arouse.
Geoff treasured the moment he put his ring on her finger.
Violet looked up.
There was a candle of affection burning in Geoff’s eyes and somehow she knew it would be an eternal flame. It flared in her too.
When she spoke her words, she said them to him, not the vicar, nor God, nor even the church full of people, but just to him, and his words were for her.
“I now pronounce you man and wife.” The vicar’s voice echoed about the stone church, and then there was applause, started by Lord Barrington who stood beyond Geoff.
Geoff looked back and smiled before facing her again. Then one hand lifted her chin before he pressed a chaste kiss on her lips. “Lady Sparks,” he whispered as he pulled away.
“I like the sound of that.”
“So do I.”
They both smiled as his fingers gripped hers and the vicar asked them to sign the register.
The journey to his sister’s home gave them a few moments of solitude as they travelled in an enclosed carriage and kissed more thoroughly, thinking of their private celebration which would come much later.
They reached the house barely a minute or two before their guests, who passed them with glances at her stomach. Violet ignored them all.
Jane and Robert were the last to come in.
“The Earl and Countess of Barrington,” The Marquess of Kent’s starchy butler intoned, as if they needed introduction. Neither Violet nor Jane made any move to pretend a formal greeting. They swept into each others arms.
Violet felt very different to the women she had been a month ago.
“I am happy for you,” Jane whispered against Violet’s ear, as Geoff shook Robert’s hand.
Then as the men walked towards the dining hall, Violet caught a hold of Jane’s arm. “And I for you, I cannot believe the change in Barrington.”
“He has not changed, Violet, he is just the man I have always known. But you though…”
Jane glanced down at Violet’s stomach and she coloured a little. “Why did you not say?”
“I did not admit it to myself. I could not believe I had been so foolish, and I was terrified of Geoff’s reaction. Still, anyway, he has been wonderful.”
Violet saw fluid glisten in Jane’s eyes and then Jane said quietly. “I am jealous. It is what I desperately want, and Robert too, to make up for the years we have missed. We want a child.”
Violet gripped Jane’s hand and patted it with her free one. “I am sure it will come.” She wished only happiness for her friend.
~
Four months later
“Geoffrey! Robert and Ja… Geoffrey.” Violet’s expression slipped from hasty annoyance to what he knew was devoted pleasure as she stopped just within the nursery door, the door-handle still in her fingers. “Oh Geoffrey, put him down, Jane and Robert have arrived.”
“Peter, do you here that, you mother is banishing you to a lonely crib.”
She swept forward and took their son from where he was snugly cradled in the crook of Geoff’s arm.
He watched her gently lift Peter to her shoulder as the child gurgled into wakefulness.
“And now you have woken him up. You spoil him Geoffrey Sparks, he will be insufferable when he is grown.”
“Can he not come down with us? They will love to see him.”
There was a long-suffering sigh and then a smile. “Oh very well.”
He smiled too.
She loved any excuse to show off their son. He’d known she would not deny him. They were very few hours they did not spend in the nursery.
He stood.
The child had come early. Only two months after their wedding. They’d barely had time to adjust to being husband and wife before they had become parents too. But he was blissfully happy with his new role in life.
His old friends made a joke of it during the odd occasions he ventured out to his gentleman’s club, White’s. He cut them all, disregarding their mocking comments without reply. While men who thought it humorous to mention they had lain with Geoff’s wife, had learned to do so earned them a split lip or a broken
Geoff treasured the moment he put his ring on her finger.
Violet looked up.
There was a candle of affection burning in Geoff’s eyes and somehow she knew it would be an eternal flame. It flared in her too.
When she spoke her words, she said them to him, not the vicar, nor God, nor even the church full of people, but just to him, and his words were for her.
“I now pronounce you man and wife.” The vicar’s voice echoed about the stone church, and then there was applause, started by Lord Barrington who stood beyond Geoff.
Geoff looked back and smiled before facing her again. Then one hand lifted her chin before he pressed a chaste kiss on her lips. “Lady Sparks,” he whispered as he pulled away.
“I like the sound of that.”
“So do I.”
They both smiled as his fingers gripped hers and the vicar asked them to sign the register.
The journey to his sister’s home gave them a few moments of solitude as they travelled in an enclosed carriage and kissed more thoroughly, thinking of their private celebration which would come much later.
They reached the house barely a minute or two before their guests, who passed them with glances at her stomach. Violet ignored them all.
Jane and Robert were the last to come in.
“The Earl and Countess of Barrington,” The Marquess of Kent’s starchy butler intoned, as if they needed introduction. Neither Violet nor Jane made any move to pretend a formal greeting. They swept into each others arms.
Violet felt very different to the women she had been a month ago.
“I am happy for you,” Jane whispered against Violet’s ear, as Geoff shook Robert’s hand.
Then as the men walked towards the dining hall, Violet caught a hold of Jane’s arm. “And I for you, I cannot believe the change in Barrington.”
“He has not changed, Violet, he is just the man I have always known. But you though…”
Jane glanced down at Violet’s stomach and she coloured a little. “Why did you not say?”
“I did not admit it to myself. I could not believe I had been so foolish, and I was terrified of Geoff’s reaction. Still, anyway, he has been wonderful.”
Violet saw fluid glisten in Jane’s eyes and then Jane said quietly. “I am jealous. It is what I desperately want, and Robert too, to make up for the years we have missed. We want a child.”
Violet gripped Jane’s hand and patted it with her free one. “I am sure it will come.” She wished only happiness for her friend.
~
Four months later
“Geoffrey! Robert and Ja… Geoffrey.” Violet’s expression slipped from hasty annoyance to what he knew was devoted pleasure as she stopped just within the nursery door, the door-handle still in her fingers. “Oh Geoffrey, put him down, Jane and Robert have arrived.”
“Peter, do you here that, you mother is banishing you to a lonely crib.”
She swept forward and took their son from where he was snugly cradled in the crook of Geoff’s arm.
He watched her gently lift Peter to her shoulder as the child gurgled into wakefulness.
“And now you have woken him up. You spoil him Geoffrey Sparks, he will be insufferable when he is grown.”
“Can he not come down with us? They will love to see him.”
There was a long-suffering sigh and then a smile. “Oh very well.”
He smiled too.
She loved any excuse to show off their son. He’d known she would not deny him. They were very few hours they did not spend in the nursery.
He stood.
The child had come early. Only two months after their wedding. They’d barely had time to adjust to being husband and wife before they had become parents too. But he was blissfully happy with his new role in life.
His old friends made a joke of it during the odd occasions he ventured out to his gentleman’s club, White’s. He cut them all, disregarding their mocking comments without reply. While men who thought it humorous to mention they had lain with Geoff’s wife, had learned to do so earned them a split lip or a broken
Similar Books
