Shev by Tracey Devlyn

covered the strong arm wrapped around her middle with hers and buried her face in her pillow.
    Two and a half months left—it would have to be enough.
    Sleep proved elusive that night.

 
    Chapter Twelve
     
    Marcus watched his lover and daughter pick their way down the wide, shallow stream, searching for curious things.
    Jacqueline had begged him to join them. But Marcus had not yet succeeded in shucking off years of measuring every word, evaluating every movement. Making sure he played his part well.
    Being Somerton’s eyes and ears had given him a purpose when he’d needed it most. The spymaster had recognized a young man spiraling out of control, indulging too many senses, too fast. Instead of wasting his life away in gaming hells, racecourses, exclusive brothels, and God knows what else, Marcus inserted himself unobtrusively in political conversations and lavished attention on bored wives of powerful men.
    Over the years, he had alerted Somerton to no less than two attempted bombings, three scheduled riots, one planned assassination, and five greedy statesmen whose loyalty swung toward whichever country held the largest banknote.
    Somerton had helped him become a man, saving his deteriorating relationship with his father and preparing him for the day when he would become the next Marquess of Shevington. A patriarch. A husband. A father.
    His gaze lingered on Anne’s delicate profile. Over a decade of attending balls, soirees, musicales, and an assortment of other mind-numbing gatherings, he had never met a young lady for whom he’d felt a deep attraction. He had assumed that he was incapable of romantic love.
    But Anne—dear, sweet, beautiful, intelligent, secretive Anne—now forced him to reassess his future. A future that he had been so certain would have been bereft of color. Life. Happiness.
    He could not go back to that monotone existence. Not after the last three days. Days spent with Anne and Jacqueline, getting to know them, envisioning them as a family.
    No, he could not go back. Not if it meant giving them up. He would ask Anne to marry him this evening, when they were alone.
    She wouldn’t be pleased. Well, maybe she would for a split second before the challenges of their situation set in. Not insurmountable challenges, but obstacles to overcome all the same. Obstacles he would decimate if they proved too stubborn to step aside.
    “Too much fresh air, my lord?” Anne asked.
    Startled, Shev realized his thoughts had pulled him deep into his mind, blinding him to everything around him. Anne stood a few feet away from where he lounged against a tree. Jacqueline wandered about the field behind her, abandoning the stream for wildflowers. “Not at all. Are you ready to return?”
    She shook her head. “It’s too fine a day to be cooped up inside. I asked because of your fierce expression.”
    He smiled to ensure his features were free of his troubled thoughts. “My unpleasant expression might have had something to do with the multi-legged creature currently blazing a trail up the inside of my trousers.” Shev gave his leg several hard shakes as if to dislodge the unwanted insect.
    Merriment crinkled the corners of her eyes. “If you sustain a bite, Mrs. Eppelwhite will be happy to apply a dollop of her special salve to the area.”
    An image of him standing in front of his kneeling housekeeper, with his trousers about his ankles and Mrs. Eppelwhite reaching out to tend the bite wound located on his inner thigh, sent a violent shudder down Shev’s spine.
    “I’ll thank you not to torment my active imagination,” he all but growled. “I’ll never be able to look at my housekeeper in quite the same way again.”
    “Do not fault me for the direction of your impure thoughts. I only mentioned the salve.”
    “How did I miss the vixen lurking beneath the governess’s façade?”
    “Most people see only what they expect to see.”
    “I am rather more observant than most people.” The truth hung