by Laura Landon
She walked around the room, then when the outside air warmed a bit, she stepped out on the terrace. The weather was glorious. She desperately wanted to go down to the garden, but she didn’t trust herself to take the steps unassisted. Or to get back up the steps if need be. Instead, she walked to the railing’s edge and looked out over the blooming garden.
“Are you up already?” Hugh said from behind her.
Nellie turned to see her husband. He was the most ruggedly handsome man in the world, and marriage to him was beginning to feel less of a bargain and more of a gift.
“Are you all right, Nellie?”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
He walked close to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He’d dressed in a hurry and hadn’t bothered to put on a coat, only a lawn shirt that was open nearly to the waist. His shirt wasn’t tucked into his trousers, but hung loosely at his hips. Such a casual look made him appear even more beautifully heroic.
“Would you walk with me into the garden?”
“Of course.”
Hugh helped her down the steps, then walked with her over the cobbled path. Nellie was determined not to let him know that her birthing pains had started, but they’d barely reached the halfway point of the path when the next pain gripped her. Nellie paused and sucked in a deep breath.
“Nellie?” Hugh said.
She didn’t answer but held her breath until the pain eased, then continued down the path.
Nellie turned when she realized he hadn’t followed her. He was rooted to the spot as if he couldn’t force his feet to move.
“Nellie?” he said a little louder. His face had lost much of its color, and his voice contained a fear she prayed she would never hear.
“Nellie?” he repeated nearly at a yell.
“Everything’s all right, Hugh. It was just a cramp.”
Unfortunately, another pain gripped her, and this one was strong enough that she couldn’t keep a cry from escaping.
Chapter 15
The babe was coming.
“What should I do?” Hugh asked.
Nellie stopped pacing the library and looked at him. There was terror in his voice and written on his face. She couldn’t stop the smile from lifting the corners of her mouth. “You should stop worrying, Hugh.”
“Ha! That’s easy for you to say!”
Nellie laughed, then caught herself when another spasm of pain gripped her.
Hugh rushed to her side to comfort her. Nellie felt him tremble against her. “Don’t worry, Hugh. Everything will be fine.”
“How can you be so calm? Don’t you know I won’t be of any help? I don’t know the first thing about how a babe gets out of . . .” He stopped to point at her protruding belly. “. . . there.”
“It’s early yet,” she said. She needed to calm him in case none of her sisters got here in time. “It usually takes hours. Sometimes even an entire day.”
His eyes opened wide. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Of course. It’s supposed to let you realize that it’s highly unlikely that you’ll have to do anything to help me deliver your son.”
If it was possible, Hugh’s face seemed to lose even more color.
“Don’t worry, Hugh. Everything will be fine. But I think I’d like to go to my room. Would you help me, please?”
She held out her hand, wanting him to give her his arm. Instead, he kissed her on the forehead, then picked her up in his arms and carried her from the room.
“I’m too heavy, Hugh.”
“You’re light as a feather, sweetheart. I wouldn’t want you any other way. It’s that son of mine who adds the weight. I think he might be half-grown when you present him to me.”
Hugh carried her to their room and gently laid her on the bed.
A maid followed them into the room. “Do you want for me to send Cook up?” the maid asked Nellie when Hugh brought a cover over her.
“Yes, Sally, I think I might have need of her. Do you have plenty of sheets and blankets and water here?”
“Yes, my lady. Everything’s here like you ordered.”
“Thank you. You may go now.”
The maid rushed from the room, and Hugh sat on the bed beside her. “Are you hungry, Nellie?”
“No, Hugh. I’m not hungry.”
“Then why do you have need of Cook?”
“Because Cook has six children. She has experience with birthing.”
Hugh’s face paled even more, then he reached for her hand and held it. “I know there are things I’m supposed to say at a time like this, but I don’t have the faintest idea what the proper words might be.”
Nellie smiled at him. If theirs were a normal marriage, her husband might find the words to tell her he loved her. But theirs wasn’t a normal marriage, and Nellie knew Hugh didn’t love her. He cared for her and felt responsible for her, but his feelings for her didn’t go any further.
“There isn’t anything you’re supposed to say, Hugh. We’ve had an understanding since the day we married. All I expect is that you honor the promises you made when we married.”
Hugh shook his head. “How can you ask that of me now? How can you think I can walk away from you and my son?”
A pain clutched at Nellie’s heart. A pain that overshadowed the pain of childbirth. “A leopard can’t change its spots, my lord. I expect you to do exactly that, because you will never be happy anywhere but in London.”
Another pain gripped her. This pain was so intense she nearly cried out. Nellie gripped her gown with both hands, trying to relax, trying to give the pain an avenue of escape. But her fingers refused to release their crushing hold on her silk dressing gown.
When at last the pain lessened, she muttered through clenched teeth. “You will never be happy here, Hugh, and when you can’t abide living in the country any longer, you’ll pack your bags and return to where you’re more comfortable. And I’ll be left watching for your return.”
She didn’t tell him that when he left, he would take with him the piece of her heart he’d stolen.
Nellie lifted his hand and locked it with hers, then brought her other hand up. With her fingers clasped around his hand, she rested their hands atop the unborn babe. “We made a bargain when we married, and I intend to keep my end of it. You’ve been wonderful these past months. You’ve endured your time here at Red Oaks without complaint. But I know this isn’t where you want to be.”
Hugh’s breath caught. “What if I told you that I’m not sure I made the wisest decision? That I’m not sure this isn’t where I most want to be?”
Nellie lifted one of her hands and cupped her palm to his cheek. “I’d call you a liar and—”
Nellie grabbed her stomach and curled into herself when another pain wrenched her.
Hugh reached for her hand and let her squeeze his fingers. The pains were coming more frequently.
“We’ll talk about this later, Nellie. There’s no need to make any decisions now.”
Thankfully, Nellie heard a commotion at the front door. She knew the guests were at least one of her sisters if not several. Within minutes, the door opened, and three of Nellie’s sisters rushed into the room.
“Nellie,” Lady Brianna said as she pulled off her gloves, bonnet, and cloak. She threw the articles over the nearest chair and rushed to Nellie’s side. “I see we’ve arrived in time, although I’m sure your husband could have managed without our assistance.”
Hugh’s gaze shot up to meet the teasing expression on Lady Brianna’s face. By now Lady Colette and Lady Elizabeth had divested themselves of their bonnets and gloves and were taking inventory of the towels and blankets the maids had brought in.
“My husband has proved to be an outstanding midwife so far, but I’m sure he’s as relieved to see you as I am.”
Hugh rose. “I’d like to welcome you, my ladies. I have to admit, I’ve never been happier to see anyone in my life.”
Nellie’s sisters all laughed.
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Colette gathered Hugh’s attention. “We have each brought our husbands with us, Lord Wythers. I believe I can guarantee with some sense of certainty that they have a glass of your excellent brandy awaiting you.”
“Yes,” Colette agreed. “And if there’s anything we have learned, they are at this moment compiling every horrible nightmare of their times awaiting the births of their children. Just a forewarning, my lord. Don’t believe a word they tell you.”
“Thank you for the advice,” Hugh said, then stepped close to Nellie. “You’re very special, my love,” he said. Then, he leaned close and pressed a kiss to her lips.
Nellie returned his kiss, then watched him leave her. She would have wished him to tell her that he loved her. She would have preferred that he would tell her that he never wanted to leave her. But he said neither of those things. He simply left.
She knew this would not be the last time she would watch him leave.
Hugh was quickly reminded how much he enjoyed each of Nellie’s sisters’ husbands. Shortly after he joined the three men in one of the larger receiving rooms, the ribald tales started. They began with the length of time their wives forced them to wait for their sons and daughters to be born. The time they related was so impossibly long that it was easy not to take them seriously.
A while later, the last of the sisters who was expected made her arrival—Lady Daphne. She went directly up while her husband joined them. Since he held the record for the number of times he’d been through the process—his wife had given him four children—his advice was, of course, taken more seriously.
But nothing any of the men said could erase the fear Hugh fought against. He knew their good humor and their easy banter was their way of allowing him to forget the risks involved in childbearing. He knew that women died every day trying to bring a new life into the world.
Hugh took advantage of a lull in their conversation to walk the perimeter of the room. He stopped at the sideboard to fill his glass he didn’t remember emptying. While he was there, Lord Filleman, Lady Daphne’s husband, approached him.
“Don’t let their teasing remarks get to you, Wythers. They’re only trying to make this unbearably difficult time easier.”
Hugh turned to face Filleman. “I just feel so damned helpless.”
Filleman smiled. “We all do. We know what our wives are going through to have children. We also feel a little guilty, because the part we played was so damned enjoyable.”
Hugh stopped with his glass halfway to his mouth and smiled. “You have a point.”
“Your wife will be fine. She’s strong and healthy. And she has her sisters with her. They won’t let anything happen to her. They know how special she is.”
“Yes, she is,” Hugh answered, realizing for the hundredth time that Nellie was special to him, too.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I’d like to ask you a question.”
Hugh didn’t answer, and Filleman took his silence as permission.
“What are your plans for the future?”
“I’m not sure that’s any of your—”
“It’s not,” Filleman said before he could finish his sentence. “But I promised my wife I’d ask. And I can assure you, you’d rather have this conversation with me than face any of your wife’s five sisters. They’re like five overprotective mothers, and when united, they make any battle you fought during the war seem like a picnic.”
Hugh felt the need to talk to someone. If any of his fellow traitors were here, he might be brave enough to talk to them about what was bothering him. But they weren’t here. Suddenly, Filleman seemed the next best option.
He took his glass and walked over to a small cluster of chairs in the far corner of the room where they couldn’t be overheard. Filleman followed.
“I’m sure you know our marriage wasn’t exactly conventional,” Hugh said when they were seated. “We came to an agreement which would afford each of us what we wanted.”
“And what was that?”
Hugh was embarrassed to admit what he’d wanted from their marriage. Now, it seemed so selfish. “I have never enjoyed life in the country, and Nellie could never tolerate city life. When Nellie discovered I was left an estate I had no desire to manage, she approached me with the offer to manage my estate so I could remain in London. I took her up on her offer.”Hugh took a small sip of his brandy. “I knew I couldn’t install Nellie on my estate without ruining her reputation, so I made a bargain. She could manage Red Oaks and make it her home if she would marry me.”
“With the promise that you would never return,” Filleman finished.
“Yes.” Hugh raked his hand down his face. “We agreed that I would spend a few weeks here after our marriage and live as husband and wife. Nellie wanted a child. At the time I didn’t care one way or the other. I’d never intended to marry. Nor did I desire to have a family.”
“Did you even know Annalise was carrying your child?”
Hugh shook his head. “Not until I arrived three months ago. I’d met Lady Brianna in London, and she informed me it was my wife’s birthday. I’d been looking for an excuse to come to Red Oaks. You see, I couldn’t keep my promise. I was desperate to see her again. I think . . .” Hugh paused. “No, I don’t think. I know. I don’t know how or when it happened, but I fell in love with my wife, and I don’t know how I’ll ever live without her.”
Filleman rose and brought the brandy decanter back. “That’s the way it happens. Without you realizing it, they enter your heart and refuse to let go.”
“I hate to admit this, but I wrote her every week, going as far as begging her to let me return, but my letters went unanswered. She made her feelings for me known.” Hugh took a hefty swallow from his glass. “I find I’m the one who’s being rejected and I don’t know how I’ll handle it.”
Filleman studied the liquor in his glass. “Have you ever considered that your wife already loves you?”
Hugh lifted his gaze.
“Have you considered that she loves you so much that she knows if you leave her again it will destroy her?”
Hugh didn’t answer.
“If you truly love her,” Filleman said, “you’ll fight for her and not give up. Look at the advantages you already have. You’re already married, and now you have a child together. That’s more than many couples have before they realize how much they love each other.”
“If that child should ever choose to appear,” Hugh groused.
As if on cue, the door opened and Lady Daphne entered the room. A smile as bright as the sunshine lit her face.
“Congratulations, Lord Wythers. You have a healthy, strapping baby boy.”
Loud cheers filled the room, and Hugh felt slaps of congratulations against his back.
He was numb. He heard the words, but his mind didn’t want to absorb the enormity of what they meant. A son. He had a son.
Hugh stood where he was, as if rooted to the floor. He was a father.
“If you’d like, you may go up to make your son’s acquaintance.”
It took a moment for Lady Brianna’s words to register. When they did, he took off at a run. He couldn’t wait to see his son. He couldn’t wait to see his wife.
He took the stairs three at a time, then raced to Nellie’s door and stepped into the room.
If he lived to be one hundred, nothing would ever compare to the sight that met him. The sight of his beautiful wife holding his son.
Chapter 16
Hugh stared at the babe in his arms and fought tears. He knew it wasn’t manly to show such emotion, but how could he not when he saw what Nellie had given him?
“He’s beautiful, Hugh.”
“Yes, Nellie. So beautiful.”
“I was almost afraid he would not be,” she said in a whisper.
Hugh turned his attention from his son to where Nellie was on the bed. She looked tired, yet overjoyed.
They were alone now. Nellie’s sisters had left the room to join their husbands. Hu
gh was glad. He wanted time alone with his wife. There were things that had to be said, and after his talk with Filleman, he knew exactly what he intended to say.
Hugh placed the babe back in his mother’s arms, then sat on the edge of the bed next to his wife.
“What do you mean you were afraid he wouldn’t be beautiful, Nellie?”
She looked at him and smiled a shy smile. “Nothing. I was just thinking out loud.”
Hugh reached out and brushed a strand of hair from Nellie’s forehead. “Society is notoriously idiotic when it comes to assessing beauty, Nellie. How fortunate I am that you were able to hide your beauty until I came along.”
Nellie blinked rapidly, and Hugh knew tears were ready to spill from her eyes. He leaned close and kissed her.
“While you were busy birthing our son, I had several long minutes to think.”
“Did you think of the name you would like to give our son?” she asked.
“No. I will leave that choice to you, although somewhere in his long pedigree I would like to have the name of my father—Edward.”
“I like Edward. He will be Edward after your father and Joshua after mine.”
Hugh couldn’t stop a smile. “Father will be pleased. Edward will be one of the few things my father will be proud that I accomplished since my return from the war.”
“That can’t be so Hugh. Your father knows you have many talents. He’s very proud of you. I could tell the day of our wedding. He beamed with pride.”
Hugh leaned close and kissed her again. “You’re avoiding knowing what I was thinking. Aren’t you going to ask what occupied my mind while you were working to present me a son?”
Nellie smiled. “I can’t imagine.”
