Page 17 of Merry Lover

Chapter Seven

“Well,” Dragan saidas Griz returned to his side after their guest’s departure. “Your mystery appears to be solved. To your satisfaction?”

“I don’t know whether to be happy or unbearably sad.”

“I vote for happy. I gather Mr. Cartaret always was.”

“Outwardly, at least. Imagine him carrying a torch for Mrs. Westley all those years.”

“It probably got a little like a habit after the first year or so,” Dragan remarked. “A harking back to the innocent romance of his youth.”

“Was he really smiling at her, or was it some kind of death grimace? No, don’t tell me. I’d rather think of it as a smile. I believe he was happy to see her before he died.”

“And that is what Mrs. Westley believes, too.”

Griz nodded.

Dragan’s hand covered hers in her lap. “You gave her good advice. About secrets.”

She gazed at their joined hands, saying nothing.

“Griz,” he said softly. “I know you are afraid to have this baby. You don’t need to hide it from me. I have been learning all I can about childbirth and post-natal fevers, so—”

“No, no, you have it wrong, Dragan,” she burst out, twisting her hand under his to grasp his fingers. “My fears are not of physical harm. I quite rely on you to keep me and the baby alive through whatever God or nature throws at us.”

A frown tugged at his brow as he searched her face. “You were not ready. You did not want to have a child so soon.”

Her grip tightened. “I was afraid it would come between us,” she admitted. “I love my life with you, all our adventures, mysteries, and puzzles. I don’t want to stop doing those things, being all those things to you. And the baby will need me.”

“I love our life, too. I’m sorry it is coming too soon for you. I should have taken more care, made fewer demands.”

“I love your demands!” She freed her hand but only to throw both arms around his neck. “I was afraid of change.Was.But somehow—I think I realized this only when Mrs. Westley was speaking—somehow, I have come to love the little creature inside me, and I realized this does notstopthe adventure but adds to it. For both of us. I have been confused, alternately fearful, and joyful and fearful again. I should have known I could not keep that from you, and I wish I had not tried.”

His arms came around her. And in that moment, perhaps feeling the pressure against her abdomen, the baby moved.

Griz gasped and drew back, dragging his hand to where she had felt the funny little kick. They gazed at each other in wonder.

“God rest you merry, little Tizsa,” Dragan said softly.

And Grizelda’s world had never seemed so happy or so complete.

*

Late that night,well-fed on goose and spicy Christmas pudding, Griz and Dragan took Vicky for a last walk. Heading for the Green Park on the other side of Piccadilly, they inevitably passed the Westleys’ House.

Griz could not help looking upward, and there in the brightly lit window, she saw Mrs. Westley, her face stained with tears.

“Oh no,” Griz whispered. Saddened, she would have hurried on, but Dragan held her still a moment longer. Which is how she saw the figure of Mr. Westley appear and put his arms around his wife. She collapsed against him, clutching him to her, and Griz smiled, though a lump formed in her throat. “She has told him. And all is well.”

“I think so,” Dragan agreed, drawing her onward.

Griz walked beside him in the cold beauty of winter, for once not marred by freezing fog. She felt warm and contented and excited about the future. Her eyes might have misted a little as she sent up a silent prayer for Sebastian Cartaret. But hugging Dragan’s arm, she could not grieve long for a stranger on such a night. They were blessed.

She smiled into the night.God rest us merry, indeed.