Page 42 of Twelfth Night Sorcery (The Cambion Club #2)

Honora felt safe and loved in her husband’s arms. She would have been happy to rest there forever. But she could not do that. There were so many things she needed to say. She decided to start with the easiest one.

She stepped out of his embrace so she could see his face as she spoke. “Valance, generous as you are, you can’t really buy the mortgage from Belmont. He will not sell it.”

Even if Belmont would sell, she did not think it right for her husband to spend so much money on her family.

He would have to sell out of the Funds, wouldn’t he?

Or sell one of his smaller properties? She had no idea how much money the Grantly family owed on the mortgage, but she doubted Valance kept so much capital sitting around.

“I had rather not discuss that right now, if you please,” he grumbled. “I have other things to say.”

“Yes?”

He sheepishly stared down at the toes of his boots.

“You were right that I married you only because you were a gentleman’s daughter.

You would not be Lady Valance now if you had been born any lower.

There are some men wise enough to recognize worth wherever they find it, but I would not have been one of them.

” He sighed, then looked her in the eyes as he concluded: “I would have missed having the most beautiful woman in England as my wife merely because of my prejudices.”

Honora stepped forward and leaned against him again, thinking he had said enough. Valance wrapped his arms around her tightly and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

But he was not done speaking. “You were also right that I treated Cherie—Miss Barbauld, I mean—differently than you because she was an actress rather than the daughter of a gentleman. If any man had seduced you, I would have thought him the worst of rakes. But when I seduced Miss Barbauld, I thought I was behaving like an honorable gentleman because I amply provided for her.” He spat out the word “gentleman.” “I suppose that makes me an arrogant ass, doesn’t it? ”

“Typical English aristocrat,” Honora agreed. But she said it without rancor. He might not be better than others of his rank, but he was not worse. “You ought to do better in the future.”

“I will try.” He squeezed her more tightly.

“But Valance,” she whispered. “You are not worse than Belmont. I ought not have said that.” He had done nothing to deserve such an insult.

“I ought to have listened to your apology last night,” he told her. “I know very well that I am not as good a husband as I ought to be. I will try to do better on that front, too.”

He tipped her chin up and kissed her forehead, then her eyelids, and finally her mouth.

Each kiss was like a drop of sweetness counteracting the bitterness of last night’s quarrel.

She kissed him back on his chin, his cheek, and his mouth, feeling as if a little more warmth seeped into her bones with each touch.

“Better now?” he asked.

“Better.” But it was only partly true. All the lingering sourness of their argument had been washed away, but her heart still ached over some of the things Miss Barbauld had said.

She did not fool Valance. He frowned. “Something still troubles you?”

Honora leaned her head against his shoulder. “I hope you don’t tire of me in a couple of years.” Probably he would, though. People did not typically stay in love long, did they?

“What?” The incredulity in his voice comforted her a little. “Why would you think that?”

She could not admit that Miss Barbauld had suggested it; she did not want to bring Valance’s former mistress back into the conversation. She struggled to articulate her concern in other terms.

“When you proposed to me, you said we would go our separate ways after you had an heir. You know. Keep separate households. Take lovers.” Stop living like a married couple, in short.

“It will probably not take us long to conceive a child, will it? And if it is a boy, there will be no need for us to keep living together.” Her voice wavered over the last words.

Valance tightened his arms around her. “Bullshit. I will always need you. And if we have children, they will need both of us.”

“But you said—”

He interrupted her. “I know that when I proposed, I suggested a temporary arrangement. But I only said that because I didn’t want you to feel trapped. You had just run away from one unwanted marriage. I didn’t want you to feel you were bound to me forever merely because I compromised you.”

“Oh.” Honora was too busy absorbing that idea to say anything more. But the ache in her heart slowly died. A warm, sweet spark began to glow in its place.

“And,” he added, “I believe I was a fool to say that, anyway. As I recall, we vowed before God to love, honor, and comfort each other as long as we both should live. I don’t remember any loopholes in the marriage service.”

Honora smiled. “You are not a fool. It was kind of you to offer me my freedom. But I thought you did so because you did not want to stay with me.” He had no more wanted to marry her than she had wanted to marry him, after all.

He nuzzled her hair. “I do want to stay with you. I want this to be a real marriage, no matter how it started. I don’t intend to run away if things get hard.” His voice dropped to a low rumble as he added, “And I certainly hope you feel the same way.”

“Yes,” Honora whispered into his shoulder. She was not even sure he would hear. But he must have heard, because he picked her up, carried her to the sofa, and proceeded to kiss her thoroughly.

Most unfortunately, Valance’s mother chose this precise moment to walk into the morning room. “Really, Oliver!” she said, sounding scandalized. “There are proper times and places for that, you know.”

“This is my house!” Valance protested. “And I reserve the right to kiss my wife in any room in the house, at any time of day. If you dislike that, you are welcome to return to Surrey. Really, Mother, what did you expect to see when you moved in with a newly married couple?”

Honora bit her lower lip, trying to hold in an unexpected bubble of laughter. She knew better than to laugh at her mother-in-law, but her shoulders shook with the effort of restraining herself.

“There is no need to be rude!” Mrs. Valance stalked out of the room, letting the door slam shut behind her.

Once she heard the footsteps walking away, Honora released her laughter. She laughed, in fact, in rather undignified hoops. After a moment, Valance chuckled too, though he did not lose control the way she did.

“It is not really funny,” Honora admitted once she had finally gotten herself under control. “But it has already been a long day.” Perhaps her tiredness made her giggly.

“It certainly has. You must need an afternoon nap, after so tense a confrontation.”

“That might be a good idea.” Honora did not normally take naps, but last night’s troubled sleep seemed to be catching up to her.

“I probably ought to join you in bed. I am sure you will sleep better with me by your side.” Valance gently bit her ear, making his meaning clear.

Honora’s heart pounded. “I think I am extremely unlikely to fall asleep if you are in bed with me, but you are welcome to join me.” Her voice dropped to a whisper as she added, “I have missed you.”

“I intend to make up for lost time,” Valance said.

And he did. They were both hungry for each other, and their first coupling was hard, fast, and desperate.

Afterwards, they did indeed nap. In fact, they slept so long that Honora’s maid came to remind her that it was time to dress for dinner.

Never had Honora been so grateful for the curtains on her bed, which provided a modicum of privacy.

“We are not dining downstairs tonight,” Valance announced. “Please ask the cook to send up a tray with sandwiches and fruit. And inform Mrs. Valance that she will be dining alone tonight.”

“Don’t forget the wine,” Honora suggested. “A sweet white wine, perhaps?”

If Clack considered this an unorthodox request, she refrained from commenting. The cook went above and beyond, sending up a tray with a cold meat pie, sandwiches, pickles, grapes, fresh strawberries, and two kinds of wine.

Where, Honora wondered, had the cook even gotten strawberries from this season?

They must have come from a hothouse somewhere, and they were probably frightfully expensive.

She did not ask any questions, though. She simply enjoyed the picnic dinner.

After Valance’s week-long absence, it was most pleasant to lounge in bed and chat with him while they ate.

He told her more about his visit to the Abbey. “Lady Carrington wishes to meet you. Would you mind if we spent part of the summer in Surrey? Hopefully by then we could have Dora with us, too.”

“I would not mind.” She would be very happy to see her sister again. She and Dora were closer in age to each other than Honora was to any of her full siblings. They had always been fast friends. “I would like to see Dreadnaught Hall. And you must have work to do there.”

“Yes, I have been rather neglecting the estate since I came of age. I ought to do better.” He stroked her cheek with an idle finger. “I suppose it is time enough for me to play the role of responsible landlord.”

“And politician?” she suggested hopefully.

Valance rarely bothered to attend Parliamentary meetings, despite spending most of the year in London. Honora believed he ought to use his political power as a peer for the betterment of the country, rather than sparring at Gentleman Jackson’s or shooting at Manton’s all day.

Valance rolled his eyes. “Don’t remind me! My mother already nags me about my responsibilities. I don’t need to hear it from you, too.” But the kiss he gave her suggested he did not bear her any grudges.

Honora caught his lower lip in hers, teasing it. He turned on his side and pulled her closer.

“Did I mention that I missed you?” he murmured.

“Yes, several times.” Amusement rippled in her voice. By now, he’d made it abundantly clear how glad he was to be reunited with her.

“Let me tell you without words.” He tugged on the tie of her dressing gown.

“I like that idea.” He was not the only one happy about his return.

Fortunately, she wore nothing beneath her dressing gown.

Once Valance untied it, she wriggled free and pressed her body against his, savoring the closeness.

For the longest time, they simply lay like that, kissing and touching.

Then he cupped her derriere with one hand and pulled her more snuggly against him.

Guessing what he wanted, she hooked her leg over his hip and shifted position so he could guide his length into her.

Valance took his time, pausing frequently to kiss her or to murmur affectionate or bawdy words in her ear.

This lazy, laid-back loving could not have contrasted more greatly with their earlier passionate coupling, but Honora decided she preferred this—particularly when he slipped his hand down to stroke the most sensitive part of her body.

His teasing touch brought her across the brink to a long, powerful climax that left her limp in his arms.

“That was good,” she murmured after she caught her breath. “How does this keep getting better and better?”

“It’s because you happened to seduce and marry an extremely talented lover,” Valance said smugly. “I assume that was the real reason you chose me at that masquerade. You must have instinctively discerned how good I am at—”

“Oh, hush,” she interrupted. “You are not the only one with talent!” She set out to prove that. She pushed Valance onto his back so she could sit astride him. Then she rode him to his satisfaction. He spent himself with a deep groan, and then it was her turn to smile smugly.

“Hmm, yes, I suppose you do have some considerable ability yourself,” he admitted afterwards. “I would give you top marks for that.”

Honora giggled as she settled by his side. “You told me you would not grade me on my performance in bed.”

“Oh, but that was only the first time. That was a practice run, as it were. But now you know what you are doing, I think it only fair for me to evaluate you, so you can improve your performance.”

“Only if you want me to start evaluating you. And since you’ve set the standard so high, I will be a harsh grader.” She smirked at him.

Valance wrinkled his nose. “On second thought, perhaps we should award gold stars all around and leave it at that.”

“Yes, let’s do that.” Honora smiled at his nonsense. Then she pulled the blanket tightly around her and closed her eyes.

But Valance’s words must have stuck with her, because her dreams that night were a confusing mixture of shooting stars, mathematics examinations, nursery wallpaper, and (for some reason) Mozart’s ‘Twelve Variations on ‘Ah! vous dirai-je, maman.’”

She awoke in the morning with the sense that she’d realized something important just before falling asleep, but she could not remember what. Maybe it would come back to her later.