She chuckled. “You may regret asking because I can talk about them for hours! I’ll try to keep it brief. Molly is sixteen. Her real name is Mary, but Molly suits her lively spirit better. She’s even more beautiful than her mother, which is saying a great deal. She’s very clever and has been a wonderful assistant in my dressmaking business. When the children were little, I told them stories of England and she wants to visit there someday, when the war is over.”
“She’ll have her chance soon,” he promised. “What about the other child? I don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl.”
“Trey is fourteen and all boy, for better and worse. He’s well grown for his age and full of energy and charm and curiosity. His real name is Matthew, after his father and grandfather. As the third Matthew, he was nicknamed Trey when he was in the cradle.”
“The legitimate son wasn’t named Matthew?” Gordon asked curiously.
“His mother, Matthew’s first wife, insisted that her son be named Henry for her father,” Callie explained. “I gather she was a difficult woman to argue with.”
Gordon wondered if Matthew Newell thought marrying a sixteen-year-old girl would give him a more docile wife. If so, he’d been wrong, but at least Callie would have listened and discussed, not bullied him. “From the way you talked of your children, I thought they’d be younger, but they’re close to grown.”
“Yes, and I’m learning the age-old lesson that there are new worries as children grow older,” Callie said ruefully. “Molly already attracts too much unwanted attention from men, so I’ve taught her a few ways to protect herself if necessary. Luckily she has a good head on her shoulders and she isn’t likely to fall for a smooth-talking rake.”
He loved the feel of her against him. Gently he stroked her outside arm, bringing her even closer. “What would Trey like to do in his future?”
“He loves machinery and ideas and working with his hands. I’d apprentice him to an inventor if I could find such a thing. Or perhaps to a printer who produces newspapers.”
“Will they receive inheritances from their father?”
“That is a whole other story,” she said tartly. “Matthew drafted a will that left the plantation to his son Henry and generous legacies to Molly and Trey. At my request, he also freed all his slaves after his death. I would be guardian of both children until they came of age. He gave me the draft to read. I made a couple of suggestions that he said he’d incorporate. But he died soon after, and if there was an updated will, it vanished.”
Gordon sucked in his breath. “Let me guess. The only will that could be found was an older one leaving everything to his legitimate son.”
“Exactly. I think Henry destroyed the new will. It wasn’t enough to inherit his father’s property. He wanted the slaves and every penny of his father’s money as well.”
“I suppose there was no legal recourse since you didn’t have a copy of the new will.”
“The story gets worse. Not only was the will gone, but he told me that he intended to sell his brother and sister. Molly would be worth a pretty penny, he told me.” She laughed bitterly. “He generously said I could stay on as his mistress.”
Gordon swore out loud, wishing he’d been around to kill the bastard for her. “So you vanished, and you can’t touch your jointure because that would mean revealing your location. It’s damnable!”
“I try not to think about any of that because it makes me feel murderous and there isn’t anything I can really do except pray that he isn’t looking for us anymore. He has everything now and nothing to fear from me. But I hate that Molly and Trey won’t receive what they’re entitled to.” She sighed. “They might be safer in England.”
“I was sent to take you and yours there,” he said mildly. “All you have to do is say that’s what you want.”
“England is expensive. I don’t know if I can earn enough to support the household,” she said. “I’d be starting all over again, and I don’t want charity from my family even if any is offered.”
“You can marry me,” he suggested. “I’m not hugely wealthy, but I have enough to keep you and your family comfortably. I can dower Molly and help Trey achieve what he wants. Perhaps he might want to go to university.”
She glanced up at his face, startled. “Thank you, but I’m not that desperate.”
He burst into laughter. “Callie, if I ever deluded myself into thinking I’m attractive to women, you’ve thoroughly destroyed the notion.”
“Sorry!” She joined his laughter. “It’s a kind offer, but well beyond what you were hired to do. I don’t want to marry anyone, and I’m sure you can do better than me if you decide you want a wife.”
No, he couldn’t. But now was obviously not the time to say that. “The offer is open,” he said casually. “Should you become sufficiently desperate.”
“I keep telling myself not to worry. My world is in flux and no great decisions can be made until I see what happens.”
“Every family has a designated worrier, and usually it’s the woman.”
“You’re suggesting that even if I can’t stop myself from worrying, I should try not to make myself insane with it?”
“That’s about it,” he agreed. “Time for bed now. Though perhaps warm milk with sugar and brandy would help you sleep better.”
She smiled. “That will take me back to my childhood. Did my nanny give yours the recipe, or did your nanny give it to mine?”
“I forget. Shall we look for the kitchen and see if we can stir up a couple of mugs of relaxation?”
