“Oh, Edward…it’s stunning.”
“It isn’t as old as some of your other watches, having been made only recently. But I knew you would appreciate the workmanship as well as the artistry of it. Now you are one purchase closer to your fiftieth watch.”
After taking a moment to study his beautiful gift, she set it back inside its box and laughed while reaching into her dressing gown pocket.
“Actually, I still have a few more watches to collect to reach fifty. You see, I’ve decided it was time to part ways with one of them.”
She placed her gift in his hand and stood back to watch him study it. She hadn’t bothered to wrap it or put it in a box, wanting to feel the transfer of the silver from her hand to his as she gave him her most precious possession.
Edward frowned, then his face eased into shock as he ran a finger over the shining silver casing. “Your father’s watch? Clare, I cannot accept this.”
Placing a hand over his atop the watch, she nodded. “You can and you will. It is too important to go on sitting in a box collecting dust, and no one is more important to me than you. See, I had it repaired, so the glass is no longer cracked and it tells time quite accurately.”
She opened the watch, displaying the new circle of glass enclosing the face. Then, she closed the watch again and turned it over so he could see the inscription engraved onto the back of the casing.
Love Always, Clare
“Ah, CeCe,” he whispered, closing his hand around the watch and pulling her against him with one arm. “It’s the best gift anyone’s ever given to me. I’ll take good care of it, I promise.”
“I know you will,” she replied, pressing a kiss to his jaw. “I trust you with it just like I trust you with everything else—my heart and soul, my life.”
“I’ll treasure them all, my bride,” he replied, nuzzling her hair and planting a kiss atop her head. “Forever and always.”
“I find it very telling that we exchanged identical wedding gifts,” she said as the thought occurred to her suddenly. “Surely that must mean something—a sure sign that we are fated to be together.”
“Fate is all well and good,” Edward replied, setting his new watch upon the mantle, then prizing the box from her hand and setting it beside the timepiece. “But at the moment I am more interested in science. Chiefly, whether or not you are exhibiting the signs of arousal. I believe an examination is in order.”
With a wicked grin, she began backing away from him, her fingers coming to the sash of her dressing gown. “I suppose I will allow that…all in the name of science, of course.”
His eyes grew heavy-lidded and his lips parted as she dropped the robe to the floor to reveal that she wore nothing underneath.
“This will require research,” he rasped, stalking her as she backed toward the bed. “Vigorous research.”
Climbing up onto the bed, she lay back and crooked her finger at him. “What are you waiting for?”
She collapsed into a fit of giggles as he rushed to bed and came atop her with a leap, the sounds of her joy echoing through the chamber.
Epilogue
Exeter, Devon
1819, 1 year later …
“Sir, you have a visitor…a Mr. and Mrs. Radcliffe.”
Edward glanced up from the letter from Caroline and frowned. He’d just received the missive and had sat in the library to read the news out of London. He and Clare had left his sister in the care of Helene, who’d acted as a chaperone during the recently ended Season. His sister had been filled with exciting details of various outings and balls, as well as a gentleman she’d met and come to grow quite fond of. He’d just gotten to the part where she’d begun to fill him in on how Jacob was managing the business in his absence.
Edward and Clare had purchased a country home in Exeter after traveling here with Gillian and Randall Young and falling in love with the landscape. The fresh, seaside air proved a much-needed reprieve from crowded, foggy London, while the rocky beaches and cliffs offered Clare the perfect opportunity to explore and excavate to her heart’s content. Apparently, Devon proved a hotbed of fossils and minerals, which she and Gillian took great joy in unearthing and classifying together.
Things seemed to be going well enough in London without him, so Edward was content to linger in their new home for as long as Clare wanted to—especially given the new discovery of her delicate condition.
He stood and turned to find her standing in the doorway, one hand pressed to the small mound swelling at her middle. It was still early yet, but the signs of her pregnancy had begun to show a little over a month ago, and now she was growing, proclaiming for the world that she carried his child inside her.
“See them into the yellow salon,” Clare instructed the butler, before allowing the servant to pass.
“Did I hear that correctly?” she asked once they were alone. “Hugh is here, and he brought someone with him?
Edward ran a hand over his jaw, still reeling from what he’d just heard. “He did say Mr. Radcliffe, and he also mentioned a Mrs., but the last I’d heard Hugh was still working as a courtesan. Unless he…no, it can’t be. It must be his mother or one of his sisters. But then, his family cut him off years ago, so that isn’t possible, either.”
Taking his hand and beaming at him with her wide smile, she tugged him toward the door. “Well, there is only one way to find out for certain, isn’t there?”
Edward followed her from the room, still grappling with the implications of what he’d just heard. The butler had announced Mr. and Mrs. Radcliffe as if speaking of a husband and wife, but that defied everything Edward knew to be true.
However, as they entered the room to greet their visitors, Edward was stunned to find Hugh seated beside a lovely young woman who was neither his mother or one of his sisters. With porcelain skin and sable hair, she peered at him with shy, dark eyes, her cheeks turning a pretty pink as Hugh came to his feet.
“Edward, I do hope we aren’t imposing. We happened to be in Devon visiting Evie’s mother, when I remembered your last letter. I wanted to see you and make an introduction.”
Tearing his gaze away from the woman, Edward gaped at his friend in wide-eyed shock, fumbling for words.
“I…you…I don’t understand.”
“Forgive his rudeness,” Clare spoke up, coming forward and offering a smile to Hugh and his companion. “It is good to see you again, and of course you are welcome here anytime.” Turning her gaze to the silent woman, she inclined her head. “I’m Mrs. Clare Norton, and this is my husband, Edward.”
Hugh returned her smile, then offered a hand to the seated woman and urged her to her feet. “I am glad to see you again, as well, Clare. May I introduce my wife, Mrs. Evelyn Radcliffe.”
Edward’s jaw dropped as his suspicion was proven true, and his wife began trading pleasantries with the other woman. He met Hugh’s gaze, and his friend gave him a sheepish smile.
“Quite a surprise, I know, but it all happened too fast for me to update you by letter. I decided a visit and explanation in person would be best.”
Shaking off his stunned stupor, he turned to Evelyn and offered his hand. “Mrs. Radcliffe, it is an honor to meet you. Hugh is a boor who has told me absolutely nothing about you.”
Her blush deepened, but she offered a tentative smile and placed her hand in his. “Please, call me Evelyn. And I told Hugh he ought to write first, but he insisted he wished to surprise you.”
“Well you’ve certainly done that,” he remarked, turning back to Hugh. “I leave London for a few months and you go and get yourself leg-shackled?”
Hugh chuckled as Clare urged them to sit and went to send for refreshments. “You may now count me as the second courtesan to find himself married to his keeper. Perhaps Benedict was right to worry after all.”
Edward sank into an armchair with a grimace. “God, he’ll never stop blaming me.”
“Perhaps not,” Hugh agreed before turning an adoring glance on his wife. “But,
like you, I cannot bring myself to regret it.”
Clare joined them just as a flock of maids entered carrying trays laden with a tea service and various refreshments. As she poured for everyone, Edward turned to Hugh.
“All right, out with it. I want to know everything.”
Slouching on the loveseat, he braced an arm along the back of it behind his wife, who nestled closer to him. “Well, it is a long story…”
***
Hugh’s ‘long story’ continues in Portrait of a Lady, out now. Click here to download!
The Gentleman Courtesans
Series Reading Order
Now Available:
Tempting the Bluestocking (prequel novella)
Portrait of a Lady
* * *
Coming Soon:
What a Courtesan Wants
Making of a Scandal
Taming of the Rake
Chasing Benedict
More by Victoria Vale
Enjoy this Dark Romance series, The Villain
The Villain
The Dove
The Butterfly
The Damsel
The Scandalous Ballroom Encounters Series
Masquerade
A Marriage Most Scandalous
Tempting Two
Submitting to the Marquis
Dominating Mr. Darling
Her Beautiful Bastard
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Scandalous Christmas Encounters Vol. 1
Scandalous Christmas Encounters Vol. 2
About the Author
Sexy heroes … sassy heroines … electrifying erotic romance.
Victoria Vale has written over two dozen Romance and Young Adult novels under various pseudonyms. As a lover of erotic romance, she enjoys nothing more than a sexy hero paired with a sassy heroine, flavored with a dash of spice and lots of heat. A wife and mother of three, she enjoys reading (of course), cooking, sewing … and other activities that aren’t appropriate for inclusion in a biography.
Tempting the Bluestocking: A Gentleman Courtesans Novella Page 12