Page 127 of Miss Vincent’s Vow

“You mean?”

Cassandra looked shyly up at him and nodded. “I wanted to leave it a little longer, just to make sure,” she said, glaring up at her sister, “but there’s no denying it now. I’m expecting our first baby.”

Jethro didn’t know whether he was standing on his hands or his heels. He was going to be a father.

“I’ll send for the doctor at once. You must rest. I—”

“A grandchild on the way?” Mr Wade asked in awed accents. “Please, let me be there for your boy.”

“God might give us a girl,” Cassandra said, her eyes twinkling up at Jethro’s father.

“Boy or girl—I don’t care. If you won’t permit me to be a grandparent in the regular manner, allow me to stand as their godfather. Please.”

Whether it was the desperation in his voice or the gentleness in his expression, Jethro knew he could not refuse his request.

His eyes welled up as he glanced at Cassandra, who nodded in agreement, and then he turned back to his father. “We would like that.”

Using his wife’s condition as an excuse, Jethro sent his visitors away as soon as they’d finished their tea, and they retired for the night.

He sat down on his bed and pulled her down beside him. “When were you going to tell me?”

She tilted her head to one side, in the way he found so adorable. “Tonight. Are you pleased?”

“Ecstatic—though somewhat overwhelmed.”

“I’m delighted you’ve agreed to let your father be part of our child’s life. We have a lot to thank him for. If you hadn’t wanted to impress him, you would never have married me.”

“What a dreadful thought,” Jethro said. “I love you, Cassandra, and I’m so glad I married you.”

“I’m glad I married you, too.”

“You do remember you vowed to love me?”

“I do,” she said, kissing him on the nose.

“And you vowed to obey me?”

“Yes.”

He pulled Cassandra close to him and cupped her face with his hands.

“Kiss me,” he whispered in her ear.

And she did.