I shrugged. "You have this secret thing between you, so what am I supposed to expect when she looked so, I don't know, radiant."
"Do you want me to tell you? I don't think she'll mind really."
I looked at him, surprised. "I don't want you to break a confidence."
He waved his hand as if to dismiss my concerns. "If it will make you feel better." He stood and moved away, sitting back down on a chair opposite from mine. I hated that I suddenly missed his closeness.
"Matilda was, is, very happy and she is indeed pursuing love."
I sat up, scowling.
"In the purest form I know," he added, cutting off my objection. "She wants to be a mother."
I could feel my mouth hanging open. "A mother?"
"And it's your fault, by the way." I could see Charles was enjoying this, stringing it out while I sa
