Page 120 of Marigold and the Marquess
Others looked on in concern as she tried to recover her composure.
“Lady Muir will be fine in a moment,” Leo said with a straight face, taking the cup from her hands before its contents spilled onto the exquisite, emerald silk gown designed for her by London’s most sought after modiste just for this occasion. “She is a bit overwhelmed by all the pomp and splendor.”
“Really, Leo?” she whispered after recovering from a coughing spurt he obviously found hilarious.“Really?”
The man was obviously bored and needed to be taken home before he caused more mischief.
He leaned in close again, his lips softly brushing against her ear, the light touch sending tingles shooting through her. “Sorry, love. Forgive your arse of a husband? I couldn’t resist. I love you to pieces. I love you with all my heart and soul, and every breath in my body. But you are so deliciously prim and sweet, I couldn’t resist.”
She supposed she could forgive him.
After all, he loved her.
Her life was heaven because of it.
He was still leaning close, his breath warm against her neck and sending more tingles through her. “Lord, Marigold,” he said with a groaning chuckle, “stop looking at me in that stern schoolmistress way. You know it drives me wild, and then I am going to kiss you senseless in front of everyone.”
“I wasn’t thinking of scolding you. I was thinking of something else.”
He drew back to study her face, and then arched an eyebrow. “What were you thinking about? Not your skulls again.”
“No, not skulls or bones, although it is in a way related.” She smiled at him and began to tear up with the happiness of it.
He lowered his gaze to her bosom that had grown a little larger, then her belly that had also seemed to be growing as had her appetite, then back up to her face. His eyes widened and he sucked in a breath. “Marigold…?”
The next words strangled in his throat and she saw everything he was feeling expressed in his usually stoic face. He was laid open, raw and exposed. No mask or facade to hide behind. No polite smile and distance kept. He was her lion at his most primal, and now he had not only her and their two girls, but another little cub on the way.
Perhaps this one would be a boy.
She could not think of anything more wonderful than a tiny Leo wreaking havoc in their household.
Discreetly, he took her hand in his. “Have I mentioned that I love you? Have I mentioned that you are the sun and the earth and the moon to me? Toss in all the stars in heaven, as well.” He laughed as he raked a hand through his hair, and then began to look around. “You shouldn’t be standing. Not in your delicate condition.”
She wanted to throttle him because he was now going to guard her more closely than the king’s guards watched over the Crown jewels. But she also wanted to throw her arms around him and kiss him. “Leo, I am feeling fine.”
He would not stop staring at her. “I need to take you home.”
“Really?”
He grinned. “Don’t give me thatreally, Leo, you are such an idiotexpression. It is not a stupid comment and I am not an arse for worrying about you while you are in a delicate condition.”
“You are not taking me home. We are not permitted to leave until the king retires. Do not even think about it.”
The reception finally ended in the early evening and they returned home to one of the sweetest sights Marigold had ever beheld. Their daughters were already in their nightgowns and slippers, freshly scrubbed and readied for bed, their damp hair neatly done up in braids. But they must have escaped their nanny, for they were chasing after Mallow who was tearing about the garden and darting in and out of the shrubbery.
Gwennie and Theodora giggled as Mallow darted into another bush and then out of it only to start running circles around them, all while carrying… “Oh, Leo! The little scamp has stolen one of my new slippers! I haven’t even worn them yet.”
She tore into the garden. “Oh, Mallow! Bad dog! Give me that!”
Leo strolled out leisurely after her, grinning like a hyena as she chased after the little bandit, and holding her back when she attempted to dive in after him. “Marigold! Your condition.”
“You might help,” she grumbled.
“All right, love.” He winked at the girls, and then called out in his most authoritative voice, “Mallow, come here!”
Mallow immediately trotted over to Leo and sat in front of him, tail wagging.
Leo bent on his haunches and gave him a few scratches behind the ears. “There’s a good fellow. Drop the slipper.”
