He grimaced. “Living in St. Giles was not always…pleasant.”
“Will you tell me about it one day?” she prompted softly.
“Of course,” he agreed readily. “Those ten years helped shape me into the man I am today.”
“Which is one of fairness and kindness.”
James smiled at her indulgently. “I was not sure you thought that a week ago.”
Beatrix looked pained. “Please tell me you understand why I had to do what I did?”
“I do.” He nodded. “I only wish it had been less painful to me. I really thought you did not love me, Beatrix.”
“What made you realize the truth?”
“You did.” He smiled at her lovingly. “We had been friends before, and the Beatrix I love would never be deliberately cruel or hurtful to anyone. Therefore, there had to be a reason for her appearing to be so toward me.”
Tears stung her eyes. “It was never my intention to hurt you, James. I merely wished for you to see me as being a whole and desirable woman. One who is your equal and not in the least in need of your pity.”
“I confess, something your brother said indicated as much.” He sighed heavily. “I had not realized until then how my proposal might have sounded that way to you.” His arms tightened about her. “Please believe I do not see your scars, love, only your beauty, inside and out.”
“I see your own scars as the physical evidence of the things you have suffered through in order to survive and bring you to this place.”
“In bed with the woman I love,” he stated with satisfaction. “I could wish for nothing else.”
Neither could Beatrix.
Epilogue
Ipswich House, London
One year later
“Who would have thought, even twelve months ago, that all of us would be here today, cuddling our sons and heirs, after returning from having them all christened together at St. George’s?” James mused to the four gentlemen, Blackborne, Andover, Winter, and Shaftesbury, seated with him at one end of the sitting room in Ipswich House as he absently rocked his own son in the warm security of his arms.
He glanced across the room to where Beatrix and the other four wives were sitting drinking tea together, their husbands having all offered to entertain their sons while they did so.
As if she were aware of his glance, a warm smile curved Beatrix’s lips as she turned to look at him. They shared a moment of intense love before Beatrix’s gaze dropped to the baby snuggled against James’s chest. Her breasts rose as she seemed momentarily overwhelmed with love for both of them, then her gaze lifted back to meet James’s, and she blew him a kiss before her attention was taken by his sister, Bethany.
“My darling wife is beside herself at having the king not only attend the christening but also stand up as godparent to our son,” James confided to the other gentlemen.
It had been Beatrix’s idea to christen all the babies together, as they had been born with scarcely two months between them.
James had put forward the idea of asking the new king to stand as godparent to their own son, a request echoed by his four friends in regard to their own heirs.
The previous Prince Regent, now King George IV, was never one to stand on ceremony when amongst friends, and he was currently standing across James and Beatrix’s sitting room, involved in what appeared to be a hilarious conversation with James’s three friends from St. Giles.
To James’s relief, Beatrix had taken a great liking to Billy, Arthur, and Sean, and the three were often invited to return home with James at the end of their working day to enjoy a meal with the two of them at Ipswich House. Indeed, Beatrix had told him she believed Billy had taken rather a liking to one of the housemaids, and that the liking was returned.
“My wife had a similar reaction when I made the same request of His Majesty,” Blackborne drawled.
“And mine.” Winter smiled at the sleeping baby in his arms.
“At least my son behaved during the church service.” Shaftesbury remained placid as the baby in his arms now screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Unlike mine.” Andover chuckled indulgently.
Andover’s son had taken an aversion to the water being drizzled on his forehead during the service and made sure everyone was made aware of it. He’d had to be quickly removed from the king’s arms and returned to his mother’s, where he had proceeded to hiccup accusingly through the remainder of the service. Contrarily, he was now fast asleep in his father’s arms and completely unperturbed by the crying of the other baby, who, along with the three others present today, was destined to become one of his closest friends for the rest of their lives.
James glanced affectionately at these four men and their wives. They were as much his family as Beatrix, their month-old son, his sister Bethany, and the three men from St. Giles, who would forever be his brothers of the heart, were.
A family James had once believed would never be his and which he now treasured as much as he did Beatrix, their young son, and any more children that might bless their marriage.
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About the Author
Carole Mortimer is a USA Today Bestselling Author and recipient of the RWA Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award 2015, RT Career Achievement Award 2017, RT Pioneer for Romance
