Page 21 of Silent Knight: Alexander

Chapter 9

“Where have you been?” whispered Dominick as Alex approached the gravesite of Lady Summer’s stillborn.

“I fell asleep,” Alex told him, grabbing one of the shovels from him and limping over to the grave. He didn’t want to sully Lady Charlotte’s image by letting Dominick know why he was really late.

“I’ve had the hot coals atop the ground for a while now, and I think it’ll be thawed enough to dig down to the casket, hopefully.”

“All right,” said Alex, taking the spade and holding it to the ground. But a knot formed in his stomach and he couldn’t bring himself to dig into the earth. Lady Summer visited this grave every day and brought flowers and boughs of greens as offerings to the son she birthed and lost. Alex glanced over at the cross and the board that held the engraved name of Peter Mowbray. Digging here would give him his answer, but suddenly he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. “I can’t do it.” He stood up straight, holding the end of the shovel.

“Why not? Don’t you want to know the truth?” asked Dominick.

“I am not sure anymore. Mayhap, it doesn’t even matter.”

“Well, it matters to me,” came a woman’s voice from behind him.

The men spun around to see Lady Summer holding a lantern, standing there with her husband, Warren. In Warren’s hands were two shovels. With them was Charlotte, entirely dressed and holding a lit lantern as well.

“Mother?” asked Dominick. “What are you doing out here in the middle of the night? And with shovels?”

“We could ask you two the same thing,” said Warren with a yawn. “Your mother woke me up out of a sound sleep and wouldn’t leave me be until I brought her out here. We found Lady Charlotte sneaking out of the stable and she told us she saw you leaving and heading to the garden.”

“I’m sorry, Alex, but I was worried about you and didn’t know what you were doing,” said Charlotte.

“It’s all right, Charlotte.” Alex threw the shovel to the ground. “Nothing is happening. Although I came here tonight with plans to dig up the grave, I’ve changed my mind. I cannot do it.”

“You were going to dig up the baby?” gasped Charlotte.

“I was going to help him,” added Dominick.

“Why would you do such a thing?” she asked.

“Because they had the same question in their minds that I did,” said Summer. “Warren, hand me a shovel please.”

“Mother! You’re not planning on digging up your dead baby, are you?” gasped Dominick.

“Not alone. You three are helping me,” said Summer.

“Lady Summer, forgive me, but I don’t understand why you would do such a horrifying thing,” said Charlotte. The wind picked up, and Charlotte’s teeth started to chatter.

“Ever since Alex arrived, I’ve felt close to him, but I didn’t know why,” said Summer. “And when I heard he was the son of Crandell and saw his bad leg, I couldn’t stop wondering if, perhaps, Alex was somehow my son, Peter.” She reached out and took Alex’s hand, holding the lantern up to look at the signet ring on his finger. “This ring,” she said. “Where did you get it?”

“From my father,” explained Alex. “It was his signet ring with the monogram of our surname on it.”

“Nay,” said Summer. “I recognize it as my late husband’s ring. The M stands for Mowbray, not Masterson.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, starting to remove it. “I had no idea that my father stole it.”

“Nay, keep it. It actually might be your father’s ring – your real father that is, if you are Peter Mowbray.”

“But I thought Peter was stillborn,” said Charlotte, not understanding any of this.

“We all thought that,” said Warren.

“My father – Crandell told me on his deathbed that Peter Mowbray did not die,” explained Alex. “I don’t know if it’s the truth, Lady Summer, but he told me when he went to bury your baby and discovered it still alive, he kept it for himself.”

“That bastard,” growled Warren. “He was deceitful in more ways than one.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Alex.