Page 52 of Married to the Icy Duke (Duke Wars #3)

THREE MONTHS LATER

“ W ant to see! Want to see!” Tommy chirped, jumping up and down at Charlotte’s side.

“Just a moment, you troublesome little thing!” Charlotte laughed affectionately. She transferred the covered canvas to her other arm, reaching down to ruffle Tommy’s hair. He beamed up at her.

Getting Tommy to talk, it seemed, had been the easy part. Getting him to quieten down again was nearly impossible. Since the little boy already had quite an impressive vocabulary, more and more words appeared every day, with Charlotte having no idea where he’d gotten them.

The source of his original block was unclear.

Charlotte’s guess was that the loss of his parents and the upheaval that followed had caused Tommy to fall silent.

Isaac’s panicked, well-meaning attempts to get Tommy to talk—to say nothing of the endless professionals—had only forced him deeper into his silence.

It didn’t matter. It was in the past. They were safe.

Tommy was growing. All was well. Matthew was no longer in London, for one thing.

He had not been charged, based on temporary insanity and Isaac’s reluctance to press charges.

He had written a long letter, begging forgiveness, and promised to ensure that his path would never again cross Isaac’s, Charlotte’s, or Tommy’s.

He had gone back to his country estate, by all accounts.

Charlotte did pity him, but she was glad not to see him anymore.

But all of this paled into insignificance beside the greatest news of Charlotte’s life so far.

Isaac loves me.

Still tingling from this happy thought, Charlotte reached down to take Tommy’s hand. They hurried along the last stretch of hallway, towards the drawing room. The door was thrown wide open, bright morning light filtering out.

Generally, now was the time to receive morning callers, but Isaac had given notice to Perling that they would not be receiving any callers today.

Already, there was a small pile of calling cards from various disappointed visitors.

The Duke and Duchess and Devils were as infamous and popular as ever.

Charlotte was tempted to throw another sudden party, simply to see what new scandal would be made of it.

She reached the drawing room and peeped inside.

“Papa!” Tommy squealed, hurrying towards Isaac.

The man sat, long legs folded, in an armchair facing towards the window.

He unfolded himself with a laugh, springing to his feet in time to snatch Tommy up into the air.

The little boy shrieked with delight, and Charlotte tried not to panic as Isaac tossed him high into the air, catching him neatly.

“Oh, heavens, my heart is in my mouth whenever you do that,” she remarked, laughing.

Chuckling, Isaac carefully placed Tommy on his feet and came towards her.

“I should not like you to feel that way, my love,” he murmured, placing one arm around her shoulder. “I’d kiss you to make up for it, but this overlarge canvas is in the way.”

“Yes, well, I’m just relieved to have finished it at last,” Charlotte laughed, placing the canvas carefully down on an easel set out for just this purpose. “I do so hope it doesn’t look silly.”

“Your paintings are never silly,” Isaac said firmly. “Tommy adores them, and so do I. I may have no artistic talent myself, but Tommy is quite determined to become a painter because of you.”

“A duke and a painter, eh?” Charlotte chuckled. “He won’t need a wealthy patron. He is a wealthy patron.”

“That is what I thought. And who wouldn’t like to own a painting done by a duke?”

Charlotte took a step back, eyeing the covered canvas. She wasn’t used to feeling nervous before displaying her work. She had never thought of selling it or displaying it publicly. Generally, she only did a few watercolors to display at gatherings or for her own benefit.

This painting was something different, however.

“Tommy helped me with this painting,” Charlotte explained, smiling up at Isaac. “There’s a piece of all three of us in it.”

“Well, I’m quite in suspense,” he laughed. “Let me see it, please!”

Breathing out slowly, Charlotte stepped forward and pulled away the covering.

The canvas was a large one and would be framed in gilt and displayed in the hall. Isaac had already decided upon that.

On a deep gray background, she had painted Isaac, herself beside him, and with Tommy beaming in between.

“Are those … Are those our masquerade masks?” Isaac whispered, taking a step closer.

“Yes. I … I rather thought that night was pivotal for us all. Besides, I quite adored that mask of yours, in place of the eyepatch. Of course, I would not mind if you dispensed with the eyepatch at all.”

He shot her a wry smile, taking a step forward and bending to look at the detail around the bottom. Charlotte had added texturing there, but had been careful not to obscure Tommy’s name, written in green, or the handprints.

“My hand, Papa!” Tommy chirped up, running forward to place his hand over the prints—one blue, one yellow. Beside them were Isaac’s prints, one in red and one in black.

“How did you …” Isaac stuttered, and Charlotte laid a hand on his shoulder.

“That day, when you and Tommy were finger-painting. I began this painting. At first, I found myself only painting you, but a family cannot be one person, can it? I painted us all. I had Tommy recreate his handprints and yours, which I transferred from the other painting. Very clever, no?”

“It’s lovely,” he whispered. “It’s not at all like those stiff, ugly portraits of my ancestors in the Great Hall. It’s fresh and new. It’s us. ”

“I’m so glad you like it,” Charlotte breathed, beaming up at him. “I tried to put a little love in it.”

He turned to face her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close.

“It seems that I have more love in my life than a man like me could ever deserve,” he murmured, eyes intent on her face.

Charlotte grinned, looping her arms around his neck. “Then I suppose it shall be my goal to convince you that you deserve it.”

He leaned in to kiss her, but before their lips could meet, Tommy came scurrying over, his little arms waving in the air.

Laughing, Isaac swept him up, and the three of them moved together in a tight hug. Charlotte lay her cheek against Isaac’s chest and closed her eyes.

So, this is love, she thought, a smile wavering on her lips. To think I had to marry a Devil to find it.

The End?