Page 31 of His Stolen Duchess (Stolen by the Duke #7)

Chapter Twenty-Five

G eorgina looked around the table as she ate. She knew that each of her sisters must have once felt the same way as she did, but it was likely that it had been on their wedding night.

My wedding night was anything but ordinary. What should have been the first ended with me drying off after falling into a lake, and then my actual wedding night came without any intimacy. I thought he might never touch me, but he has done a lot of that recently.

She tried to erase thoughts of intimate activity from her mind, but it was proving impossible.

The couples were all seated together for dinner, and that put her near enough to Lysander to inhale his scent.

And once she could smell him, she could only think about the times she had been close to him, and those were typically the times they’d been intimate.

With that came the reminder of how he had made her feel. She knew he would do the same that night, but it would be much more than that. He would be inside her, and even though the thought of it scared her, she knew that their union would be astonishing. Every time he touched her, it was bliss.

“So, what were you all laughing about?” Georgina asked Lysander in an attempt to take her mind off what had been promised.

“I would love to tell you that, but I have been sworn to secrecy.”

“Oh, so, it’s like that, is it?” Georgina asked, nudging him with her knee.

“It is out of my hands.” He speared a chunk of venison and chewed on it.

“Then I won’t tell you what we were laughing at,” she said. “Even if it was extremely funny.”

A part of her wanted to tell him about Emily and her balled fist, but she also didn’t know if she should. It was the type of thing that was humorous within them, but would it be funny to someone else?

“Then I shall forever wonder.” Lysander scooped up a large chunk of parsnip and consumed it.

“You wouldn’t believe it, even if I told you.”

“I’m sure.” He speared another piece of venison with his fork and mixed it into some cranberry jelly on his plate.

His answers were infuriating, though she was certain he did want to know, but knew she wouldn’t tell him, so he was forced to pretend to be unbothered in order to save face.

I know you would laugh if I told you what we were laughing about.

“You were getting on well with the other men,” Georgina noted. “That will make it much more pleasant when we are all together again. If that’s something that you would want to do.”

“Perhaps.” A potato was at the mercy of his cutlery this time. “I have been invited to play whist this evening.”

“And?”

“I have accepted the invitation. I haven’t played in a long time, but I do enjoy playing. It felt like the right thing to do. They told me that they always play together, and I didn’t wish to disappoint them or you.”

“Me? That wouldn’t have disappointed me if you had said no,” Georgina claimed.

“You might make your peace with it, but you would much rather I made some effort to be a part of your family while we are all together. I do want you to be happy, and if my playing whist with your sisters’ husbands is what adds to that happiness, then why not?

It’s an easy thing to do, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it. ”

“That’s extremely considerate,” Georgina conceded.

“It’s the least I can do after what you did for me the other night.

It’s been four nights since you came to my room and we slept in the same bed, and I haven’t had another horrid nightmare.

My dreams plagued my thoughts almost nightly, but your presence altered something in me.

Perhaps Thomas was right. You have changed me. ”

“I didn’t do much, I only?—”

“No, don’t sell yourself short,” Lysander said. “You did much more for me than anyone has in a long time. Thanks to you, I have been able to sleep much better than before. I know the dreams will come back, for they always do, but I have some respite for now.”

“Perhaps we do work well together.” Georgina finished the last bite of her main course and put her cutlery down.

“We only need to find the ways in which we do. And it is not only me who is changing you. You have also changed the way I think about myself, at least. I am a better person for being with you.”

“We almost sound like everyone else at the table,” Lysander pointed out. “We do a good job of passing as a happily married couple.”

Yes, we do, and I wish that we were. The more I think about whether I can live without love, the more I crave it. I want to feel the things you make me feel, but I also want to feel that you have freely and willingly given me your heart.

Georgina was jolted from her thoughts when a pea hit her on the cheek. She looked around the table and spotted her nephew Harry, who refused to look her in the eye. He held an empty spoon, and there was a generous arsenal of peas on his plate.

“Harry!” Ava scolded. “I saw that!”

“It wasn’t meant to hit Aunt Georgina,” he claimed. “I was aiming for Colin.”

“Well, that doesn’t make it any better,” Ava said. “I thought we had spoken about playing with your food at the dinner table.”

“But Mama, he stuck his tongue out at me.”

Georgina was unsure what had possessed her, but she suddenly stuck her tongue out at her nephew, with him being the only one at the table to see it. His eyes widened, and his smile broadened.

“It’s not funny,” Ava told him.

“But Mama?—”

Georgina shook her head to warn him not to get her in trouble either.

Harry closed his mouth. Georgina had to cover her mouth with a napkin and cough into it to stifle the giggles that threatened to spill out. She placed her napkin back down and smiled appreciatively at her nephew.

“Mama,” Colin piped up. “Since Harry tried to throw a pea at me, does that mean I get to throw one back at him? That’s only fair, isn’t it?”

“No!” Ava squealed.

The table burst into laughter at Colin’s comment. Ava looked around, completely at a loss, getting no help from anyone in calming the situation.

“Can we please not throw peas across the table?” she pleaded. “What have we become?”

The laughter died down, and everyone became silent until Francis added his own words of wisdom.

“I can’t promise anything,” he said.

The table erupted into laughter again, and Ava shook her head as she sat back down, but couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her lips.

“We have this to look forward to,” Georgina told Lysander. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“I think we can handle it, don’t you? We have faced a lot worse, I’m sure.”

When Georgina thought about it, she remembered that Lysander had gone to war and come back. That was just about the worst thing someone could deal with. No doubt he would be capable of raising children.

I hope he will be a good father. I am sure he will. He can have a firm hand, but as long as he treats them as he treats me, then all will be fine.

Another thought struck her. Would he love them? She could see that his past had closed him off from love. He didn’t love her, but would he love their children? It didn’t matter if he didn’t; she would love them enough for two.

And it was another part of her dream come true. She might not have love, but she would have a family, and that was something she had looked forward to for a long time.

And it would be a lot of pleasure in the process.

Lysander sat with Vincent, Oliver, and Ambrose around the felt-covered card table in the games room. The ladies were in the drawing room, the children were running around somewhere, and Francis sat in the corner looking like he might nod off at any moment.

As Lysander glanced at him, he saw the key to happiness. It was not anything specific to Francis, but that he knew what he wanted and that he had gifted it to him. He was happy, and that was a wonderful thing.

And what will make me happy? Will a family bring some happiness to my life? Georgina does, so it makes sense that having children with her also will.

Oliver chuckled as he laid down his last card. “That makes their tricks for us. I really can’t believe how well we’re doing. Now, do I need to get some handkerchiefs for you gentlemen, or can you hold back the tears?”

Vincent and Ambrose looked at each other, and both men grumbled under their breath as though the man opposite them was to blame.

“Once again,” Oliver said, raising his glass, “we are victorious.”

Lysander raised his glass and clinked it against his partner’s across the table. “I thought it was sheer luck after not playing for so long, but the more hands that are dealt, the more I realize we are just the superior players.”

“Yeah, yeah, all right,” Ambrose complained. “Get it all out now while you still can because Vincent and I now have the measure of you both, and it’s a good thing you mentioned luck because that is exactly what it is, and we all know luck runs out sooner or later.”

“Exactly,” Vincent agreed. “Enjoy it while you still can, but the shoe will soon be on the other foot, and there will be nothing you can do about it.”

Lysander looked over at a grinning Oliver and frowned dramatically. “Are they talking to us? It sounds as if they are talking to two poor saps, and with how the game is going so far, that obviously can’t be us.”

“It must be the circus of the absurd,” Oliver stated before laughing. “That was what they were called, wasn’t it? They are putting on a show for us, trying to entertain or distract us in the hope that we will forget how to play.”

“They could do with some work on their costumes, don’t you think?”

Lysander couldn’t believe how freely he was joking with three men he’d only known for a short while, but it felt good, as though a part of him had suddenly been unlocked after a long time.

“Yes, their costumes are certainly garish,” Oliver agreed.

“We have almost the exact same dress,” Ambrose told his brother-in-law.

“Yes, but it’s how the man wears it that counts,” Oliver retorted.

Vincent shuffled the cards in his hands and handed them to Oliver. “How about you deal us a new game, and we can let the cards do the talking.”

The scent of port and tobacco hung in the air as the four lords continued playing for another hour. While Lysander and Oliver did win more games than they lost, the other two put up a valiant fight, and it was a close match at the end.

By the conclusion of the evening, all four men were quite merry.

“Where you lead, I shall follow!” Oliver sang out, a song of his own invention that he sang off-key—not only one note, but every single one with amazing inaccuracy.

Lysander had been in a great many situations where he had pretended to be happy or enjoy the host’s festivities, but there was no such pretense that evening. It was fun to play cards, drink port, and smoke cigars with men who were now a part of his extended family.

There had not been a lot of personal conversation, so he couldn’t be sure if they had a lot in common, but he felt a kinship with them. Perhaps that would wear off as the port did on the ride home, but he found himself wanting to repeat the night.

“Good game, everyone,” Oliver said as they stood from the table. He was clearly enjoying himself too much, and the smile plastered on his face looked like it might never come off.

“You do have a knack for playing the right card at the right time,” Ambrose said to Lysander.

“If the cards had fallen slightly differently, you two would be the ones mocking us. I shan’t jest anymore as I know Oliver has enough to say for the two of us, so enjoy that.”

Vincent laughed, then stuck out his hand.

“Not a greeting or a farewell. I wish to welcome you to the family. You have fit in rather well with our lot this evening, and I look forward to playing more whist—both with you and against you. You can only hone your skills by playing against the finest. I look forward to my chance to best you.”

“Thank you,” Lysander replied, taking the man’s hand. “For the compliments and the welcome.”

As he shook Vincent’s hand, he experienced an unexpected sense of warmth.

He felt accepted for who he was. It was an unusual feeling, one he hadn’t come across before, or if he had, it had been so long ago that he had forgotten it. He was a part of the family now, and he liked the feeling.

“Well, the coaches are here, and I must throw you all out,” Oliver said. “I wish I had said that I didn’t want to, but that is quite enough of each other, don’t you think?”

They laughed at his discourteous jest.

Afterwards, Lysander went off to find his wife.