Page 121 of Their Master

“You are lovers?”

He hesitated, again met her gaze, and nodded. “Yes.”

“You do this after you give him reports about the health of the child.”

Luke swallowed, squirming under her gaze. “Yes.”

She nodded.

Luke didn’t tell her there were occasionally other questions. He worried it would give her hope. Smith, he knew, had closed his heart to her, even if he could not quite close his mind and not be curious.

“I’m glad, Luke.”

He looked up at her unexpected words.

“I… care for him.” She grimaced. “Why am I bothering to lie? I love him.”

Luke nodded, unsure of what she wanted him to say.

“You love him, too, don’t you? You’ve loved him long before I came into your lives?”

“Yes, I love him.” He hesitated and then added, “But he does not love me.”

She snorted softly. “At least he stilllikesyou. I think he hates me.”

Luke didn’t tell her what he thought, but she guessed anyhow.

“You are thinking I got better than I deserve.” She waved to the beautiful house around them. “I betrayed him and ended up with this.” She laughed, but there was no humor in it.

Hehadthought that, but not since the very beginning. Not for a long time.

“I am fortunate to have his child growing inside me.”

Luke agreed; he would have given a great deal to be able to offer such a gift—a child—to Mr. Smith.

“You are very fortunate,” he said.

He saw the words—and the force with which he said them—surprised her.

She turned away from the mirror to face him, took his hand, and laid it on the slight bulge of her belly. “I’m fortunate to haveyou, Luke. I think you like me—at least a little—and I think you will love my child because it is Smith’s child.” She smiled. “Your love is a constant and abiding affection. I saw it in the way you looked at Smith when you thought nobody was paying attention.”

His face flushed.

She shook her head and held his wrist when he would have pulled away, pressing it against the surprising hardness of her stomach. “The way you look at him is beautiful, Luke. I’m sad for Smith that he can’t see it. But maybe he will, one day.”

Luke’s heart rejoiced at her words, but he was quick to quash his joy.

When he didn’t respond, Miss Moira rubbed his hand over her stomach. “I want to share the wonder of what I’m feeling with somebody, Luke. I—I—well, I’ve felt so alone. Perhaps, if it is not repugnant to you—you might stand as father while this child grows. I don’t mean that you should be my lover,” she said hastily, “I mean you would be somebody to share things with. My sister is a delight, of course, but she has her own life. You and I—we are together so much. I feel—”

She suddenly looked so young and so lost that he felt an almost suffocating wave of sympathy for her.

“I would be honored.” He curled his fingers around her stomach and gently stroked her.

When she looked up at him, there were tears shimmering in her lovely sea green eyes, threatening to spill over, but they were happy tears.

“Thank you.”

He smiled, removed his hand, and turned her back to the mirror to finish dressing her for her solitary meal in the glittering dining room below.

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