They reached Adelaide’s room, and he kissed her hand quickly. “Good night, Adelaide. Or good morning, as it were.” He chuckled to himself and released her hand, turning to head toward his own.

“Basset?” she called after him.

He turned back, a little surprised. “Yes?”

Adelaide’s eyes were wide, her breath shaking. “I… I miss you.”

Harrison frowned in confusion and took two steps toward her. “I beg your pardon?”

“I miss you,” she said again, this time more clearly, though her voice still sounded small. She bit down at her lip and nudged her head toward her chambers. “Will you…?”

Oh. That.

She missed him.

His chest exploded in a burst of heat, robbing him of breath. He smiled a little and nodded.

Adelaide returned his smile, exhaling deeply. “Then I shall see you in a moment.” She nodded, apparently satisfied, and moved into her rooms.

Alone in the corridor, Harrison stood still in complete shock, delight and relief and anticipation cascading through him. Filling him. Awakening him. He set his hands on his hips, glancing down at the floor as he laughed softly to himself.

What must it have cost her to admit that? To be so vulnerable and to tell him…

He’d missed her too. Dreadfully. And now…

Now they need not miss each other at all.

He would not take this for granted. Would not mistake it. Would not betray it.

Everything was different between them now, and this felt more like the first time than the first time could ever have hoped to.

This meant far more.

He smiled as he exhaled another breath, swallowed once, and walked into his wife’s rooms, shutting the door firmly behind him.

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

She was miserable, large, and uncomfortable. And uncomfortably large in her misery. And largely miserable in her being uncomfortable.

And still six weeks to go before she could hope to give birth.

Surely the last several weeks of one’s term of carrying a child must have been a stark indication from the Almighty that one ought to think quite carefully about every aspect of the situation before undertaking it ever again. Adelaide was certainly considering her stance on multiple children and wondering how to break the news to Basset that she would certainly not be doing this ever again.

One way or another, this child would be his heir, so he had better prepare his solicitors for arranging everything well enough should the baby be a girl.

He had been very good to her as she had grown more uncomfortable and more outspoken about her being uncomfortable. He was used to her temperament and had never been fully ruffled by it, which made him the ideal candidate for her present situation. She could abuse him all she liked, and he would smile and nod, or ignore her completely, or banter with such alacrity that she felt encouraged rather than defeated.

Unless she cried.