“Ow!”
“Oh no!” he heard his mother exclaim as he wrapped his arms around Jeremy’s body and lifted him up and away from Amelia.
“No, no, no!” Jeremy chanted, legs kicking, while Thomas walked from the room and climbed the stairs to the nursery. There, he lowered himself to the floor and held on tight while Jeremy cried in his arms.
“Does this happen often?” Amelia asked the dowager duchess as she followed her through the house to the garden. The day was warm and pleasant, the fragrant scent of jasmine and roses so enticing Amelia could not resist taking a closer look at the flowers. Some birds twittered from a nearby tree, adding to the charm of the overall experience.
“Only when Jeremy gets overly excited. He... is not spoiled, you know. The reaction he had in there was not simply on account of him being deprived the fun he was having.” The dowager duchess sighed. “It is not so simple, and perhaps I was wrong to invite you here and to show you. Coventry is bound to have a few choice words with me later.”
“Because he wouldn’t want me to know that he has a son who is... slightly different from other children?” When the dowager duchess’s eyes filled with pain, Amelia placed her hand on her arm in comfort.
“He believes it is his responsibility to protect Jeremy before all else.”
“And rightfully so,” Amelia said as they began a slow walk. “The world can be incredibly cruel.” She knew that firsthand. Considering how hurt she had been as an adult by a few unkind words, she couldn’t imagine what it might do to a little boy.
“It is not that Coventry does not trust you, but you have to understand that this is his closest kept secret. It is in his nature to protect it as well as he can.”
“Then he may indeed consider my coming here a betrayal.”
“A necessary one, I should think,” the dowager duchess said with a sad little smile. She glanced at Amelia as they followed a path leading back to the terrace.
Her tone caught Amelia’s attention. “How do you mean?”
“Only that I want him to be happy and that I hope my actions today will accomplish that in the end.”
Her cryptic remark gave Amelia pause, but she had no time to analyze it in detail since Coventry returned at that same moment, eating up the distance between them with a solid stride. He reached them in under five seconds.
“Mama.” His eyes were full of seriousness. “Might I speak with Lady Amelia in private?”
“Of course. I need to remove a few dry petals from some of those flowers over there anyway.”
Amelia watched her walk away and instantly wished she could stay by her side. Instead, she now had to face the tall presence of the man who stood before her. He wasn’t smiling, but he didn’t look angry or high-handed either, which was of some relief since she was quite tired of being annoyed with him, as well. Because although it still hurt to have him push her away, she understood his reason for doing so better now, even though she would have to make him understand how unnecessary it had been.
“Your mother was right to bring me here,” she said. One dark eyebrow rose into a pointed arch. “And you were mistaken when you decided to treat Jeremy as if there is something wrong with him.”
“He is not like other boys, Amelia.”
“Perhaps not, but that doesn’t mean that he should be hidden away in this house. What will that teach him?”
Sighing, he shoved his hands in his pockets. “I do not know. You saw the way he reacted in there. Imagine what would happen if he had such an episode out in public. He would be ridiculed—laughed at.”
“By some, I’ll grant you that. But I would never be that cruel. Nor would Huntley or Gabriella or Juliette. Surely you know that.” He nodded a little but did not look entirely convinced, so she decided to be as candid as possible. “The truth is, I am not completely unfamiliar with his kind of behavior.”
His eyes sharpened with interest. “What do you mean?”
“My sister, Bethany, had trouble relating to other people’s emotions. She often seemed anxious, would remove herself to a corner and simply stand there swaying back and forth until someone hugged her. It wasn’t easy, taking care of her and always worrying about the next episode, so I completely understand what you’re going through, Coventry, as do my siblings.”
“I... I had no idea.”
“There was no reason for me to mention it until now.”
Dropping his gaze, he shifted his feet, then looked at her again with a stricken expression that tore at her heart. “Did... I mean... I know Bethany died, and I cannot help but wonder if perhaps... if perhaps...” He shook his head and then covered his eyes with his hands, concealing his dread from her view.
Amelia’s heart went out to him. “She caught pneumonia one winter and never recovered. Her death, as awful as it was, had nothing to do with her state of mind.”
The sigh of relief that escaped him was shaky. “I see.” He swallowed and looked about before addressing her once again. “You are right. My mother did well to invite you here today. Not only to meet Jeremy, but because it forces us to address the tension between us. I have been trying to think of what to say to you next and have found nothing fitting.”
“Is that why your face looks a little bit bluer than yesterday?”
