A Cantata of Love (The Code Breakers 4) by Jacki Delecki Page B

Yvette or Mimi?”
    “Forget Yvette and Mimi. I never would have…” He shook his head and gave her his lost puppy look that always softened her. He didn’t know the potent effect his sorrowful, apologetic looks did to her insides…to her heart.
    “Oh, Gabby, you’re too innocent. All men have pasts.”
    “And is your past filled with a lot of Yvettes and Mimis?”
    “Gabby.” He leaned forward and pushed one of her errant curls behind her ear.
    His tender touch sent tremors and shivers through her body, making her heart sing.
    “The past doesn’t matter. It is only the future that matters. And my future is only filled with Gabby.” His voice lowered while he gently touched her cheek.
    She leaned into his rough, warm hand. She wanted to believe the past made no difference, but she could never escape her past. She would always be pursued for her lineage and wealth while Napoleon was in power. Was it too much to hope for a future together with Michael. “We must stay apart.” If she didn’t love him, the separation wouldn’t hurt this much.
    The door swung open. Gabby pulled away from Michael as he jumped to his feet.
    Gwyneth, with Amelia, swept into the room. “Morley told me of your arrival, Lord Kendal.” Gwyneth looked between them. “Did I dally long enough?”
    “Lady Gwyneth.” Michael bowed, missing Gwyneth’s raised eyebrows, which were directed at Gabby.
    “And Miss Bonnington.” Michael’s voice had turned to teasing. “About to be married? I go away for a few months, and my sister marries a humorless chap and you’re about to marry a brute.”
    Amelia snickered. “Derrick isn’t a brute. He is just a very large man.”
    Gwyneth sat next to Gabby. She whispered, “Everything all right?”
    Gabby smiled and nodded.
    “A large man, you say?” Michael walked toward Amelia as if stalking her. “Amelia, how risqué!”
    Amelia tried to punch Michael’s shoulder, but he dodged her arm and lifted her in his arms and swung her in a circle. “Now, there’s my favorite tomboy.”
    Watching the easy friendship between Michael and Amelia stirred Gabby’s feelings of envy and loss. All her friends lucky enough to escape the guillotine had fled France or were in hiding.
    Amelia laughed heartily.
    He swung her once more. “My sister with a man who doesn’t care about linguistics. And you with a man who doesn’t look like he can run between the Cricket posts.”
    “Incorrigible.” Amelia huffed when Michael put her down. She straightened the bandeau holding her flowing red hair. “I can see your adventure in France hasn’t made any difference in your sense of propriety. Miss Gabby has her work cut out for her.”
    Michael turned and winked at Gabby as if she were used to twirling and laughing in drawing rooms. And, in that moment, she wanted a lifetime of twirling and laughing with Michael.

Chapter Fourteen

    Michael held his position in front of the mirror until he could no longer stand it. He exhaled loudly, impatient for his ham-fisted valet to tie his cravat. “Too tight, old man.”
    “It wouldn’t be if you didn’t jump around like a dog with ticks.”
    “Tut, tut. Manners, Denby.”
    “Yes, my lord.” Denby pulled hard on the white linen, causing Michael to jerk his head back, as his valet intended.
    “Denby, pack your bags. Your services are not needed now that we’ve left France.”
    “That’s not what Lord Rathbourne said.” Denby assisted Michael into his jacket. “He said I was to keep an eye on you with your new assignment.”
    “My new assignment is to entertain an opera singer. How dangerous can that be?”
    “Women can be more treacherous than men,” Denby growled. “They use their erotic charms on you, and before you know it you’re believing everything they say.”
    Michael had only met one dangerous woman, a crafty woman disguised as a schoolboy. Gabby’s gentle nature and sweet voluptuous body were a formidable and irresistible trial. Her rounded