A de Russe Christmas Miracle by Kathryn Le Veque

Author:Kathryn Le Veque [Veque, Kathryn Le]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Medieval
Published: 2019-01-04T22:00:00+00:00

Part Three:

The Stranger

GASTON WASN’T ASLEEP.

He should have been, and he knew his wife had give him a poppy powder prescribed by the physic, but he was fighting it. He knew that Dane had arrived because he could see the remnants of the Shrewsbury escort in the bailey down below. That was both the curse and the advantage of having windows that faced out over the bailey; he could see everything that was going on.

And that had him restless.

Even so, he was exhausted to the bone, which was ironic consider he didn’t do anything these days. He stayed to his chamber, he drank the warm milk his wife gave him and ate the pea soup with bits of pork fat in it that he liked. He pretended to be more invalid than he really was because it kept Remington with him longer, tending to his every need, and then he felt guilty because he could see the grave concern in her eyes.

But the truth was that he was concerned, too.

Whatever was tearing up his throat had moved into his lungs; he could feel it. He’d very nearly lost his voice and there were times when he coughed so hard that blood came up. The physic told him that was because the cancer had moved into his lungs, but Gaston swore the physic to secrecy on that. He didn’t want Remington knowing that because she had enough to worry over. Sometime soon, he was going to leave her with only his memory to keep her warm, and that was tearing him apart. He didn’t want to leave her and, these days, she had enough to worry over.

Which was why he didn’t go running downstairs to see Dane. As if he could actually run. He hadn’t run in months; probably years. He knew the moment he went to the hall, Remington would be stricken with worry, and he didn’t want to cause her any undue grief. But he very much wanted to see Dane, and his other children, and his grandchildren.

There were times when Remington would forbid the grandchildren entry into his chamber because they would jump all over his bed, but he would send Trenton to sneak them up the servant’s stairs when Remington was occupied elsewhere. Trenton had become his cohort in crime, but it had brought the two of them even closer than ever. His eldest son, who he’d been intermittently estranged from until last year, had become his closest friend.

He was grateful for small mercies.

So, Gaston stood at the window, watching the clouds gather overhead as a snowstorm threatened. It was Christmas Eve and, given his health, he wondered if it would be the last one he ever saw. That thought caused him to summon his courage about going down to the hall; he wanted to spend all the time he could with his family, even if moving and talking was a great labor for him. He didn’t want to miss anything. Remington would fuss at him, but he hoped she would understand why he was exerting himself.

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