“I didn’t order anything for you. I thought after this we could find something with more stout refreshments.”
“That would be immensely appreciated. But first, I want to give you this,” he said, putting a small box on the table. The box was made with embroidered gold detail.
“Caius,” she said, her insides clenching in excitement. He’d told her he was seeking a gift for her. In fact, he tended to find all sorts of curious gifts to give her. Pearl earrings back in London, an engraved silver box in Calais, and now this.
Opening the box, inside sat a small golden birdcage on top of a bed of black velvet. It was meticulous in detail and had a rounded top where a circle would take a chain at the very top. “It’s beautiful.”
“There’s a little lever you can pull. There,” he said, pointing to the impossibly small lever at the side. With her fingernail, she pulled it and the little golden bird flapped its wings. A small door opened the cage. “That is marvelous. Thank you. I will treasure it.”
Her chocolate arrived and she carefully placed the small birdcage down on its bed. It was a gift that she could imagine a child would examine with wonder. Maybe their children. It hurt her heart to imagine it. She would have to show it to Rosie and Philip when she saw them next.
Caius was regarding her. “What?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he said with a smile. “Do you wish to go to the theater tonight?”
“That could be nice.”
It had been a long time since she’d had nothing particular to do. They could just roam the city and do whatever pleased them. Back in London, she’d tended to stay with Caius every night, but come morning, she’d returned to her house and business. They’d existed in a strange in-between state, being half together as a couple but not fully.
It hadn’t been her intention, but come the evening and the dark, she ached for him, an ache so compelling it drove her into his arms every night.
“I am too impatient,” Caius had declared one morning with finality, then he’d stolen her away across the channel where no distractions drew her away and they could spend long, lazy days together in a wintery city.
"Perhaps we should buy a gift for Octavia as well, because I expect she’s less than pleased we’ve snuck away to Paris with barely any notice. She’ll say we’ve eloped.”
“One cannot elope with one’s wife. In terms of planning a wedding, which is what she really wants, she is going to have to organise her own. I expect that would be a much easier task than facilitating Julius’,” Caius said tartly. “Although I’ll commend her if she achieves it.”
They had been to quite a few balls, and while Jane had enjoyed every one of them, Julius had danced with barely a handful of people, and he’d lamented each one. “Yes,” Eliza said with a sigh. Getting Julius to be an active participant in his search for a wife was proving difficult.
The hot chocolate was warming her and she sighed with contentment. “It is a beautiful city.”
“We don’t have to go home, you know,” Caius said.
The idea was shocking to her for a moment. Her mind raced, thinking of all the things the business needed. Teresa would balk at the notion, but would she really? Teresa was there to manage things, and she was perfectly capable of doing what needed to be done. The business wouldn’t fall to pieces without her.
Maybe it was that last step away from safety that gave her pause. If she handed the reins of the business to Teresa, which she could do without any great impact, then she would have to fully embrace being Lady Warwick. It was a reality she’d been aware of, but hadn’t fully come to terms with. The truth was, though, that if she was to accept him and this marriage to the full extent, she would have to embrace the identity that came with it.
“We could go further south. Italy. Maybe find our way down to the Mediterranean.”
The proposition was so tempting. They could just be the two of them for a while longer, learn to be a couple again without the distractions of Jane and Julius, Octavia and the business. It would be so easy to get caught up in what everyone else needed and should do. And Italy—she'd only ever dreamt she would see it. “They don’t need us, do they?”
“I think at times it is better to let everyone tread water for themselves.”
“Is that what we are doing? Treading water?”
“Yes, and we are doing so marvelously. Now, let’s walk along the Seine and see what we find. We have a few hours before supper.”
Finishing the last of her chocolate, she rose and her hand snuck into the crook of his elbow, where it felt so natural for her to be. Was there anything better than a leisurely walk in the snow? No, she couldn’t think of it.
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Other Books by Camille Oster
The Discarded Wife - Victorian London is a cruel place for a divorcee, but with the death of Sophie Duthie’s beloved second husband, she is now a widow, and independent for the first time in her life. She might not have much in terms of means, but with the help of her music shop, she can support herself and her son, Alfie. Even though her second marriage was happy, Sophie is done with husbands. Her first marriage taught her well that fairy tales are nothing more than illusions.
To Lord Aberley, his former wife is nothing but a scheming pariah, and unfortunately, his subsequent engagement wasn’t successful—not that he’s ever had much delusions about marriage. It is something he now wishes to avoid at all costs, but he needs an heir. It is the one duty he cannot overlook, so learning that his former wife’s son is six years old, creates serious doubt about his true parentage. Seeing the child only confirms it. Alfie Duthie is his child.
An Absent Wife - The desertion of his wife came as a complete surprise to Lord Lysander Warburton, even as he readily admits he never excelled as a husband. Running off with a lowly lieutenant was in line with her consistent talent for being disagreeable. Never more so when he learns her supposed demise from cholera turns out not to be true. Unfortunately there is no choice but to retrieve his troublesome and wayward wife.
Amongst Silk and Spice - Sir Hugo Beauford had no idea what to expect when the king summoned him from Calais, away from the battles securing the French throne for their English king. A quest to find the Earl of Chanderling’s wayward daughter was not something he wanted, but being a knight in the king’s service, he was duty-bound to fulfill his king’s wishes - even if the bothersome girl he remembered had last been heard of in Venice. He’d never had plans to travel as far east as Venice, let alone much farther as this quest took more effort than he could have imagined - including dragging an unwilling and continuously challenging young woman across the known world.
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The Nuisance Wife Page 19