An Earnest Favour

XXVI

Claire knew that if she asked, Jack would give her an honest answer, but she simply couldn't bring herself to ask him, "Do you ever feel repulsed by me?"

And she certainly would not blame him if he did. Surely the thought had to cross his mind now and again that she was this way as a result of another man.

But every night, without fail, Claire had become accustomed to wearing a pair of flesh coloured pantaloons underneath her night dress as Jack liked to see her stomach. Perhaps it was an answer to her question, but to Claire this felt different to affection.

A few nights before Christmas, Claire and Jack were lying in their bed, and Claire shifted the skirt of her night dress up and over her stomach but making sure her chest was modestly covered. Her rounded belly felt the warmth of the crackling fire and Jack leaned up on his elbow to look at her.

As they already had a name picked for the child if it was a boy, Jack had invented a little game to choose a name for a girl. Using his index finger, he would write a name on her stomach and Claire would try to guess it. She was quite good at the game, though she had rejected all of Jack's suggestions.

"I've been thinking of names a lot today, actually," Jack informed her as his index finger brushed her skin lightly, leaving a trail of goosepimples behind it.

Claire shivered. "Oh?"

"I've finally settled on a name for the publishing house."

Jack had been tucked away with Adam for weeks working on the establishment of the business. Jack told her quite a bit of what was going on, but some of the technical terms were foreign to Claire. Jack was planning on travelling to London in the new year to look at potential locations, which meant that at some point, they would be relocating to London, an idea that excited Claire greatly.

"What did you choose?"

"Beresford Press. What do you think?"

Claire smiled. "I like it. It is simple and professional, and bound to be on the inside cover of every fantastic novel ever written in the nineteenth century."

Jack chuckled. "I admire your optimism."

He liked to dismiss praise, but Claire knew Jack was excited. He had purpose, and it was gaining momentum. The rest of the family were still in the dark about Jack's plans at his behest, but Claire could see Jack's growing confidence every day.

"Now, the other names I have been thinking about." Jack began to draw on Claire's belly, causing her to giggle as he brushed over a ticklish spot he had discovered.

Claire concentrated, and was quite certain the name started with an M.

A ... that felt like an A. R ... and Y?

Mary. The Virgin. Claire thought the she might be struck by lightning if she so much as considered the name. "Mary," Claire guessed. "No."

"What's wrong with Mary?" protested Jack, before he quickly got over her rejection and set to writing another name.

Claire correctly guessed and rejected Agatha, Anne and Emma. None seemed quite like the right name, and she couldn't put her finger on why. She supposed she could only hope the baby was a boy so that she wouldn't have to choose a girl's name.

"Alright, I have one more," Jack said finally.

A straight line. I. But then the letters kept going. Was that an O? V? And going. Y? What sort of name had this sort of combination of letters? U. Claire was certain the last letter was a U.