Richmond entered, followed by two footmen carrying between them a small, carved, wooden cradle. It was a beautiful thing, pale with age but clearly well made with delicate scrollwork along the sides and a gentle curve to the base that would allow it to rock. The footmen set it down carefully beside the bed and withdrew without a word.
Richmond remained. He looked at the cradle for a moment with the sort of expression that told her he was experiencing a wave of nostalgia.
“His Grace slept in this very cradle,” he said. “As did his father before him, I am told, though that was before my time here.” Hestraightened slightly. “It is a fine piece. Solid. They do not make them quite like this anymore.”
Clara looked at it. In her arms, David stirred but did not wake.
“It is lovely,” she said and meant it.
“I am glad it pleases you, My Lady.” Richmond moved to position it closer to the bed. Then he stepped back and looked around the room with a small frown. “I must apologize for the state of the chamber. It has not been in regular use, and I am afraid we were not expecting guests. His Grace just returned from Southampton himself a few days ago, and we just finished opening the house up.”
“It is quite all right,” Clara said. “I understand perfectly.”
“Mrs. Parker is already seeing to fresh bedding and a fire. I believe she has also located some suitable blankets for the young…” He paused and glanced at the baby, his eyes narrowing for a moment as his brain adjusted to the new circumstance. “For Master David.”
Clara looked up as he said the name. It was the first time anyone besides her and Julian had spoken it aloud, and hearing it from this man made it feel suddenly, uncomfortably real.
“Thank you, Richmond,” she said.
He nodded and moved toward the door then paused with his hand on the frame. He turned back, and for just a moment, the formality of his expression softened into a warmer expression.
“If I may say so, My Lady,” he said, “it is a very great pleasure to have both a duchess and a child in this house. It has been rather quiet here for rather a long time.” He offered her a small, genuine smile. “His Grace’s mother would have been most pleased.”
Then he bowed and withdrew, closing the door behind him.
Clara stood very still in the middle of the room. Over the next half an hour, the housekeeper, a tall, slender woman with a severe countenance but a warm mannerism once she spoke, brought bedding, a maid lit the fire, and another maid brought up a tray with food.
“I brough up some gruel for Master David. I was not sure if you are still feeding him or if he can eat gruel.” She paused for a moment.
Did he eat gruel? She had no idea. In fact, she did not know when David had last eaten. What if he got hungry? Worse, what if she fed him gruel and he could not eat it yet?
Her heart raced at the thought. Would he starve if he did not eat overnight?
“I am unsure if he can eat gruel,” she admitted. “I have never tried it.”
The maid looked up from the fire and locked eyes with the housekeeper, who nodded.
“Very well. I will leave it here in any case. Do ring the bell if you need anything else. Do you have a lady’s maid?”
She shook her head.
“I will have someone assigned then. Goodnight, Your Ladyship.”
The woman got up and left, and the maid rose from the fire. She took a couple of steps closer to her.
“My little brother ate gruel when he was just two months old because my mama died in the child bed. Your son is how old? Three months by the looks of it?”
She curtsied and hurried away as the housekeeper turned around.
Did she know? Did she suspect? Or was she merely showing a kindness?
She didn’t know, but she was more than grateful. Clara settled on the chair and took the tray with the food. To her relief, David appeared to take the gruel happily. Once he was done, shewalked him up and down, patting his back, as she’d remembered hearing babies needed to be burped.
The fire had begun to catch now, throwing a low, warm light across the walls. Everything was exactly as it ought to be. Everything looked entirely, convincingly right.
And she felt like an absolute fraud.
She crossed slowly to the cradle and knelt beside it, settling David carefully down into the blankets that had been arranged inside. He made a small sound of protest at the loss of her warmth, his tiny face creasing briefly before smoothing again into sleep. She tucked the blanket gently around him and stayed crouching there for a moment, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest.
