Page 36 of Her Tempting Traitor
When he turned, his son had scooted to one side of the sofa, and Cassian was surprised by the unspoken invitation. He didn’t allow himself to limp as he crossed to sit beside the lad, but his gait must have been stiff, because Lady Zilphia sucked in an audibly sympathetic breath as Gabby poured him a cup of tea.
“Your leg is paining you, my lad?” the older woman asked. “What does the doctor say?”
Och aye, the age-old tea-time approved topics of conversation: health and the weather.
“It’s just stiffness, milady,” he said, his voice also stiff. “I havenae been working it enough. Or perhaps too much. Difficult to say.”
Gabby was still smiling as she passed him his tea. “One will result in tightness from lack of use in the joints, the other would be caused by tightness in the muscles from overuse. The amputation was below the knee, was it not?”
Cassian wondered if it was too late to bring up the weather.
Since the three of them were staring at him expectantly—well, Gus was munching happily on a cake while staring—he supposed he was compelled to answer.
So he stretched his left leg out in front of him and twisted his knee. “Aye. The blast took off everything from the ankle down, but the surgeon thought my tibia and fibula were useless, flopping about down there, so he took them out too.”
Nodding smartly, Gabby sat back in her chair. “To be honest, the fibula is mostly useless overall. One can walk perfectly fine without it, it has been proven.”
“How fascinating!” announced Lady Zilphia, lifting her cup. “It reminds me of the man we met in India who had no bones in his arm, but could still use it. Oh, it was most interesting, the way he flopped it all about. Or was it Nepal? I think it was Nepal, and perhaps it was his leg, not his arm.”
Nodding happily, the older woman sipped her tea.
A fine time to mention the unseasonably warm temperatures, eh? Or the rain?
Or literally anything else?
Gus broke the shocked silence by clearing his throat. “You ought to ask Miss Gabby for help with your leg, Father. She knows ever so much about animals.”
Father.Cassian met her eyes across the tea cart, remembering the conversation he’d overheard. Remembering her urging Gus to call himDa. Remembering her saying how much she’d wanted to study animals.
“Ye ken about animals. Almost as much as yer brother, eh, Miss Butcombe?”
Before she could answer, Gus did in a cheerful rush. “She says she’s smarter than Doctor Hunter, and I think she’s right. Hunter hasn’t figured out what’s wrong with the elephant, even after that exam, but since Miss Gabby is afemale, I’ll bet she could figure it out.”
“Anunmarriedfemale, laddie,” Lady Zilphia corrected, clutching at her pearls. “We should not discuss…well, pregnancy or childbirth around her.”
Since Gabby rolled her eyes dramatically Cassian didn’t feel he needed to, so he just allowed his lips to twitch. “But it’s fine to speak of them around a matron and a twelve-year-auld lad, milady?”
“Aunt Zilphia,” the older woman corrected. “Please, Cassian, we are related, are we not? And while I never had children—squirming little hairless beasts—no offense, Augustus—Ihavequite a bit of experience with baby animals, which I adore.”
Apparently, so did Gabby. But Cassian lifted a brow. “And the twelve-year auld?”
Aunt Zilphiaseemed flustered. “Augustus…oh dear. Well, Augustus just seems so much older.”
At Cassian’s side, his son preened.
Likely not remembering how green he’d gone in the elephant’s stall two days ago.
Cassian cleared his throat and inclined his head, which allowed him to send a small smirk only Gus could see. “Aye,Aunt Zilphia. He does.”
It felt strange to call this woman—who was no relation to him, not really—an aunt, when he’d never had one before. But she’d accepted his wife and son into her heart, so he would do the same for her.
“Oh, lad,” she sighed, leaning forward to place her cup down so she could press her fingertips to her lips. “Artemesia would be so delighted to hear you call me that.”
Would she? He’d barely known Sir Richard and Lady Zilphia when Artemesia had been alive. “Artemesia would just be delighted to know how well ye’ve cared for her son, Aunt Zilphia,” he said gently. “She was a kind-hearted woman, and I ken she gets it from ye.” Not a lie. “I’ve never fully understood what she saw in me,”Definitely not a lie, “but when she agreed to be my wife, I never questioned my luck. It’s only now, when I’m realizing exactly how lucky Gus and I have been, that I do.”
Lady Zilphia’s eyes were bright with tears, and when Cassian glanced down at his son, it was to see the lad beaming up at him. Finally allowing himself the pleasure, he glanced across to Gabby, and hid his pre-emptivewince. Perhaps waxing fondly about one’s dead wife was a poor way to start an erotic affair…but to his surprise, she was studying him with a thoughtful expression, her tea cup half-raised.
When Gabby saw him looking, she smiled—approvingly?—and took a sip.
