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My, my, have you ever seen such a nauseatingly tender, sickeningly domestic, scene?" drawled a voice that was, despite the words, ripe with amusement. Turning, Charles saw Lucien, with Gareth, Nerissa, and Juliet standing beside him. "Congratulations. And what will our newest de Montforte be named, eh?" "Mary," said Charles, getting to his feet. "After both our mothers." "Mary Elizabeth," Amy added, gazing at her husband and daughter. "A girl, then," murmured Lucien. "A girl." Charles came forward, holding a fold of the blanket back so that everyone could see his daughter. He was beaming with excitement. Bursting with pride. "Isn't she just beautiful? Have you ever seen anything so precious? Look at her little fingers! Look at that head of black hair! Look how perfect, how sweet, how exquisite she is —" Lucien shook his head, secretly amused that something so tiny could reduce not only a de Montforte, but an army major, to this. With a heavy sigh, he raised a brow and looked at the Wild One. "It would seem, my dear Gareth, that I owe you ten pounds after all," he murmured, with a rueful smile that could not disguise his delight in having yet another niece to spoil. "Though how you knew it would be a girl is beyond me." A sudden gust of wind lashed the window, peppering it with rain. "That's how I knew," said Gareth, handing Gabriel to Juliet and picking up a squirming Charlotte. "With a storm on the make, how could we have expected anything but a female!" Laughter rang around the room at his wry observation. Congratulations and well-wishes were said, and Mary Elizabeth de Montforte was passed around so that all could see her. After inspecting his new niece, Lucien, feeling more than a little smug for his part in getting yet another brother safely married off, moved to the door. "I say, Luce, where are you going?" Charles asked. Lucien smiled. "Well, someone's got to tell Andrew,
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