Page 14 of An Affair at Stonecliffe

“Yes, dear. She is your grandmama and she came to see you.”

Gil turned back to Lady Drewsbury, peering up into her face in sudden concern. “Don’t cry, Grandmama. Aren’t you happy?”

“Yes, oh, yes, I am very happy. But sometimes I cry when I am happy.”

“Really? I don’t. I laugh when I’m happy.” He demonstrated, throwing back his head and guffawing, hands on his stomach, in perfect imitation of their landlord in Paris.

Lady Drewsbury chuckled. “Often I laugh, too.”

“You want to see my drawing?” Gil reached out to tug at her sleeve.

“Gil, don’t,” Noelle rushed to say, but he had already smeared a chalky residue across the black fabric. “I’m sorry, ma’am.”

“No, it’s fine,” Lady Drewsbury assured Noelle, the smile on her face verifying her words. “It’s wonderful.” She stood up, taking the hand Gil offered. “I should very much like to see your drawing.”

Noelle looked on in some bemusement as this woman, dressed in silks and lace, sat down upon a stool beside Gil to comment on his drawing, then followed him about the room as he showed her all the delights of the workroom. Heedless of the bits of ribbon and feathers her trailing skirts gathered across the floor, she exclaimed with pleasure over the miniature bluebird and the peacock feathers as if they were the grandest diamonds.

“And, look!” Gil hauled out his basket of bits and pieces of things he’d collected to glue onto a thin piece of board. “It’s a castle, see? It’s not done yet.”

“Oh, yes, I can see that you are still working on it. But it’s lovely.” She traced a finger over the large outer circle made of blue ribbon. “Is this the moat?”

“Yes!” He beamed at her understanding.

Noelle, watching them, had to swallow against the lump that rose in her throat, and she blinked back tears. Excusing herself, though neither of the other two took much notice of her leaving, she went back into the showroom. There was no chance that Lady Drewsbury would abscond with Gil since there wasn’t an outside door, and she thought Gil and his grandmother deserved some time alone.

Her chest ached as she thought of the years her son had missed with his grandmother and the longing she had seen in the lady’s eyes. Noelle could not help but feel guilty for keeping Gil away from Lady Drewsbury all this time.

If only Carlisle Thorne had not stood in the way, the past few years could have been so different. If it had been only his grandmother, Noelle could have gone to this gentle woman, could have asked for her help. Surely a woman with such kind eyes would have taken them in, would not have been so cruel as to rob Noelle of her child. Being a mother, she would have understood...wouldn’t she?

But it had been Carlisle Thorne with whom she dealt. And while the earl was alive, Lady Drewsbury would have had no power; it would have been Adam’s father’s decision. And he was such a hard-hearted man he had cut all ties with his own son because Adam dared to love someone of whom the earl did not approve. He would have acted no differently than Thorne—chasing Noelle and Gil across the Continent, time after time trying to take Gil from her. They had not cared about the pain they would inflict on Adam’s son and widow in their pursuit.

But the earl was gone now. Thorne claimed he would not separate Noelle from Gil. Could it all be different? Could Noelle trust her years-long enemy to keep his word?

She looked over at the sound of the countess’s footsteps as the older woman entered the room. Lady Drewsbury looked years younger than she had when she entered. “Lady Rutherford...”

How strange it felt to hear herself called that name. She had always been a plain “Mrs. Rutherford” to herself and the world. “Yes?”

“I wanted to ask... I know how...strained things have been the past few years.”

That was one way of putting it.

“But I hoped that we might move forward from that. That perhaps you and I could be friends. Or, if not that, at least we could not be enemies. I would never hurt that child nor allow anyone else to. Please believe me.”

“I can see that you care for him,” Noelle admitted cautiously.

“I thought, tomorrow being Sunday, that you would be free and that perhaps you and Gilbert could come to the house for dinner. Or just for tea,” she added, watching Noelle’s guarded face. “So that we might all get to know one another better.”

“‘All?’”

“Yes, Carlisle will be there, I’m sure,” Lady Adeline answered, obviously guessing the meaning behind Noelle’s question. “I know that Carlisle behaved badly when you first met him. But that is not like him; he is a good man. He was just so distraught about Adam and so concerned for Gilbert. He has no children, and he didn’t understand what he was asking of a mother.”

Noelle crossed her arms. “I think he understood what he was asking quite well, and I understood what he thought of me.”

Lady Adeline’s cheeks turned a trifle pink, telling Noelle that the other woman knew Thorne’s views as well as Noelle herself did. Indeed, it was more likely than not that Adam’s mother believed the same thing about Noelle. The difference was simply that she wanted to see her grandson enough that she would ignore her feelings toward Noelle.

“Carlisle understands that he was wrong,” Lady Drewsbury said. “He has sworn to me that he will be pleasant. And he would not break his word to me.”

Noelle doubted the man’s capacity for being pleasant, but she agreed that Thorne was the sort who would not break a promise to a peer, least of all to this gentle lady.