it sounds like you want me to go to your townhouse.”
He would, though he hadn’t thought she had picked up on it. He considered offering a nonchalant shrug to act as if it didn’t matter to him if she came over or not, but he realized that would be disingenuous of him. If she was going to be honest with him, he owed it to her to return the favor, even if it meant risking rejection.
“I would like it if you came to my townhouse,” he admitted. “I’ve enjoyed these past few weeks. You’re nothing like what I thought you were when we married.”
She offered him a smile that indicated she was pleased by his words. She didn’t say she’d come by and see him sometime, but at least the smile let him know they had a possible future together. And for now, that was enough.
“You mentioned an elephant?” she asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.
With a nod, he led her away from the lion and to the cage with the elephant in it.
***
Another week passed, and Lilly came by with Jackson. Kitty joined Emilia in the drawing room with their friend, and they all enjoyed some tea and crumpets.
At the moment, Emilia was holding Jackson while Lilly told them, in surprising detail, what giving birth was like. It was almost enough to make Kitty think better of ever having children. It sounded like it was a long and painful ordeal. Kitty was tempted to run off to a nunnery for the rest of her life to protect her virtue, but two things stopped her.
One, babies were the cutest little things. Jackson was only a month old, but she’d already grown attached to him. Though she wasn’t Lilly’s sister, she considered herself an aunt to him, and she rather enjoyed the prospect of being a part of his life. Lilly had told her and Emilia that she’d call them both his aunt. “I feel like you two are my sisters,” Lilly had added. “I might have a real sister, but you two are just as close to me as she is.” And Kitty liked that, for she felt like Emilia and Lilly were the sisters she’d never had.
The second reason she decided the ordeal of giving birth would be worth it was how happy Lilly and Emilia were. Lilly’s face glowed with the pleasure of motherhood. Lilly had been happy after Roger had forgiven her for trapping him into marriage, but she seemed much happier now that she and Roger had a child. And though Emilia still had only recently discovered she was expecting a child, she was already having fun coming up with possible names.
So, Kitty came to the conclusion that even though giving birth wasn’t pleasant, it was worth it. She would like to have a child of her own and let Lilly and Emilia be her child’s aunts. It would be nice if her child would be friends with their children. She could already imagine them all going to Hyde Park or spending the day at one of their townhouses. And it might be nice if the child grew up listening to the stories in Aaron’s books.
There was no other father her child could have. Maybe other ladies took lovers, but she didn’t want to do that. She preferred to have the kind of marriage her friends did. They loved their husbands, and their husbands loved them. The children only added to their happiness. Marriage, it seemed, was only worth it if a lady had the right kind of husband.
“Do you want to hold Jackson?” Emilia asked Kitty.
Kitty nodded and accepted the baby in her arms. His eyes grew wide as he focused on her.
“It seems like he doesn’t know what to think about you,” Emilia said.
Kitty chuckled. “I’m sure he’s overwhelmed by everything. I know I would be if I were him.”
“At one time, you were in his situation, and you managed just fine,” Lilly said. “He’s very fortunate to have so many people who love him in his life.”
“It is nice,” Emilia agreed. “Benjamin is hoping for a lot of children. I told him I’ll do my best to make his dream come true.”
Lilly shot Kitty an amused grin. “Is this the same person we saw on her wedding day?”
“She’s not the same person,” Kitty replied, going along with the joke. “I think she’s been replaced by someone who looks like her.”
Lilly giggled then bit into her crumpet.
Emilia rolled her eyes. “So what if