Page 13 of The Earl and His Lady

Virginia watched, surprised, as the earl lowered himself to the ground between the boys, studying the horse carefully.

“Mm. I see. Just as it was yesterday.” He glanced up at her and winked, which made her smile. His consideration to her sons, his willingness to enter into their game, gave her reason to be kindly disposed to him. “I have just what the poor fellow needs.”

“The glue?” Phillip asked, his eyes dropping to the bag in the earl’s hands. “Will it work?”

“It should. But we must make doubly sure it holds, so I’ve brought a special bandage as well. It is careful work, mind you, and you will have to do it together.” The earl opened his bag and removed a small pot of glue, putting it on the brick nearest the horse. Then he withdrew a brush, a thin strip of white cloth, and scissors. “Here are the necessary tools. Phillip, as the elder brother, it falls to you to glue and hold the leg in place. Edward, you are to carefully wrap the bandage and trim the ends.”

“We can do it,” Phillip said, and his younger brother gave a firm nod.

“Excellent. I leave your patient in good hands then.” The earl stood and stepped back to Virginia. She was grateful to him and impressed. He gave the children the tools they needed to repair the horse and their argument.

It was something like what Charles would’ve done. She had the feeling Charles and Lord Calvert would’ve gotten along well, had they known each other.

“My lady,” he said, half-bowing. “Would you do me the honor of a walk along the lane?” She looked from his gloved hand up into his eyes, more gray than blue in the light of the morning sun and holding a somberness in them she did not understand.

Virginia looked from her sons, working together with frowns of concentration, back up to the tall earl. What could he wish to speak to her about? Was it only common courtesy? Did he think she expected to be waited upon?

The manners bred into her demanded she accept him, especially given his attention to her sons. She put her hand in his and allowed him to help her stand.

“If you wish it, my lord,” she answered, glancing at the boys again.

“They will be fine,” he whispered, giving the hand he held a gentle squeeze before offering his arm. “And we will not go far.”

She met his eyes, taking in the confidence she read in his expression, and nodded her agreement. He stepped in the direction of the gravel path and she followed, her pace even with his. He did not walk with hurried steps, but his movement was measured as though he had a destination in mind.

“Thank you for aiding them, my lord,” she said after several seconds of silence. “They are the best of children, but the injury of that toy would’ve made them enemies for days.”

“I well understand,” he answered, his voice quiet and his eyes fixed ahead. “And there is more to it than the toy, isn’t there?”

Virginia swallowed and turned her eyes away, fixing her gaze on the trees lining the path. “They have suffered a great deal of loss. Phillip seems to feel it more keenly than Edward, but I find both children are given to express more emotion than before.”

“I understand. Grief is difficult enough for those of us with years of experience in life. I cannot imagine how it would color the world of a child.”

She glanced at him, curious, and saw he was studying her profile with careful eyes. What did he see when he looked at her? A grieving woman? A concerned mother? She knew she was not in the bloom of good health anymore, and she’d hardly felt like eating. Did she resemble a specter, or a tragic character from a novel, thin and pale, with hopeless eyes?

Not given to flights of fancy, Virginia drew away from those thoughts and forced a polite smile upon her face.

“It is a lovely morning. Wouldn’t you agree, my lord?”

A sigh escaped his lips and he made a show of looking about them. “A fine spring day. Yes. But it is not the weather I wish to discuss with you, Lady Heatherton.”

“What do you wish to discuss, Lord Calvert?” she asked.

He stopped walking, necessitating she do the same. They had gone just far enough down the lane that she could only glimpse her sons through the trunks of several trees, but she could see them playing happily where she’d left them.

“I have something particular I wish to speak to you about.” His words brought her back to him. His lips were turned up in the smallest of smiles, though his brow was drawn down in a more serious manner. “I think what I have to say may be considered shocking by some. I ask that you listen with an open mind to what I am about to propose. Will you do that for me, Lady Heatherton?”

“I think I can promise that much, my lord.” And her curiosity demanded it. What could this man, a stranger, have to say to her that could be shocking?

He took a deep breath and the tension in his face actually eased, as though he’d already said the most difficult part. “I have learned of your present difficulty in regard to your brother-in-law. Mrs. Christine Gilbert told me of it,” he admitted.

“Oh?” Virginia raised her eyebrows and mentally made note to speak to Christine about that later. The servants sharing information amongst themselves she might understand, but her cousin telling this man of her private affairs? That did not sit comfortably with her.

“Yes. She thought it possible I might know of a solution to the situation.” His lips twitched as though he tried to hide a smile, though Virginia saw little of humor in the situation.

She stiffened her posture and lifted her chin. If they were going to discuss her private business, she had no wish to show him more than a strong front, a good line of defense.

“And have you a solution, my lord?” The sooner he spoke his mind, the sooner they could end the conversation.