Page 16 of The Earl and His Lady

“Sweet child, your head goes here,” Nurse said, reaching out to straighten his path through the material. She patted his head and bustled about, plumping pillows and straightening quilt corners.

The boys were soon in bed, tucked in close, and then Nurse Smythe gave Virginia a warm smile before disappearing out the door to the hall. Virginia had already told the older woman, the woman who had nursed her Charles as a child, that she needed to speak to the children alone that night.

“Are you going to tell us a story, Mama?” Edward asked, snuggling further into his blankets. “I love stories.”

“I do too.” Phillip rolled over in his bed and propped his chin up on one fist. His green eyes sparkled at her with interest.

Virginia’s heart warmed, as any mother’s would, when she took in their innocent request and sleepy smiles. For the breadth of a second, she wondered if she was wrong to destroy their contentment with her announcement. But it was a foolish thought, given the alternative to her choice.

“Perhaps we can have a story. But first, we must have a very serious talk. I have something important to tell you.” She took in a deep breath, meeting Phillip’s green eyes and Edward’s brown, her heart aching for all they’d been through. But they would take her behavior for their own; she had to begin as she meant to go on, with optimism.

“First, I must remind you both how much I love you. The two of you are my whole world and you have my heart.” She stood from the chair and came to kneel between their little beds, reaching out to each of them. “Your father loved you, too. When he left us, he desperately wanted you both to know that and to be taken care of. Do you understand that, Phillip?”

Phillip, his green eyes dark, looked down at his pillow and nodded. “He said you’d take care of us, and we’d take care of you.”

Edward reached his hand out to touch hers. “I remember, too. I love Papa so much.”

“As do I, sweetheart. So much.” She grasped his little palm in hers and smiled, the tenderness of the moment nearly overcoming her. Virginia forced away her tears and looked from one to the other. “Because your father cared for you, and because I love you, I have had to make a very big decision. You see, we cannot live here with Cousin Christine and Cousin Thomas forever. They have been so kind to us, but we must have our own home.”

“Will we go back to Heatherton Hall?” Phillip asked, pushing himself up to sit. “Back to our home?”

He had not been there in half a year, but his excitement fully showed how much he missed the old pile of stones, as Charles had called it.

Virginia shook her head. “Not yet, darling. We must make a new home for ourselves, and—and repair our family a little.” How could she explain it to them? She had thought it would be an easy matter, but found herself struggling for the right words. “Part of keeping you safe, of protecting our family, means I have had to make a very big choice. But I believe it is a good choice and it will make us all happy.” She prayed it so, anyway.

“What choice, Mama?” Edward asked, sitting up as well, matching his brother’s worried expression.

“Do you remember Lord Calvert?” she asked.

“He helped us with the horse,” Phillip answered. “I liked him.”

“Yes. I did too. He was kind to you both.” Virginia met Phillip’s eyes, smiling into them. “He has asked me if he might continue to help our family, if he could give us a safe home. You see, dears, he has asked if we would come and be a part of his family. He does not have a wife, or children.”

Edward’s eyes narrowed and he looked from her to Phillip, uncertain of how to react to this news. Phillip’s eyes widened and his hands curled into fists in his lap.

“Would he be our new father?” The tilt of his chin warned her how he was prepared to respond should she say yes.

Virginia shook her head. “No, Phillip. No one can take the place of your father, in my heart or yours. But Lord Calvert is a good man, and I believe he will do all he can to help you become the man your father wished you to be.”

“He won’t be Papa?” Edward asked. “But we’ll be a family?”

“Yes.” Had she muddled the whole thing? Explained it too poorly? Virginia looked from one boy to the other, her heart aching for them. It could never be easy, a change like this, but how else could she have told them?

Phillip met her eyes and he searched them, for what, she did not know, but she put on the most comforting smile she could. He folded his arms and lowered his chin.

“Would Papa like him?” Phillip asked.

The question surprised her, but Virginia could answer truthfully. “Lord Calvert has a kind heart and wishes to do the right thing. Yes. I think your father would’ve liked that, and would like Lord Calvert, too.”

Charles believed true gentility was not something passed through blood but shown in action and held up by honor. He was a man who did good deeds, who helped others. Virginia thought Lord Calvert’s actions in that regard would earn her late husband’s respect, if nothing else.

“To join his family to ours,” she went on when the boys remained silent, “I will need to marry Lord Calvert. I will be his wife. But I want you both to know, to be certain, that all will be well. I still love your father and I love both of you. Nothing will change that.”

“I love you too, Mama,” Edward responded at once, his large brown eyes more sleepy than understanding. At four and a half years old, he would accept the change best.

Phillip remained quiet a moment longer. “I don’t have to call him Papa?”

“No.” Her heart sunk a little. While she would not require such a thing from her children, it did not bode well that this was his first concern. “But you are to treat him with respect and kindness, as he is doing a wonderful thing for us.”