She waved him forward. “Let me have a look at you,” she said. “It has been far too long since I have seen you.”
Fredrick approached the bed and kissed their mother’s cheek. “You look well, Mother,” he attempted.
“Pish-posh. We both know that isn’t true,” their mother said. “Does this mean that the war is over?”
“No, unfortunately the war still rages on.”
“Then why are you home?”
Fredrick reached for her hand. “To see you, of course,” he said.
She looked pleased by his words. “You are sweet, my dear boy.” She turned her attention towards Roswell. “Hello. Are you one of Fredrick’s friends?”
Roswell felt his heart drop. She didn’t remember him today. “I am Roswell, your son.” He wasn’t entirely sure why he even kept trying, but he knew he always would. This was his mother.
A line formed between their mother’s brow. “That doesn’t sound right,” she said. “I would remember if I had another son.”
Fredrick spoke up. “It is true. Roswell is your son.”
Their mother removed her hand from Fredrick’s and said, “I am tired. Will you come back to visit me later?”
“I will,” Fredrick promised as he took a step back from the bed.
Their mother nodded her head in approval before she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall.
Roswell departed the bedchamber and waited for his brother in the corridor.
Fredrick closed the door behind him and said, “I daresay that she is worse off than your letters indicated.”
“She is dying, and the doctor said that she is only going to get worse, eventually she will forget all of us,” Roswell said.
Fredrick sighed. “I wish there was a way to help her.”
“Just you being here is precisely what she needed,” Roswell said.
Placing a hand on his shoulder, Fredrick remarked, “I’m sorry that Mother didn’t remember you.”
“I am used to it.”
“It doesn’t make it any easier,” Fredrick admonished.
Roswell started walking down the corridor and Fredrick matched his stride. “What do you intend to do today?” he asked.
Fredrick shrugged. “I don’t rightly know. For the first time in years, I have the freedom to do exactly as I please. It is rather unnerving to say the least.”
“You could go to White’s,” Roswell suggested.
“That seems like a waste of time.”
As they walked down the stairs, Roswell said, “Father would be pleased if you spent time on the accounts.”
“That is something I can do.”
Octavia’s voice came from behind them. “If you are looking for something to do, you could always go riding with me.”
Fredrick nodded. “I would be happy to go riding with you, assuming we do not go during the fashionable hour.”
“People will discover that you are home soon enough,” Octavia said.
