betsy.

“No, no,” Alexandra added quickly. “Surely we do not have to talk about such things yet.”

Margaret saw what her younger sister had been trying to hide before. This was why she was so nervous. It was the prospect of her debut.

“A debut is nothing so great to fear,” Margaret assured her in a gentle voice.

“Yes, of course it isn’t.” Alexandra muttered wryly. “After all, your time in the ton was smooth sailing, was it not? As was Evelina’s.”

Margaret and Evelina exchanged glances, knowing just how right their sister was with her wry tone. Things had not always been easy.

“Louisa detests it, too,” Alexandra added quickly, then busied herself eating the cake that Betsy passed her. “Than – you,” she murmured around a mouthful of cake to the maid.

“You hate it?” Evelina said tightly to Louisa who fiddled with the book in her lap. “Why?”

“I haven’t yet found a match, have I?” Louisa fidgeted in her seat. “People are now looking at me this year. They start whispering that something must be wrong with me.”

“It’s the ton,” Evelina sighed, shaking her head. “You must ignore their whispering ways.”

“Or come out of your books every now and then and talk to people,” Margaret reminded Louisa gently. “You will only meet people if you talk to them, Louisa.”

“Hmm.” She didn’t look convinced by the idea as she opened her book and began to read.

Margaret and Evelina laughed together as Eliza sat down beside Penelope. The two leaned together and started whispering conspiratorially.

Margaret raised her eyebrows to Evelina, who leaned toward her and whispered in her ear.

“The two are becoming great friends. It’s wonderful to see. I’m hoping Eliza will show Pen there’s a world beyond the four walls of our father’s house,” Evelina murmured.

Margaret nodded, for it seemed like a wise idea indeed.

“Eliza, tell Penelope about your studies,” Evelina encouraged. “I’m sure she’s love to hear them.”

As Eliza was prevailed upon to talk more about her studies, Margaret leaned back, shifting uncomfortably. There seemed to be a constant ache in her back these days as she carried so much more weight with her child.

Not long now, she told herself. Not long and this baby will be here in my arms.

As if he had read her mind, Margaret found Theodore was suddenly beside her. He stood with the sleeping baby Tommy in his arms and bent down toward her. His lips softly kissed her forehead. It was momentary, yet she closed her eyes and indulged in the feeling all the same, for it reminded her of waking in his arms that morning, when he had held her tight.

“Not long,” he whispered softly. “We’ll have our own family, love.”

Margaret smiled, feeling her cheeks ache for the smile was so great. She wasn’t sure what made her happier, the fact that Theo called her love these days, or that their family was nearly here.

“I love you,” she whispered, so only he could hear her.

“And I you.” He kissed her swiftly again, then walked back across the room, heading toward Gabriel with the sleeping Tommy in his arms.

“Come, Louisa. You must admit that Margaret is right,” Evelina’s words suddenly drew Margaret’s mind back to their conversation. “Is it not time to put the books down? You never know. If you talk to a man, you may find one you actually like.”

“And pigs may fly yet,” Louisa muttered.

As the rest of them laughed, Margaret stared at Theo across the room. There had been a time when she had thought such happiness was beyond her reach, the stuff of dreams, as Louisa now did, but she had been wrong.

“Happiness is very possible indeed, sister. Believe me.”

The End