The Duke's Sword (The Duke’s Guard Book 1) by C.H. Admirand

Author:C.H. Admirand [Admirand, C.H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2022-06-29T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

“Precious,” Gwendolyn whispered as she pressed her lips to the little one’s forehead. As she rocked Richard, she began to hum. Instead of closing his eyes, he was watching her. “You’re going to be a charmer,” she told him, wondering yet again how someone so tiny could grab hold of her heart so quickly.

Tracing the tip of her finger along the arch of one eyebrow and then the other, she crooned, “You are supposed to fall asleep when I hum to you, dear one. It’s going to be your sister’s turn to rock, but I know you’ll fuss if I put you in your cradle unless you are ready to fall asleep.”

Her mother’s trick to get her to fall asleep when she was a babe seemed to be working on Richard. Continuing the soothing motion of tracing one eyebrow and then the other as she hummed, he finally closed his eyes.

“That’s it, find your sleep, Richard. I hear your sister beginning to fuss. She knows it’s her turn.”

When the little one in her arms settled into the rhythmic pattern of slumber she had been waiting for, she sighed in satisfaction. Without missing a beat—or missing a note, she continued to hum the lullaby as she rose to her feet and slowly walked over to his cradle. “There now, sweet babe,” she whispered. “Sleep.”

“No need to fuss,” she soothed his sister. “I’m here until your mamma comes back. You know I’ll take good care of you for her.” Lifting Abigail into her arms, she walked back over to the rocking chair, sat, and began to hum the lullaby that lulled her brother to sleep.

As Abigail quieted, and snuggled closer, another piece of the wall surrounding Gwendolyn’s heart cracked. Although she knew it was beyond time to move on with her life and open her heart and truly begin to live again, it was times like these when she knew she had to do all in her power to protect her heart. If she opened her heart and loved with all her being again, only to lose the ones she loved a second time, she would not survive.

Humming softly, she watched with wonder as the tiny babe in her arms fought to stay awake. Tracing the arch of one brow and then the other, she marveled that something so simple could soothe one so little.

By the time she’d managed to lull both babes to sleep, she was more than ready to spend a part of her afternoon break outside before returning to share her latest observations about the twins with Persephone over a cup of tea and hopefully a scone or two. She’d grown quite fond of Constance’s lavender scones.

“Are they still asleep?” Mollie asked, entering the nursery.

“Richard’s been asleep for half an hour. I just this moment settled Abigail in her cradle. They should sleep for a while longer. Is Her Grace resting?”

Mollie sighed. “She was rushing about earlier looking for His Grace. Then I heard she was outside speaking with O’Malley.

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