As he was lost to muddled thoughts, a servant entered through the small door next to the hearth with a big, steaming cup in his hand. Christopher pointed to the boy and the servant handed Romney the cup of warm milk. The servant disappeared as Romney sipped at the milk– it had cinnamon, nutmeg and honey in it, making it sweet and delicious. He tried to gulp it down but it was too hot, so he settled for a steady, loud sip.
At some point, Christopher and David broke from their conference and came to sit near Romney. The earl sat silently in a big oak chair while David sat behind Romney on a chair that was really two built into one, crafted from a giant piece of oak. Romney sipped loudly at his milk, watching the men as they gazed at him.
“Do you have a boy, my lord?” Romney asked Christopher.
The earl smiled at him, mostly because Romney had a huge milk ring around his upper lip. “I do,” he replied softly. “I have two daughters and a son who was born to my wife and me last year.”
Romney gulped a hot swallow. “Will he be the earl when he grows up?”
Christopher nodded. “God willing,” he said. “And I understand you have brothers and a sister, too.”
Romney nodded, gulping the last of the cup and dribbling milk onto his tunic. “My brothers are Orin and Brendt,” he told him. “My baby sister is Lacy. She likes to kiss everybody.”
Christopher’s smile grew. “Is that so?”
Finished, Romney set the cup down on the nearest table. “She loves Gart,” he told him. “She wraps her arms around hishead and kisses his cheek until it is all wet. She slobbers all over him.”
Christopher bit his lip to keep from laughing, looking at David to see that the man was silently laughing as well. Neither one of them could imagine the all-powerful Gart Forbes would allow a baby to slobber all over him.
“Well,” Christopher wiped a hand over his beard in an attempt to hide the smile. “That sounds delightful.”
Romney was feeling more at ease now that he had a belly full of warm milk. “One time, she hugged his head so that he could not see. Her arms were over his eyes and when my mother tried to remove her, Gart told her to let Lacy alone. Lacy hugged his head and licked his scalp.”
David couldn’t help it. He burst out into soft laughter, quickly looking away when Romney turned around to look at him. David stood up from his chair, struggling with the mental picture of Gart and a licking baby. But it was at that moment that both brothers began to realize the extent of Gart’s devotion to Lady de Moyon and her children. An ordinary man would not have tolerated a slobbery baby that was not of his loins, but Gart had. Whatever he was feeling for the family went beyond simple lust for the mother. It went deeper than they could imagine.
Sobering, Christopher stood up also and held out a hand to Romney.
“Perhaps it is time for you to return to bed,” he told the boy. “It was an honor to meet you, Master Romney de Moyon.”
Romney took the outstretched hand and Christopher shook his little hand kindly.
“Thank you,” Romney said. “Are you really going to let my mother and me stay here for a while?”
“I really am.”
Romney’s relief was visible. He turned around and David was there, holding open the solar door as Christopher and Romneypassed through it. The hall outside was dark, the entry hall beyond even darker. Romney wasn’t afraid of the ghosts with the big earl walking next to him. As they neared the dark, stone staircase, there was a knock at the front door.
Christopher wasn’t concerned because whoever it was would have had to get past the gate guards first. Trouble didn’t usually come knocking at the front door. David moved past him to answer it. He threw the big, iron bolt and pulled open the panel.
Jonas was standing in the moonlight, wrapped in his heavy traveling cloak. He looked dark and secretive, his eyes darting to the occupants of the entry hall. His expression was taut with seriousness.
“Father Jonas,” David ushered the man inside and out of the cold. “What are you doing here this time of night?”
Jonas pulled the hood off his dark, curly hair. He noticed Christopher on the stairs with a young boy. He had known the earl through his brother, having met the man on a few occasions. He acknowledged him.
“My lord,” he bowed slightly at Christopher before turning to David. “We must speak. Is Forbes here?”
David didn’t like the tone of the man. Something ominous filled him as he nodded.
“He is here.”
“Get him.” Jonas began removing his cloak as a servant suddenly appeared with a lighted taper. The priest tossed his cloak at the hovering servant as he turned back to David. “Quickly. Take me someplace private.”
David immediately took the priest back into the solar as Christopher escorted Romney up to the sleeping chambers on the second floor. He paused in front of the door where Lady de Moyon was sleeping, knowing that Gart was with her. He rapped heavily on the big oak door.
Christopher and Romney stood there a few moments, waiting, finally looking at each other as they heard movement on the opposite side of the panel. Christopher rapped again and Gart yanked the door open a few moments later.
It was clear that Gart wasn’t pleased. Standing in the open doorway, bare-chested and with only his leather breeches on, he was prepared to take someone’s head off until he saw it was the earl. Then he saw Romney and he went from angry to concerned, all in a split-second.
