Page 79 of The Duke's Second Bride
“Pardon me,” he said, and he steadied her with a respectful hand on her elbow. “Are you quite all right, Duchess?”
Ava shook her head. “Yes,” she said, though she felt quite uncertain even as she spoke the word.
What was that? She had never felt such an odd mix of dizziness and nausea before in her life, not even when she had been very ill as a child.
“I was merely bringing more drinks for Edith and Iris.”
The Duke nodded, though he looked at her cautiously. “Allow me to help you with those lemonades,” he said. “I should be bringing my wife drinks anyway, lest I be dressed down as an inadequate husband.
Ava forced herself to laugh at the joke and to make polite conversation with the Duke of Carridan as he and the gaggleof children walked back over to the shade. But her mind was elsewhere.
Her gaze drifted back over to Christian.
Could this possibly be what she had been so hoping for?
CHAPTER 28
At first, Ava was inclined to dismiss what happened at Edith’s party as simply a result of the sun and overexertion.
But as the week went on, she found herself having similar incidents with increased frequency.
For example, on the first day of the week, she was so fatigued that she slept hours later than usual. Even with the nightly exertions she and Christian had been engaging in, she wasn’t usually the kind of woman who would habitually stay in bed until noon.
Then, barely a day later, she found she barely had any stomach at all for her breakfast.
Luke, who was breaking fast with her while Christian worked in his study, looked at her face with concern etched into his own tiny features.
“A-are you feeling a-a-all right, Ava?” he asked, his worry bringing back his stammer a bit. Ava smiled at him as kindly as she could, trying to hide her grimace.
“Yes,” she said. She squeezed the edge of the chair below the table, where he could not see how her knuckles went white with the effort to ground herself against the nausea. “Yes, Luke, I am quite all right. I think I am simply overtired.”
“You w-were tired yesterday, t-too,” he observed, pushing the last few bites of his own breakfast around on his plate.
Ava had no response to that. She could hardly tell the child of her suspicions. She was barely letting herself hope. She hadn’t even missed her cycle yet.
“I believe that we have all had a long week,” she said, deflecting. Then she decided to change the subject. “I had better catch up on rest soon, though! That garden is not going to finish planting itself.”
“More gardening?” Christian said from the door.
“Father!” Luke exclaimed in delight. Even though they dined nightly as a family now, it was still rare for Christian to join them for breakfast.
Christian smiled as Luke ran over to hug him. There was almost a hint of surprise on his face that both made Ava happy and broke her heart.
Christian had opened up his heart so much over these past few weeks, but it was a slow process. She could tell that he was not accustomed to open affection, almost as though there was something holding him back.
Still, she tried to be grateful for the parts of himself he was able to give her.
For instance, he returned Luke’s embrace with enthusiasm, pushing past his natural stiffness, and even giving the boy a pat on the head.
“If I knew I would be greeted with such aplomb, I would have broken fast with you two much sooner,” he exclaimed.
Ava flushed. In the mornings, she found Christian’s voice often took on an even lower bass tone, which she could not help but find reminded her of his voice in bed.
“You were welcome to at any time,” she said, covering up her inner thoughts with as business-like a tone as she could manage. “In fact, Luke and I were just about to finish, but I thought I might take a promenade about the estate grounds, if you both would like to join?”
Christian smiled, but shook his head. “As tempting as that sounds, I have already brushed off enough work to come see you for these few minutes.”
Luke pouted. “You don’t want to come on a walk with us?” he cried.
