Read A Clockwork Heart for Free Online Page B

something for you. To wear in the dark.” He sauntered over to where she was sitting and produced a flat velvet box from behind his back. “For you, my dear wife.” He opened the box with a flourish.
    She gasped. A diamond-and-emerald necklace along with a pair of matching earrings nestled inside its cushioned interior. “Oh Hugh, they are magnificent. But aren’t they a little much for an evening out with the Mandevilles?”
    He laughed. “And don’t forget dinner at Simpson’s. Everyone is going to be looking at the breathtakingly beautiful Viscountess Greychester this evening. And what kind of a husband would I be if I didn’t drape my wife in the most extravagant jewels money could buy?”
    She touched one of the earrings and it twinkled back at her.
    â€œI asked the bank to withdraw my mother’s jewels from the Greychester family vault when we got back from our trip. I was planning to give these to you for your birthday, but you were so cross this morning that I thought these might cheer you up a little.”
    â€œI’m sorry about that,” she said. “I may have overreacted a little.”
    He shrugged. “You were right. Things had become a little out of hand by the time you arrived. Seeing you so angry this morning made me pause to think. It has been a very long time since there has been a Lady Greychester in this house and even longer since anyone wore these jewels, so I thought it was high time to do something about it.” He set the box down on the little table behind him and lifted up the necklace. “I asked Edie what you were wearing tonight and when she said that it would be this dress …” He motioned to the ludicrously expensive Worth creation she was wearing. It was layer upon layer of gold and ivory silk and lace with a subtle floral pattern woven into the fabric. “I thought the emeralds would be perfect.” He draped the necklace around her neck and gently he placed a kiss on the back of her neck, just below the clasp.
    Elle felt a shiver of pleasure at his touch. “They’re beautiful,” she murmured.
    â€œBetter keep away from Adele when you are wearing them, though.”
    Elle laughed. The last time Elle had worn diamonds, Adele had used them to escape from the café in Paris where she had been forced to work.
    â€œShall I help you with your gloves?” He raised an eyebrow at her.
    â€œHugh, you are so naughty,” she said but handed him the long ivory-colored gloves with the satin-covered buttons. Who was she to deny a gentleman his pleasure?
    â€œIs my father ready?” Elle asked as she slipped her hand into the first glove.
    â€œYes, between Neville and Mrs. Hinges, they have worked miracles. The professor is a new man,” he said as he slid the fabric up her arm, sending little shivers through her.
    â€œSometimes it is hard to distinguish who is the parent and who is the child when it comes to my father. It was wonderful fun when I was a child, but as I grow older, I do worry about him,” Elle said, trying to keep her thoughts on matters mundane, but finding it increasingly difficult.
    â€œThe professor is quite capable of looking after himself. You worry too much about other people, my darling,” Marsh said as he started doing up the tiny buttons.
    Elle sighed with pleasure and she felt herself flush as his fingers caressed the buttons. He closed the last button and placed a kiss on the delicate skin that was left exposed on her upper arm between the sleeve of her dress and the top of the glove.
    â€œAnd you spend far too little time on yourself,” he said in a low voice that suggested that they were definitely going to be late for the opera.
    Elle cleared her throat. “It takes so much work to run a household. I had no idea. Life was so much simpler when—” She broke off her sentence when she realized what she was about to say.
    Marsh