Page 69 of The Earl and His Lady

“I kept thinking about our house,” the boy said, looking up at Lucas with deep brown eyes. “Our old house. I drew some pictures. Nurse said you prob’ly don’t want all of them. But maybe you might like one so you can remember it too?”

Lucas drew the two chairs on that side of the desk together and gestured for Edward to take one of them while he sat in the other. “Show me. Nurse may be wrong and I may lay claim to each and every one.”

Edward raised his dark eyebrows high. He began speaking eagerly. “This one’s first. I drew the whole house. From the front.” He held a drawing in grays and greens out to Lucas, who could very well see the similarity between it and the castle-like Heatherton Hall. “I see. This is very fine. A good likeness.”

“And this is the fountain in the back garden. It’s not as nice a garden as here. There aren’t as many flowers. Mostly hedges.” He held out the drawing for Lucas to inspect the blue shoots of water coming from the top of the fountain.

“You’ve done a credible job here. Do you like the fountain?”

“Yes. Phillip says we used to play in it, but I can’t remember that.” The little boy’s shoulders dropped. “Last time I remember being there, it was too cold to play.”

“And this drawing?” Lucas pointed to the next, though he had a fair idea of what it was. A brown cylindrical object had been drawn in at the top of a tree.

“That’s the crow’s nest. We used to climb up there to play with my papa.” Edward’s eyes lit up as he pointed to it. “There’s a hatch in the bottom you can climb through and then close so your enemies can’t get up. There’s one on top, too, so you can open it and look out. I had to stand on a box to look out, though.” He sighed and went on to the next picture, depicting his nursery, and another, showing the large oven in the kitchens where his favorite biscuits were made.

“Your drawings are very good,” Lucas said when he finished, now holding the sheets, looking through them. “Did you show my brother your pictures?”

“Yes. He liked them, too. Then he showed me his.”

Lucas’s attention focused on that detail. “Did he? He doesn’t show those to just anyone. He’s very private about his drawings. He must like you a great deal.”

Edward nodded and folded his arms across his chest. “He says I can call him Uncle Marcus, if I want.”

Laying the drawings down on his lap, Lucas stared into the boy’s serious expression. “That is a special thing, I think. Do you want to call him Uncle Marcus?”

“Yes. And his wife is Aunt Ellen now. But I like having a Grandmother, too. I have one, but she says children shouldn’t talk to grownups. But Grandmother, the grandmother who’s your mother, she likes my drawings too.” The boy studied Lucas intently. “Phillip even calls her Grandmother. I asked Phillip what we should call you.”

“Did you?” Lucas was all ears now. He told himself he shouldn’t care so much. Especially since he intended to leave. He would be parting from the temptation to love Virginia and parting from the boys. “What did Phillip say?”

“He said we could call you my lord, but he wasn’t sure you’d want to be called Papa. Phillip says you can’t love us the way our papa did before, because we aren’t yours.” Edward leaned forward, furrowing his brow. “Is that true?”

Oh, to be a child, without fear of saying the wrong thing.

“Your father loved you with everything in him,” Lucas said solemnly, taking in Edward’s earnest expression, recognizing in the boy a yearning Lucas had experienced himself. It was the desire to be accepted, to be loved, though the fear was there that it simply could not be. “And he loved you from your very birth. I’ve not known you as long as he did.”

Lucas bent closer, maintaining eye contact. “But I love you very much, Edward. I would do anything for you. To protect you, to care for you, to see you healthy and happy. If you wish to call me Papa, you may.”

It was as if a fire kindled in the boy’s eyes and in an instant he was kneeling in his chair and leaning over to Lucas, wrapping his arms around Lucas’s neck in the fiercest hug the earl had ever received. Lucas pulled the boy into his arms and hugged him back.

“Thank you,” Edward said softly. Then he pushed back and looked into Lucas’s eyes, a triumphant grin on his face. “I can tell Phillip he was wrong.”

“Yes, I suppose you can.” Lucas grinned and set the boy back upon the ground, standing with him.

“Thank you, Papa.” Edward half-bowed and darted to the door, Lucas watching him tear across the carpet and then right past his mother, who stood in the doorway.

His breath hitched. How long had she been standing there? What had she heard? Had he done the right thing?

Virginia barely stepped into the room, her gray skirts floating around her like the clouds at the forefront of a storm. “Marcus and Ellen are leaving,” she said, not coming further into the room. “I thought you would wish to bid them farewell.”

“Oh. Yes. Thank you.” She nodded and made as if to turn away. “Virginia?” he called after her, his traitorous tongue speaking when he ought to do everything in his power to avoid her. “I should have consulted with you before answering Edward. I hope I’ve not offended you.”

Her hands came before her, her fingers laced together. “Lucas, my sons are coming to care for you a great deal. They look up to you, and I am depending upon you to help me raise them to be the best of men. Of course, they can call you papa, or father, or anything they and you agree upon.” Her expression remained neutral, as it had since dinner the day before. “Thank you for being kind to them.”

Then she walked out. He waited a moment before following, giving her the distance from him she seemed to want. The sooner he left, the better.

Chapter Twenty-five

Lucas left, escorting his mother’s carriage on horseback. From the looks his mother had given him, Virginia knew he was riding to avoid conversation with Lady Pamela Calverton as he had done on their return trip from Heatherton Hall.