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In every and all ways that were of importance to the earl’s comfort and station in life.
No man who could treat a woman in the way Whitlow had Elizabeth, and sexually molesting her young maid, deserved to be allowed anywhere near decent society ever again.
Sterling intended to ensure—
He turned sharply as he heard the bedchamber door open behind him, brows rising and eyes widening when he saw Peggy enter the room carrying the little dark-haired boy he knew to be Elizabeth’s son, Christopher. He was dressed in his nightshirt and looked as if he had been crying, from the mottled red of his cheeks and his sore-looking eyes.
“He woke up and wouldn’t settle again, insisting I must bring him to see his mama,” Peggy explained softly as she crossed the room.
Sterling rose to his feet, appreciating the small boy must be disturbed by all the strange happenings of the past days and night. Not least of them being going to sleep in one house and waking in another. Goodness knows what conclusion Christopher had come to in regard to his mother’s bruises.
Until three years ago, small children were not something Sterling knew how to interact with, having had no previous contact with any. But three years ago, his cousin, Gwen, had given birth to a baby girl. Given the honor of being Emily’sgodfather, Sterling made a concerted effort to spend time with her.
He utilized that experience now. “As you can see, your mother is quite well and sleeping. As you should be,” he teased lightly.
Nevertheless, a mutinous expression tightened the boy’s features. “I want to stay with Mama.”
“As you can see, your Mama is asleep,” he reasoned.
“I want to stay with Mama,” Christopher repeated stubbornly.
Sterling admired his tenacity. “I think you need your sleep more.”
“No!” Violet-colored eyes, so like those of his mother, glared at Sterling. “Want Mama.” Christopher’s bottom lip began to tremble, the boy once again on the edge of tears.
“I’ll sit with Christopher and Lady Elizabeth,” Peggy offered in an obvious effort to placate the little boy.
An occurrence which would result in Sterling being expected to then leave the bedchamber. And Elizabeth.
Unacceptable.
“Will you stay here with me, Christopher, and let Peggy go back to her bed to sleep?” he cajoled instead.
The maid looked taken aback at the suggested compromise. “I don’t think—”
“Yes,” Christopher announced, and at the same time reached his arms out for Sterling to take him.
Which Sterling instantly did, surprised at how little the boy weighed. Not as much as Emily, and she was a year younger. “Shall the two of us sit beside your Mama?” he suggested softly. “That way, the first thing she will see when she opens her eyes in the morning will be you.”
“And you,” Christopher pointed out.
And him.
Which, Sterling appreciated, might not be ideal as far as Elizabeth was concerned. But, as he had every intention of remaining beside her for the rest of the night, perhaps Christopher’s presence would help to diffuse the strangeness of that situation.
CHAPTER NINE
Elizabeth woke in the sure knowledge she did not recognize her surroundings. Not the huge four-poster bed upon which she lay, the blue-and-white décor and drapes revealed by the single candle alight on the dressing-table. Nor the painted fresco ceiling above her, depicting shepherdesses, nymphs, and cherubs.
However, after a slow turn of her head, she did recognize the man sleeping in the chair beside the bed, his dark hair tousled, a dark-haired child asleep upon his lap, the boy’s head resting against the man’s shoulder.
The duke held her son, Christopher, in his arms!
Elizabeth’s breath caught in her throat at the unlikelihood of seeing the haughty duke with a child in his arms. Not just any child, but Elizabeth’s son, the expression of calm acceptance on Christopher’s face telling her that he completely trusted the man who held him cradled securely against his chest.
However unlikely a sight this was, Elizabeth felt something move inside her. A feeling of rightness. A feeling of the same calm and trust as Christopher’s expression showed. A feeling of safety such as Elizabeth had never known before. Along with thesure knowledge that while Sterling was near, no one—no one at all—would dare to threaten or harm Elizabeth or Christopher.
In that moment, she felt herself falling deeply and irrevocably in love with Sterling Bishop, the Duke of Bristol.
