by Joan Wolf
She knew that look in his eyes. “I am never too tired for you,” she said turning toward him.
“I love you so much, Claire. I’ll never get tired of saying how much I love you.”
“And I’ll never get tired of hearing it.”
He gave a little groan and lowered his mouth to hers.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
One Year Later
The huge front lawn of Welbourne Abbey was crowded with a throng of men, women and boisterous children, all of them socializing around four large blue and white striped tents. Targets for archery had been set up in a corner of the lawn near a plantation of elms, and two cricket fields were laid out on the south lawn. The great Welbourne coach, drawn by four magnificent bay horses, was offering rides around the estate, and several farm wagons were transporting eager parents and children to the artificial lake, where boats were available. An orchestra set up in front of the abbey was playing lively music to accompany the festivities.
The Earl and Countess of Welbourne had invited their tenants and their friends from the neighborhood to celebrate the birth of their first son. The day was sunny and beautiful, and a radiant countess carried her month-old baby from group to group, showing him off. A number of the tenants commented among themselves that the young earl looked scarcely less radiant than his wife. To finish the picture, an exuberant Charlie hung off of Simon’s hand, calling greetings to the tenant children he knew.
“God bless them all,” Mrs. Thornton said to her husband, as they watched the procession of earl, countess, baby and Charlie around the grounds. “What a blessing it is that the old earl got shot.”
Mr. Thomas looked around quickly, then spoke in a carefully lowered voice. “That might be true, Betsy, but it don’t do to say it out loud like that.”
“Nonsense,” his wife returned forthrightly. “There’s no a tenant farmer here who wouldn’t agree. The young earl actually cares about us. He’s fixed all the houses and he even built the Masons a new barn when theirs collapsed.”
Farmer Thornton gazed fondly toward the young couple as they made their way back toward the house. “’Tis true, ‘tis true. He’s a fine young man, the new earl. And his wife is verra kind.” He grinned at his wife and said, “And verra pretty too.”
She patted his arm and laughed.
# # #
Claire was delighted that the baby had behaved so beautifully, smiling and cooing at his admiring audiences. When at last he started to fuss she said to Simon, “I’m going to take William back to the house and feed him. He’s had enough company for today.”
“He’s been a trooper,” his proud father said. “Charlie and I will continue to circulate.”
“I’ll come back after William is asleep.”
“You don’t have to come back, Claire.” A faint frown puckered the skin between his eyebrows. “You must be tired.”
Claire shifted the baby from one shoulder to the other. “Simon, I had a baby, not an accident. I’m perfectly fine. I’ll come back.”
“At least let me carry him upstairs for you.”
“No. Stay here. I will be fine.”
There was a pause, then he said, “I’m annoying you, aren’t I?”
“Yes, you are. Look, here are Mr. and Mrs. Smithfield coming to talk to you.” She turned away, saying over her shoulder, “I’ll see you later.”
Charlotte joined Claire at the abbey’s front door. “May I come with you? Bruce Hendricks is pursuing me, and I can’t stand him. But he’s Geoffrey’s friend and I mustn’t be rude.”
Claire smiled. “Come along. We can talk while I feed William.”
“Thank you,” Charlotte said feelingly, and Claire chuckled.
# # #
Out on the lawn, and on the lake, the picnic continued. At four o’clock a lavish tea was served in the tents, with lemonade and ices for the children. At six o’clock the farmers began to leave for home to milk their cows, and the upper classes followed shortly afterward. The house servants had been busy all day, and Claire had given orders to a grateful staff that the family would require only a light supper that evening.
The immediate family, who had all helped with the picnic, gathered in the small drawing room after supper, a little tired, a little sunburned, but satisfied that the day had been a success.
Claire had excused everyone from dressing for dinner, but that was the only difference between the usual nightly gathering in the small sitting room and tonight. Claire was in her favorite place on the striped silk sofa, and Simon sat in his usual place beside her.
As she sipped her hot tea slowly, looking at the familiar, beloved faces around her, she thought of Charlie, safely tucked upstairs with his nanny. He had had such a good time today, running around with a group of little boys his age. Simon had been given custody of Charlie because he was the boy’s closest male relative, but he allowed Charlie to visit his mother whenever the dowager wanted him. Of late, his visits were becoming fewer and shorter, which suited Charlie just fine.
The rest of the family were chatting comfortably, Liam and Elise sitting on the sofa opposite Claire’s, and Uncle Richard in one of the large wingchairs facing the fire. Liam and Elise had moved into the abbey with Claire and Simon shortly after the earl’s funeral. It was to have been a temporary arrangement, so Elise could help Claire with the new duties that had fallen upon her young shoulders. But it had worked out so well that Claire and Simon had begged them to stay. Elise, who understood how much her daughter relied on her, had convinced Liam to accept.
Richard Jarvis, though he didn’t live at the abbey, was a most welcome member of their little family. He had been an enormous help to Simon. Jarvis had paid off the earl’s gaming debts himself, and he had allowed Simon to access the trust fund money to make long overdue repairs to estate property. Simon, Jarvis, and Halleck, the estate agent, had worked out a financial plan for the future that would allow Welbourne to be both responsible and solvent. The first year of Simon’s tenure had been busy and difficult, but rewarding.
# # #
Claire listened to the conversation going on around her and tried not to yawn. She was tired, but determined not to let Simon know. He did know, of course - he could read her like a book - but she wasn’t going to admit it.
She had had a long, hard labor, and Simon had been terrified he was going to lose her. Elise had been with her the whole time, assuring her that everything was normal, that first babies were often long in coming, and Claire had soldiered through with clenched teeth, refusing to scream because she knew Simon would hear her. She had almost recovered her strength, but the strain of being gracious to so many people all at once had fatigued her. She knew all their tenants, knew their children and the names of their dogs, but facing them all together at the same time had been tiring.
She was stifling another yawn when something Jarvis was saying penetrated the fogginess of her brain.
“I’m going to Ireland in two weeks, Simon,” she heard. “I want to visit Annabelle’s grave. It’s something I’ve always meant to do, and I’ve put it off for far too long. I wondered if you might care to come with me.”
Claire felt Simon’s relaxed body come to attention. “Yes,” he said, and she could hear the eagerness in his voice. “I would like to come. I would like that very much.”
Jarvis smiled with pleasure. “I hoped you’d say that. I think Annabelle would like it if the two of us came to visit her together.”
As they began to discuss travel plans, Claire went rigid. She didn’t want Simon to go to Ireland. In fact, everything in her was screaming against it. She had to keep him home. But, how? It was a perfectly reasonable thing for him to want to do. She listened to the thudding of her heart and knew she had to think of something.
Later, as she lay beside Simon in the great bed in the earl’s room, she listened as he talked enthusiastically about the prospective trip. He ended by saying wistfully, “I wish I remembered my mother better. If she had lived, perhaps things
would have been different between my father and me.”
Claire doubted that, but remained silent. She had been wracking her brain, but hadn’t yet come up with sufficient reason to keep Simon at home. Her da had called this feeling she had ‘the sight,’ and told her she got it from his mother. She had felt it only twice before, once when her mother was planning to go visit an elderly woman from the parish, and once when Liam had been planning to bring Simon home from school. The first time she had succeeded in distracting her mother from the visit by pretending to be sick herself. The next day they had learned that a lantern had tipped over in the old woman’s house and it had burned to the ground with the old woman in it. The second time she had convinced a skeptical Liam to check the chaise he was going to drive, and he had found one of the supports was dangerously cracked. That was when he told her about the sight.
And now she had the same feeling that something bad was going to happen to Simon if he went to Ireland. Everything in her wanted to beg him not to go, to stay home with her. He would probably give in when he saw how upset she was. But how selfish she would appear if she tried to keep him from visiting his mother’s grave! Then she had an idea.
I’ll get Da to go with him. If something should happen, Da will know what to do.
Simon was leaning over her and she lifted her mouth for his kiss. They had not made love in months, because of the baby, and she knew he was looking forward to her next visit to the doctor and hoping she would get his approval to resume their normal relationship.
His mouth lingered on hers and, for the first time since the baby, Claire felt desire stirring in her body.
“I’ll put Uncle Richard off until after your doctor’s visit,” Simon said huskily. “That way I can say goodbye to you properly.”
“Don’t say goodbye,” she said sharply. “Never say that to me, Simon.”
He gave her a puzzled look. “All right, I won’t say it then. What would you like me to say?”
“Just tell me you love me.” She could hear the quiver in her voice.
“Are you all right, Claire?”
She got a grip on herself and managed a smile. “I’m perfectly fine – just rather tired.”
“Then go to sleep, my love. You’ll feel better tomorrow.”
She nodded, he kissed her again and they settled themselves to sleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The following morning Claire sought her father at the stud farm. Liam was in his office doing paperwork, and she closed the door for privacy. As he looked up from his desk, she said urgently, “I need to talk to you, Da.”
He pushed his desk chair back and gestured Claire to the chair opposite him. “What is it, girl? You look worried.”
She sat and looked into her father’s eyes, the eyes that were so like her own. “I want you to go to Ireland with Simon,” she said. “I’d go if I could, but since I can’t, I want you to go in my place.”
His forehead creased and his eyes narrowed. “Claire, why in the world should I go to Ireland with Simon?”
Claire said, “I’m nursing a new baby, Da. I can’t go and I need you to go in my stead. Simon can’t be allowed to go alone!”
Liam lifted expressive black eyebrows. “Simon won’t be alone; he’s travelling with Richard Jarvis. Jarvis is a rich and powerful man, and Simon is an English earl. Nothing is going to happen to either of them, especially in Limerick. The United Irishmen have been fairly crushed in that area.”
She leaned forward, willing him to understand. “It’s just … Da I have the feeling. The way I did when I told you there was something wrong with your carriage. Remember, you told me I had the sight, that I had inherited it from your mother?”
“I remember,” Liam said quietly. He regarded her in silence for a long moment. Then, “What are you afraid of?”
She made a restless movement with her hands. “I don’t know! I just have this feeling that something bad is going to happen to Simon and one of us needs to be with him.”
Liam regarded her gravely. There was gray at his temples now, and the squint lines at the corners of his eyes were deeper. He had just turned fifty, and he looked and acted like a man accustomed to authority. When he remained silent, Claire slid toward the front of her chair and said pleadingly, “Next to me and William, Simon loves you best of anyone in the world. You know that. He even named his first son after you!”
Liam smiled. “And you know Simon is like a son to me. But I really don’t think he will be in any danger, Claire. They’re not touring the country; they’re going to visit a grave, and then they’re coming home. If I thought there was real danger I wouldn’t want him to go at all.”
“Da, please,” she held her clasped hands to her breast as she made her plea.
“I have too much work to do here, Claire; I don’t want to miss the time. You know that Simon and I want to get the costs of the stud under control. Lord Welbourne bought too many mares, and we’ve had too many foals that didn’t turn out to be racers. I know I can make the stud profitable again, and I have some buyers coming next week to look at two of the mares...” He stopped abruptly as Claire stood up.
“That’s all right, Da. I understand. I’ll just go myself and take William with me.”
Liam stood as well. “Absolutely not.” They looked at each other, then he sighed with resignation, “If you feel as strongly as that beag amhain, then I will go to Ireland with Simon.”
“Thank you, Da.” She came around the desk and hugged him. “I’ll feel much more comfortable if you are with him.”
He patted her back. “Do not be worrying yourself over Simon. I’ll take good care of him, I promise you.”
She looked up to him, a smile on her lips, tears in her eyes. “I know you will, Da. You always have.”
# # #
Liam told Simon he would like to see Ireland again and asked if he could join Simon and his uncle on their trip. Simon, who was always happy to spend time with his father-in-law, gladly agreed. Nor did he seem to find anything strange in Liam’s request, which was a relief to Claire.
The night before he left, Simon and Claire made love for the first time since the baby. Afterward he held her in his arms while she slept, breathing in the scent of her hair and skin. He didn’t want to leave her, but he had so much, and his mother had had so little. It felt right that he should make this pilgrimage to her grave.
He had so much. Sometimes, when he was sitting with the family after dinner, he would look around and think: We’ve done it. We’re married. We have a baby. We have Liam and Elise and Uncle Richard, who will always love us and help us. We have this beautiful home to pass down to our son. And William will grow up knowing his father loves him.
As he lay awake in the dark room, his sleeping wife in his arms, Simon rested his lips on her hair, his heart so full of love he thought it might burst out of his chest. All of this was because of Claire, he thought. Everything good in his life was because of her.
“Thank you,” he whispered into the soft hair under his mouth. “Thank you, Claire, for loving me.” Then, carefully, he slid away from her into his own part of the bed and closed his eyes to sleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Simon rapped on the door of the early Georgian stone house that went by the name of Castle Asenath. The three men waited for a full two minutes before an elderly man with a shock of gray hair answered the door.
“Ah!” he said in surprise, thick gray eyebrows lifted in amazement.
Simon produced a pleasant smile. “You must be Donovan. I did send you a notice that I would be arriving with two guests. I am the new Lord Welbourne.”
The day was dark and overcast and all of a sudden the heavens opened. “For God’s sake, man,” Richard Jarvis said. “Step away from the door and let us in.”
The entry hall the three men stepped into was unlighted and furnished with a single table and chair. Simon looked around and mentally shivered. What a dreary looking place, he thought.
&nb
sp; The butler finally spoke. “We received your letter, my lord, and we are prepared to receive you.” The words sounded as if they had been memorized. Then he added, as a palpable after-thought, “I’m that sorry about your da.”
“Thank you,” Simon said. “Our baggage is in the carriage out in front. Is there someone who can carry it in for us and see to the horses? The coachman will also need a place to sleep. He will be driving us back to the coast in a few days.”
“I’ll see to it, my lord. Now, if you gentlemen will come into the parlor, I’ll get Timmy to bring in your bags and take the coachman to the stables. Mrs. Fitzsimmons, our housekeeper, will be down to ye soon.”
Simon, Liam and Richard followed Donovan down a narrow hallway into a smallish room. Two sofas were placed in front of the fireless chimneypiece, above which hung a painting of a man on horseback surrounded by foxhounds. The other walls were decorated with a limited variety of hunting scenes.
The room was frigid.
“Might we have a fire here, Donovan?” Simon asked.
The butler looked harried. “I’ll see what I can do, m’lord,” he mumbled.
Richard Jarvis spoke in his most commanding voice, “Get the fire going. It’s freezing in here.”
Donovan gave him an injured look. “Young Sean is home today sick. His lordship never gave us an exact date as to when he would arrive.”
Liam said something in Irish and Donovan’s head snapped up. He replied in the same language, and hurried off.
“I think we’ll get that fire,” Liam said with grim satisfaction.
Simon said curiously, “What did you say to him, Liam?”
“I told him to move his lazy arse and get some wood for the fire.”
Simon looked around the room in bewilderment. “This is not exactly what I had expected to find. Mr. Halleck never mentioned that the castle itself was a ruin and the family lived in a house that had been built on the property.” He walked to one of the two windows in the room and stared through the dirty glass at the ancient three story stone tower that stood some quarter-mile away.