Page 40 of The Earl and His Lady

“It took time, but we had been married just over a year when Abigail told me the good news.” He turned away then, dropping her hand and using it to grip his hat instead, bending its brim as he spoke. “We didn’t tell anyone. It was a precious secret between the two of us."

Lucas gripped the hat and reins, tension evident in the lines of his body. “We never had the chance to tell anyone other than a doctor. Abigail—she fell ill. At first, she thought it was her delicate state.” A sound, something she’d call a chuckle if it hadn’t sounded so sad, escaped him. “She overdid, she fell ill, and then the doctor came. Abigail had an excellent chance of recovery, he said. But then—then she didn’t get well.” He closed his eyes and held his breath for several long moments.

Virginia sat still, offering him nothing but her silent empathy. Abigail had been young, their marriage new, when he’d lost her. She had been given years with Charles, and children. Did that make one sort of suffering worse than the other? She didn’t believe so. How could she even call their heart-break different? Did it matter how a heart was broken when all that was left were shattered remains?

He let out his breath at last, in a deep sigh, and faced her again. “I loved her with everything I was. The world changed when she left it.”

“And you had to find a way to remake it,” Virginia said, each word laced with empathy. “Without her in it.”

Lucas nodded, his eyes understanding and accepting her explanation of her own feelings. “Exactly that. I cannot say when or how it happened, but I find I can accept this new world. I have a place in it, as does Abigail’s memory. I still have purpose.” He picked up his hat and placed it back on his head, his shoulders straightening again, his frame regathering its strength.

“I’m grateful you told me.” Virginia meant it. Coming to understand him, to fit herself into his life, would be easier if she knew something of the past.

“We had better be getting back.” Lucas took up the reins in both hands again and with a gentle flick, he had the horses moving onto the road. A comfortable silence remained between them.

Chapter Fifteen

“You’re doing excellent, Phillip.” Lucas leaned over the rail of the paddock, watching the boys enjoy their riding lesson. Christine Gilbert had put Edward on a pony and led him about on foot while Phillip was learning to guide his mount around gentle turns. Phillip was growing bored of his time fenced in. Though he was small, he handled his horse with confidence.

“The boy’s a natural,” Thomas said at his side. “How many lessons is this now?”

“The third since I married his mother.” Lucas had brought the boys once a week. They were at the tail end of June and summer still had not made up its mind as to whether it would stay. The weather remained cooler and the skies cloudier than normal. Thankfully, Edward’s cough had not lasted long, nor had it returned. Lucas had taken care to check in at the nursery nightly, before Virginia went in to bed the boys goodnight.

Thomas crossed his arms atop the rail. “I hope everything is going well. Christine’s been worried about that Macon fellow. You’ve had no more word from him?”

“None from him or his lawyer.” Lucas didn’t bother hiding his smile at that. He still thought on that confrontation with satisfaction. “I don’t believe we have anything further to worry about in that quarter.”

“Glad to hear it.” Thomas’s eyes stayed on his wife, watching her give the reins to Edward. The man wore a look on his face of pure adoration every time he dropped the conversation in favor of admiring Christine Gilbert.

Lucas chuckled. “Still enamored of your wife, I see.”

The other man barely cut him a glance before answering. “And may it always be so.” His eyes went to Phillip. “Dare I ask how your new bride is adjusting to life at Annesbury Park?”

Raising an eyebrow, Lucas took in Thomas’s careful expression. “Perhaps I ought to ask you, given that your wife visited yesterday. The two of them were in Virginia’s sitting room for over an hour. When I asked how their visit went, I was told it was lovely.”

The other man cleared his throat. “Oh, Christine didn’t say much about it. She certainly didn’t say anything to give me cause to worry. In fact, she said Virginia seemed perfectly content with her situation.”

Content. Lucas knew that ought to satisfy him. His wife wasn’t miserable. She had no great complaints. But content was not the same thing as happy. Could one be happy while in mourning? He certainly hadn’t been. Not for a very long time. He’d had no one to help him through the difficult days, however, while he hoped Virginia knew he was always ready to support her.

“You needn’t look so perturbed, Calvert.” Thomas chuckled and turned back to the riders.

Lucas realized he’d begun frowning while lost in his thoughts. He forced a more neutral expression. “Thank you, Gilbert. I cannot help thinking there is something more I ought to be doing for Virginia and the boys.”

“It must be a great deal to take in. Adjusting to having a wife was a pleasant enough experience, but there were difficult moments. I cannot imagine adding fatherhood at the same time would make things any easier.” Charles nodded to Phillip as he rode by. “And your role is the more unique because the loss of the baron is still recent. Are the boys taking to you?”

“I think they might be. Phillip still has moments when he looks at me as if I am a pretender to the throne.” Lucas couldn’t blame the boy. When Lucas had been that age, he’d worshiped his own father. “But Edward has been sending me drawings by way of the servants. I get a folded sheet of paper from him nearly every day. Yesterday he sent me a piece featuring a very unfortunate looking cow.”

Thomas laughed, shaking his head. “What do you do with such masterpieces?”

“I can hardly dispose of them. That wouldn’t feel right. My desk drawers are growing rather full.” At last count, he had fifteen such drawings. They weren’t all like the cow, either. The boy had a real talent for plants.”

Christine led Edward’s pony to them, a cheerful bounce in her step. “My lord, your stepsons are positively gifted riders. I cannot think they will continue to need lessons for long.”

Lucas slipped between the rails with ease and no thought for the cravat his valet had spent too much time on that morning. He went to Edward and held his arms out to offer support as the boy practiced dismounting.

“They have an excellent teacher, Mrs. Gilbert, who allows that natural talent to shine. What do we say, Edward?”

“Thank you, Cousin Christine.” The small boy bowed, watching Lucas from the corner of his eye, obviously looking for approval.