Married to the Marquess (24 page)

She turned to face him, and his throat closed up just a touch at seeing her with their niece in her arms, looking so natural and easy that it took his breath away. Somehow, he managed a smile. “You look well like this, Kate.”

“Like what?” she asked, her brow furrowing just a touch.

“Holding a child.”

Her eyes widened and her cheeks tinged with a bit of color.

His smile deepened. “You look very well, indeed.” Before she could respond, he left the room to help set up the room for Alice, but he smiled all the while.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Kate woke up with a start, wondering what might have given her cause to do so. There was hardly any sound to be heard, other than the night breeze outside her window. She could not see the clock, but she knew it had to be in the very earliest moments of the morning.

Then she heard a noise, but it was so faint, she could hardly believe it had woken her. A cry, fussy and soft, followed by another whimper of very young distress.

With a firm shake of her head, she tossed off the bedcovers and got out of bed. She fumbled around in the dark for her wrap, giving a small “ah ha!” of pleasure when she found it. Tying it around herself hastily, she hurried from her room and down the hall to the temporary nursery they had set up.

So intent was she on her purpose, and worrying about what Alice might need, that she failed to notice the figure standing outside of the room, where the door stood slightly ajar. She was brought up short with a mostly silent gasp as she finally saw Jessie, who was wrapped in a shawl and smiled kindly at her as she approached.

“Jessie, what are you doing out here?” Kate whispered.

“I’m in the next room, and I heard Alice fuss,” the girl replied in a rather hushed voice. “I waited a moment to see if she would continue to sleep, as she usually does, but she didn’t, so I came out to get her and I found… well, perhaps you should see this.”

Jessie put a finger to her lips and pushed the door open a little more. Kate blessed whoever had made it possible for that door to open silently, for she would not have disturbed the sight that met her eyes for anything.

“Hush now, Miss Alice, do you want to wake everybody up? Come, tell Uncle Derek what ails you.” Derek rocked the girl back and forth gently, his face to the window, his back to them. He was dressed only in his nightshirt and dressing gown and his feet were bare, his hair tousled. So he had been roused from sleep as well, and his room was further away than hers was.

“There is no cause for such fussing,” he continued to scold in a soft voice. “Just state your complaint clearly and a resolution can be found.”

The baby made a slight whimper of discontent, and Derek nodded soberly, then offered his finger to her flailing hands.

“Hmm, yes, that does pose a problem. I’m rather partial to your aunt myself, and I can hardly blame you for wishing she were here and not I, but it’s far too early in the morning for me to fetch her for you. Besides, you and I need to have a little discussion, young lady. If I am to appoint myself your guardian unofficially, some ground rules must be set up.”

“How long has this been going on?” Kate breathed to the girl next to her.

She shrugged. “He was here when I arrived. He told me he would take care of her, and that I was to go back to bed and leave him to it.”

“Did he?” Kate replied softly, turning to look back at her husband, now very nearly dancing with her niece in the moonlight, still murmuring softly to her. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face, nor the odd squeezing sensation in her chest as she watched him. He would be such a good father; loving, understanding, firm, but fun.

Their children would adore him.

“There now,” Derek whispered, pressing his lips to Alice’s brow as he rocked her, “that’s my girl. That’s it.” He turned just a touch, and Kate could see the smile on his face as he looked down on the now sleeping infant in his arms.

Unbidden, tears sprang into her eyes, and she had to swallow repeatedly.  This was no show for her benefit; he had no idea she was even awake, let alone standing here watching him. This was Derek Chambers, stripped of artifice and disguise, honest and genuine. The man her husband was when nobody was looking. This was something she could believe, something that she could never doubt. Everything else she might be able to question, but not this.

She looked back over at Jessie and smiled. “I think I will go back to bed now. She seems to be in capable hands.”

Jessie nodded with a small smile of her own. “Yes, very. Good night, Lady Whitlock.”

“Good night, Jessie.”

Kate silently made her way back down the hall to her room and settled herself back down under her covers before she allowed herself to sigh in a completely girlish fashion. She might have been hesitant about the slight changes her friends wanted her to make before now, but considering the events of this evening, she was now convinced that it would be a rather enjoyable experiment.

And if Derek’s surprise would be half as good as Kate imagined it, the whole endeavor will be worth any pains she had to take.

“Where the devil is she?” Derek growled as he paced the floor of his music room.

“Who?” Colin asked, taking a long drink from the flute of champagne he was holding.

Derek threw him an incredulous look. “Kate.”

“Don’t be so anxious, Derek,” his sister scolded from behind him. “She will be down soon enough.”

He turned and glared at her. “What do you know, Diana?”

She offered him a very unconvincing look of innocence. “Why would I know anything? I have only just arrived.”

“Diana.”

She rolled her eyes and brushed at her elegant plum colored gown in disgust. “Honestly, Derek, you are the most impatient man on the planet. Did you ever consider that perhaps she is nervous about performing and she and Gemma are practicing?”

That sobered him and his glower turned into a look of concern. “You think she’s nervous? I never thought…”

“Obviously I don’t know, Derek,” she interrupted with a smile. “As I said, I have only just arrived. You are the first person I have spoken with.” She gave him a scolding look. “And you have not even greeted me.”

He reluctantly smiled and kissed her cheek. “Hello, Diana. Thank you so much for coming. I know it will mean a great deal to Kate.”

She smiled brightly at him and looped her hand through his arm. “I would not have missed it. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve brought Mary Hamilton with me.”

“Have you?” he asked in surprise, looking across the room where she indicated. There indeed was Mary, already conversing with Caroline and Geoff, and looking rather well. “I thought she was considered a wallflower.”

“She is, but not by intelligent company,” Diana retorted hotly, starting to pull away.

“I wasn’t saying she is one,” he hissed, holding her fast. “You know I think well of her, and certainly that Geoff does. They have been friends for years. I’m glad you brought her.”

That seemed to soothe Diana’s ire and she smiled conspiratorially. “I would like to introduce her to Katherine, and possibly convince her to sing with them tonight.”

“Without practice?”

Diana looked rather mischievous. “Mary does not require much practice where her voice is concerned.”

He looked doubtful, but she refused to elaborate.

Just then, the doors to the hall opened and he looked towards them with interest, only to sink back into disappointment when it was Nathan and Moira. “Where
is
she?” he muttered.

“Stop being so anxious!” Colin told him with irritation. “You are making
me
nervous, and I don’t even know your cause.”

“I have not seen my wife in hours,” Derek ground out. “She has been intentionally evading me and nobody will tell me what it is about.”

“I hate not seeing my wife,” Edward commented as he came up to Diana’s side.

“Spare me,” Colin groaned. “I am going to visit with Duncan, as he seems to be the only one not waiting on a woman.” He nodded to them all, and then left rather dramatically to join Duncan, who was now chatting with Nathan and his brother Spencer.

Again the doors opened, but this time it was Gemma, and she only stuck her head in. Apparently, it was a cue, for Caroline and Moira stood and grinned. Derek tried to catch the girl’s eye, knowing how skilled she was at nonverbal communication, but even she would not meet his gaze.

He huffed in irritation as she pulled her head back out, and growled under his breath.

“Steady, Derek,” Diana whispered, sounding amused. “They can hardly hide her from you forever.”

“I would not put it past them,” he muttered, glaring at Moira and Caroline, who offered him bright smiles in return.

“Remind me to meet them as soon as Kate comes in,” Diana whispered to her husband, who bit back a laugh.

The doors opened again, and, almost angrily, Derek turned to face them, wondering which guest that was not his wife would be coming in next. To his relief, it was his wife at last.

But he could not think much beyond that acknowledgement, for all thought and sense was swept away under the wave of astonishment at the appearance of the exquisite creature that was now entering. She was his wife, it was indeed Kate, but never had he dreamed his wife could look as she did now.

Her ebony hair was so elegantly arranged that he had to wonder how many hours it had taken, and if the pins scattered within knew just how fortunate they were. Loose ringlets hung near her ears and face, and one long ringlet in particular hung draped over one shoulder. Immediately he wanted to twirl it around his finger and bring it to his cheek.

He had never seen the gown she was wearing, and suddenly that became his chief regret in life. It was still a gown of dark mourning colors, as was appropriate, but the dark, silvery fabric seemed created for his wife’s form and coloring, and instead of looking solemn and somber, she looked majestic, elegant, and breathtakingly beautiful. Her only accouterment besides the subdued pins in her hair was the black ribbon at her throat, and the simplicity supplied her with an air of grace that he had never witnessed before.

In short, Derek was stunned beyond imagination, and the only thing that seemed appropriate was the embarrassingly obvious
whoosh
of air that fled his lungs all at once.

He could not even be upset at Diana’s snickering from beside him. Her hand slid from his arm, and where she went, he didn’t know, nor did he care. He could not remove his eyes from his wife as she moved about the room greeting guests. Her eyes flicked over to him frequently, but never raised enough to meet his. He was oddly glad. He wanted to enjoy staring blatantly at her without having to endure the power of her eyes at the same time.

“Holy mother of pearl,” he heard Colin whisper rather loudly not too far away, followed rather rapidly by a sharp rapping against his chest, courtesy of either Nathan or Duncan, Derek could not be sure which.

He agreed with every word.

“Do close your mouth, Derek,” he heard Moira say from his side in a voice that was choked with laughter. “One would think you have never seen your wife before.”

“I haven’t,” he managed hoarsely. “I can’t have.”

“Well, go and talk to her, you troll, before you lose your tongue,” she laughed, pushing him to where Kate was now, speaking with Mary and Geoff.