Page 79 of Charming Artemis

“Although, I hate to break the news to you, Linus, Artie is rubbish at huckle buckle beanstalk.” Charlie shook his head as if it were a great shame.

He could feel Artemis laughing. “I found the toy horse more often than you did.”

“Because you were distracting me.”

She curled a bit tighter, leaning against him. He slipped his hand from hers and set his arm around her.

“You truly played huckle buckle beanstalk?” Linus asked.

Charlie nodded. “I told you we spoil our nieces and nephews. We are, by far, favorites with the nursery set.”

“You do have a history of larks and jests and jumping off roofs,” Linus said.

“I didn’t jump; I fell.” Recovering from those injuries had been awful. He’d never been in so much pain in his life.

“She checked on you quite often during your recuperation.” Linus motioned with his chin toward his sister.

“Did you?” Charlie looked down at her only to discover her eyes were closed and her expression soft and empty. “Lud, she fell asleep fast.”

“She’s been growing drowsier the past quarter hour.” Linus watched her, his expression growing a touch more somber. “I ought to have suggested she go up to bed, but I’ve needed the reassurance that she is not entirely miserable.”

“I’ve been hoping for a bit of that reassurance myself.”

Linus met his eye. “I had no idea what to expect when I arrived here. Arabella will testify to my unsettled thoughts regarding the two of you. You might have forged a cease-fire or murdered each other, with neither option surprising me in the least.”

“Things are a little better between us the past day or two,” he said, “but this marriage has been a mess. It still is a mess. She tolerates me, but I can’t say how long that’s likely to last.”

“Toleratesyou?” Linus looked at him like he was a few variables short of a function. “Is that truly how you evaluate the situation?”

“There is no reason to evaluate it otherwise.”

Linus leaned forward, elbows on his legs. He met and held Charlie’s gaze. “I have known her all her life, and I have not seen her fall asleep against anyone, not since she was little more than an infant. Sheneverallows herself to be vulnerable or at ease with another person. Not even her family. This”—he motioned to Charlie’s current arrangement, Artemis curled up against him, sleeping soundly—“is something of a shocking sight. All my siblings would attest to that.”

“Artie is not as frigid as you are making her out to be.”

“And that is another matter,” Linus said. “You have fashioned her a pet name, and she does not seem to object.”

Charlie rubbed at Artemis’s arm. Her skin had grown cold in the chilled air. “At first, she did, but she told me she’s come to like it.”

Linus leaned back once more, shaking his head. “You have no idea how significant that is. She keeps even her family at bay, hiding behind dramatics and theatricality, and you have somehow forged a path around her defenses.”

“His Grace said, ‘Her walls crumble for no one.’”

“Except you, apparently.”

It was more credit than he had earned and more optimism than was truly warranted. “Her walls are still firmly in place.”

“But not all of them.” Linus stood. “I’ve worried about her more with each passing year. You’re giving me reason to hope, Charlie.” Linus placed a hand on Charlie’s shoulder as he passed. “Don’t give up.”

Charlie remained there for long moments after Linus left the room. He kept his arm around Artemis, trying to decide if he ought to cling to the hope Linus offered or if he would do best to proceed with continued caution.

Thingswerebetter between them. He’d even kissed her, however briefly. And he would never in all his life forget the look on her face when she had first seen his sartorial transformation. She’d found him attractive; the truth of that had been writ in her expression. For the first time in his life, he’d outshined his brothers in someone’s eyes.

Charlie turned his head in the direction of the family portrait. The room was too dim for him to actually see it, but his mind filled in the details. He fancied he could see Father’s expression turn a little proud, a little pleased.

And though the voice in his mind was Philip’s, Charlie could imagine his father saying, “Anything that will bring your wife joy is never a bad idea.”

Charlie whispered, “I’m beginning to sort that out.”

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