Page 46 of The Earl and His Lady

If only he could speed the process. There was just under eight months left for Virginia to mourn, but surely the healing she needed might begin sooner?

Lucas would do all in his power to make it so.

¤

“Why can I not go?” Phillip asked for the tenth time. “It isn’t fair. It’s my barony.”

Virginia closed her eyes and counted to five before responding. When she opened her eyes again, she pulled the blankets up to his chin. “And when you are a little older, you will make every visit with me. For now, you need to stay here and look after Edward. I will not be gone long and you will have a great deal to keep you busy. You have your riding lessons, your new grandmother wishes to get to know you better, and your Uncle Marcus and Aunt Ellen have promised to keep you entertained as well.”

Phillip’s eyes grew stormier and he turned over, putting his back to hers. “It isn’t fair.”

Sighing, she reached up to run her fingers through his hair. What could she say to help him understand? “I’m afraid it isn’t, darling. But if you came, that would hardly be fair either. I cannot stay long. My duties as the wife of the earl keep me here. You would not have time to unpack your things or see your old friends. The trip would be too short to satisfy you. I will speak to the earl about a longer visit. I know we sent for most of your things, but is there anything you left behind that you would like me to fetch for you?”

“I’d like my shell collection,” Edward said from his bed.

Virginia turned to smile at him. “And where might it be hidden, Edward?”

“In the crow’s nest,” he answered. “I hid it there to keep it safe from pirates.”

She nodded seriously. “Very wise. I will bring them to you.” He had collected a jar’s worth of tiny shells on his first trip to the beach, just before they went to Bath. Charles had told her some time at the seaside would be all he needed to feel more the thing. Weeks after that trip he confessed he made that excuse in order to take the boys on one last adventure.

Behind the well-constructed walls, her pitiful heart glowed with the memory. When Charles had admitted the truth to her, she’d been hurt and afraid to lose him. Looking back on their time at the seaside, she realized her husband had given his sons a beautiful gift. Their last adventure with him had been grand. They’d spent every morning combing the beach for treasure and every afternoon picnicking in the sand. They’d chased waves away from shore and been chased back in return. She could still hear Charles’s laughter mingling with the giggles of their sons.

“You look happy.” Phillip’s statement interrupted her thoughts and she looked down to see him facing her again, a curious expression on his face. “You don’t always look happy anymore.”

Although her first emotion was guilt, Virginia shook that away. “I know, Phillip. Sometimes I am caught up in being sad or worried. But I was thinking of when we went to the beach with your father. Do you remember it?”

He stiff little body relaxed beneath the blankets, his eyebrows shot up. “I do. We found a crab and followed it to its home.”

“And collected our treasure,” Edward said. “That’s why I need the shells back, Mama. I want to ‘member it better.” His words slurred and his eyes blinked heavily at her.

“Papa bought me a ship,” Phillip said from beside her. “I left it on my shelf in the nursery. Could you bring it back for me, Mother?” His frown was gone and in its place was a gentler expression, a hopeful one. “I’d like to have it here.”

Virginia’s relief at receiving the request made her shoulders sag. “Yes, darling. I will bring back your ship and Edward’s shells. I promise.” She bent to kiss his forehead, then went across to give Edward the same token of her love. They said their goodnights and Nurse Smythe saw her to the door of the nursery.

“Don’t you worry about a thing, my lady,” the nurse said. “I’ll look after the young masters. They’ll be perfectly safe and sound until your return.”

“Thank you, Nurse.” Virginia gave the woman a grateful nod and left the room, her dinner gown swishing softly as she walked down the hall. She paused just before she reached the landing, looking at the table where Lucas had put the candle down to hold her. Had that been only three weeks ago? It felt far longer.

Continuing on her way, Virginia allowed gratitude for the earl to slip through her walls. Truly, he had done much for her and the children, and he continuously gave far more than he needed to. He halted his work once or twice a week to take her children riding. He laid down whatever was at hand to answer her questions about household matters. He conversed with her at breakfast, even if he’d been reading through correspondence. And Lucas always remembered to ask how her day had gone, if the boys needed anything, and if there was anything he might do for her.

Virginia had been relieved to find Lucas Calvert kind, but she did not entirely know what to do with someone who so consistently put her needs above his own.

Only Charles had ever done that before.

Charles. She missed their easy way of talking, she missed knowing what he would say almost before he said it. Would it ever be possible to feel such closeness to another?

Dismissing that thought, she went down the stairs and to the parlor adjacent the dining room. The adults in the household would go in to dinner soon. There would likely be more conversation about Virginia and Lucas’s trip. They had discussed little else the preceding two evenings and tomorrow was the departure.

When she came down to the first floor, she saw Ellen preparing to descend the stairs to dinner. Her new sister-in-law smiled in her quiet, welcoming way.

“Good evening, Virginia,” she said. “I am sorry it will be the last one we spend in company. I have enjoyed coming to know you better.”

“Thank you, Ellen. It has been such a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for staying on while we’re away, helping with the boys. Mother Calvert dotes on them, but I think their energy can be too much for her at times.”

Ellen’s eyebrows raised and her eyes glittered with amusement. “Best not let her hear you say such things. She will be terribly affronted that you’ve perceived a weakness in her.”

They both laughed softly.