The Chocolatier's Wife (65 page)

It
was
a
possessive
and
rather
rash
move
on
his
part,
causing
Cecelia
to arch
her eyebrows.

Tasmin
blushed and
looked a
little bewildered.

“Congratulations,” Ayers said,
breaking
the oddness of the moment.

“We’re
married,”
William
said
softly.
“Well,
at
least
according
to
the
traditions of the
Wendou
Islands
.”

“Oh.”
She
took
her
hand back and
used
the
knife
to
stir
the
mixture, turning
away
as
if
wholly
occupied
by
the
spell.
He
was
starting
to
feel damned
foolish.
When
had
she
taken
his
self-confidence away?
Or
was
it merely
recent
events
that
had
taken it?
But
she
turned
and
smiled
at
him over
her shoulder, and
it felt like a
kiss.

“Always
charging
in,”
Cecelia
muttered.
“I
shall
be
sweeping
the
floors
at the shop front.
Come along,
Mister Ayers.”

“Roderick,
milady.”

“I
remember.
Come
along
anyway,
and
we
can
rearrange
the
tables
and chairs
in
a
more
pleasing fashion.”

“Don’
t
forge
t
th
e
tabl
e
cloths,
”
Tasmi
n
sai
d
absentl
y
a
s
sh
e
use
d
th
e
knife t
o
pus
h
th
e
mi
x
int
o
th
e
wood
.
Th
e
grai
n
seeme
d
t
o
par
t
fo
r
th
e
blade
,
then co
m
e
b
a
c
k
togethe
r
,
fo
r
sh
e
lef
t
n
o
t
a
mar
k
o
n
th
e
doo
r
,
bu
t
h
e
coul
d
se
e
th
e
blad
e
g
o
deep.

“Now.
Only
our
blood
can
open
the
door.
Which does
mean
that
your parents
and
brother
can
open
it,
but
I
could
hardly
exclude
you
from your own
pantry,
could
I?
If
anyone
else
tries
it,
the
door
will
not
open
for
them. The
wood
will
bind
itself
to
the
wood
of
the
frame
and wall.
If
they
get
too close
to
it
they
will
feel
loathing
and
fear
so
deep
it
would
be
impossible
for them to get close enough to, say, try and break it down or set fire
to it.”

“Clever,” he said,
taking
the bowl from
her and
setting it aside.

“Thorough,” she
corrected,
but
he
ignored
it,
tipping
her
chin
up.
He kissed
her,
his
hands
on
her
waist.
After
a
second
she
returned
it,
the
hand holding
the
athame
seeking
the
counter. He
took
her
wrist,
careful
not
to touch
her
knife,
and
led
it
to
the
table.
She
let
the
blade
go,
and
slipped her
arms
around his
shoulders.
He
had
to
lift
her
a
little
to
make
the
kiss comfortable, but it was quite worth it.

Cecelia punched his shoulder. “Exactly what is this?”

“But we’re married,”
Tasmin
said,
a
little breathless.

“This
is not Wendou.
And
you do not want it to be Wendou.”

“I
was
merely
thanking
her
for
her
kind efforts
on
my
behalf,”
William said inn
o
cently, unwilling to let her go.

“Buy
her
chocolates,”
Cecelia
said
sweetly,
and
took
Tasmin’s arm.
“I think
we
are
expected
back.
Come
now,
dear.”
Tasmin slipped
away
from him
and
he
placed
his
hands
behind
his
back
so
he
would
not
reach
for
her again.

“Was
she this overbearing
with you?” she asked over
her shoulder.

“Worse! The men used to call her Captain!”

“I only
act
this
way
so
that
you
will
be
used
to
being
bullied
when
you are
wed,” Cecelia said.

“I
would
never
bully
a
sensible
and
lovely
lady
such
as
Tasmin,”
he protested.

“No,
you
save
it
for
people
who
treat
everything
lightly.
What exactly does that mean?”

William
didn’t
understand
what
she
was
asking
and
was
about
to
say as
much
when
Tasmin
sighed
loudly,
and
said,
“I
thought
you
wanted to
leave?”
She
took
Cecelia’s
arm.
“I
do
want
to
comment,
though,
that perhaps
the
tables
should
be
placed
more
in
an
arc,
do
you
see?
To
take
full advantage of the light from
the wi
n
dows.”

“I
still
want
to
know
what
the
rest
of
that
letter
says,”
Cecelia
muttered. Tasmin’s reply
could
not
be
heard,
for
she
had
gone
outside.
Cecelia followed, and
the door shut quietly.

“We
need
a
cow
bell
for
the
door,” Ayers
said,
“like
on
the
apothecary, sir.”

William
wondered
how
much
fun
the
sprites
would
have
with
that.
Ah,
well. The
door
was
too
silent;
they
could
use
something
to
help
the
matter.
“That is a capital idea. But see if you can find
something that’s not a cow bell.”

“I
might have
just the thing in
mind,
sir.”

Chapter
20

Anitil thirteenth,
Pale
Moon Quarter, 1790

Dear
William,

The first
thing I do every morning is go to the courier’s office and
see
what
news
they
bring from the
sea.
I
hear
rumors and rumors of
rumors, the
Tregaurde
is sunk,
the
Tr
e
gaurde
has defeated
the
Pandora,
the
Tregaurde
has
made port but many hands
were lost. In
all your years
at
sea,
I
knew
you
were in danger.
I
accepted
that
if
I
did not get
a
letter from you
around the
normal time it could mean
that
I
would never
see
a
n
other. Never
before
now have
I
ever,
truly, feared
for you.
It
is odd; it is uncomfortable,
and
quite unjust that
you
should be
so far
away that
even
the
wind will not tell me how
you
fare.