"Did you sleep well?" Sydney asked Gabrielle the next morning.
"It was a little bit hard to get used to sleeping in a different bed," Gabrielle replied. That wasn't the only reason, or even the main reason, that she had had difficulty sleeping the previous night, but it was the only one she felt comfortable mentioning to him. "Did you sleep well, Sydney?"
Sydney cleared his throat. "As well as could be expected," he muttered, beginning to pace back and forth restlessly. "Listen...it may be too early to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. I love you, Gabrielle Lefevre." He sat beside her and looked at her beseechingly.
"As much as you love Lucie?" she asked.
Sydney looked away. "Lucie's with Charles. She made her choice," he said quietly.
"That doesn't answer my question," Gabrielle said gently.
Sydney sighed. "I do love Lucie still...as a friend. A very dear friend, which she has been for many years now. I admit, I did feel passionate love for her at one time, but that has long ago faded, and all that remains of it is a ghost of a memory." Sydney stood and began to pace again. "I...I wanted you last night, Gabrielle. Quite badly, in fact."
"I know." Gabrielle stared at the floor.
Sydney lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. "Do you love me, Gabrielle?"
She nodded as relief flooded through her. Sydney's lips met her own in a soft kiss. "Let's go find your brother and sister," he told her.
"But...if I do find them, what shall I tell them? They still believe me to be their aunt."
"I see no harm in letting them continue to believe that, at least for the time being. They're still too young to understand the truth."
After several fruitless hours of searching, Sydney took Gabrielle to a quaint little Paris cafe for lunch, and then they resumed their search.
Toward the end of the day, Gabrielle finally found Georges and Genevieve. They both shouted with joy at the sight of the woman whom they believed to be their aunt.
"My darlings!"Gabrielle cried, hugging and kissing them. "I can't begin to tell you how glad I am to see you again!"
"They told us that you were going away and never coming back," said Georges.
"Of course I came back!" Gabrielle laughed. "I had to come back for you, my precious ones!"
"I missed you, Aunt Gabrielle!" cried Genevieve.
"I missed you too, ma cherie. I missed both of you more than words can say. I'm ever so happy to finally see you again. This is Sydney. He's a very dear friend of mine."
"It's ever so lovely to meet you both," Sydney told the children.
Georges and Genevieve were both quite shy around Sydney at first, but when they saw how close he and Gabrielle were, they quickly warmed up to him.
As it was too late in the day to begin the journey back to London, the four of them returned to the inn for the night. Gabrielle slept in the bed with the children, and Sydney slept on the floor. Even if not for the children being there, he wouldn't have trusted himself to spend another night in bed with Gabrielle.
