Everyone nodded.
Her cheeks were blooming with heat. This conversation had been painful when it was only Vaughn listening to her. She didn’t think she could say it aloud now. Was this discomfort what had made Rhys had looked so awkward?
Vaughn cleared his throat. “After Sarah…because of Sarah…the doctors tell us there will be no more children.”
Elisa felt her love for Vaughn with a richness and depth that astonished her. Vaughn was a private man. This airing of family intimacies would be as painful for him as it was for her.
Yet he had rescued her and spoken the words she could not.
Raymond was staring at her with wide eyes. Of course, he had not been aware of this fact. His face was pale.
Annalies rested her hand against her swollen belly, her eyes glittering with tears.
The silence, broken only by the wind outside, might have lingered. Although, even if no one said a single word in response, Elisa still felt a deep relief from having told them about the shadow on her heart.
Neil screamed.
Everyone jumped, muttering exclamations.
Neil had bent to take one of the toy soldiers from the collection in front of William. William had a small hand around the soldier’s head and was tugging backward. Neil’s face was red with indignation as he hauled, trying to free the soldier from William’s grip.
Lilly toddled over to the pair, her hands over her ears. She shoved Neil’s shoulder. The boy fell on top of Cian, who sprawled and immediately began to scream, too.
The nurses all swooped in immediately. Elisa dropped down to sort the children out, as well, her heart running heavily. She scooped up Cian and gave him to Natasha, while Rhys rescued Iefan, who was sniffling, too. Raymond, laughing at the storm in a teacup, picked up Lilly’s hand and drew her away from the boys, over to the fire.
Elisa lifted Will onto her lap and soothed him as she rocked.
When his crying had reduced down to hiccups and sniffs, she gave him to Jenkins. “Bathe his face, please. Perhaps something to eat might help settle him. All of them.”
“I’ll have something sent up for them,” Natasha said, getting to her feet and taking Cian with her over to the bell pull.
Raymond walked Lilly to the door. “I’ll see her upstairs,” he told Smithers, Natasha’s nanny, who nodded gratefully, for she was carrying Neil, who squirmed, his temper up.
Rhys nudged Vaughn’s knee. “Why are you shaking your head like that? Does squalling children bother you so much?”
Vaughn smiled. “The defense of the well-bred Englishman? No, I don’t mind having them around at all. Their presence is oddly comforting. I was just reflecting upon…well, what a sorry lot we are.”
“Speak for yourself,” Rhys said shortly, offended.
Vaughn smiled. “Your mouth was turned down as deeply as anyone’s a while ago. With reason, I hasten to add. You’ve not had a happy time of it lately and no one denies that.”
Elisa came over to Vaughn’s side, taking comfort from the pressure of his knee against her skirt. “Neither Vaughn nor I have been particularly happy of late, either. Everything has just seemed…wrong. The surveyors at Kirkaldy. Sarah, before that. And…and the news about more children.” Her heart thudded as she said the words, yet there was immediate relief after she had finished speaking them. “Natasha is worried about Seth. Anna…” She bit her lip. “Anna has yet to face her immediate future.”
Anna drew in a deep, loud breath. She let it out with a shaky sound, both hands now on her belly. “Actually, I don’t think I must wait any longer.”
Rhys dropped down to her side. His hand came to her belly. He pulled it away before he made contact, his glance moving around the room self-consciously. “It’s starting?”
“Yes.” Anna swallowed. “They’re strong, Rhys. They feel…normal.”
Elisa’s heart lifted. “Strong is a good sign,” she declared.
Natasha turned to Corcoran, who had just appeared in response to her summons with the bell. “I was going to ask something else entirely, Corcoran. However, it appears we will be in need of Dr. Kennett in the next few hours. Would you mind sending one of the boys to Truro for him?”
Corcoran’s smile was warm. “That’s a pleasant duty, my lady. I’ll send Gerald right after lunch. Let me have master Cian. I’ll have her Highness’s bedroom prepared. Cook has been anticipating this moment for days now, so everything is ready.” He settled Cian on his hip and took him away.
As Rhys helped Anna out of the chair and Natasha hovered anxiously, Vaughn moved over to the windows, where Elisa stood. He startled her by picking up her hand. “I didn’t know,” he said, his voice low.
“Know?”
He stroked her fingers, the back of her hand, his gaze on what he was doing. “I didn’t know until just now, how much you blame yourself for…”
“Because I cannot have more children?”
His gaze met hers. “These things happen, my love.”
Her eyes ached as tears formed. “I wanted so many of your children, Vaughn. As many as I could give you. Now, there is only Will.”
“Then William will do,” Vaughn replied. He kissed her fingers, his gaze meeting hers once more. “There is a bright side to that, you know.”
“There is?” she asked, startled.
Heat built in his gaze, making her shiver. “We can indulge ourselves freely, without regard for consequences, while other husbands and wives must restrict themselves to avoid them.”
She shivered. “I…had not considered that aspect of it,” she admitted.
Vaughn leaned closer and his lips brushed her cheek as he whispered in her ear. “You will grow to appreciate that aspect, my love.”
Elisa swallowed, her heart racing hard in anticipation.
Vaughn straightened. “I’ll be damned,” he said softly.
“Vaughn!”
He pointed at the window. “The rain has stopped.”
Chapter Three
Five hours later, as the sun was sinking into the sea, Seth came home.
He strode into the house, bringing with him the smell of salt, rousing the house like a fresh summer breeze. It was as if he had not been away at all. While Corcoran and his men struggled to bring in Seth’s huge sea trunk, Seth clattered down the steps into the drawing room, shocking everyone and bringing Natasha to her feet with a soundless cry, her brow working as she tried hard not to collapse into sobs.
Seth looked around the room, at everyone assembled there, including Raymond. “You all look as sorry as a wake. Not for me, I hope. As you can see, I’m as alive as I can be. Natasha, love of my heart…” He swept her into his arms and held her as she wept against his shoulder.
“The harbor master spoke of declaring your ship lost at sea,” Vaughn said. “What happened? A storm? It’s been wild here on the coast for weeks.”
“The opposite,” Seth said. “A becalming. The sea was as still as ice on a pond for weeks. We ran short of food and water and were forced to sail for the closest port for fresh supplies, once the wind picked up again.” He reached over Natasha’s shoulder and shook Vaughn’s hand, his other arm firmly around his wife. Then he shook Rhys’. “I smell a story or two, from your faces.”
“In a few hours, there will be a third story to add,” Rhys said. He glanced up at the ceiling. “Anna is confined.”
Seth’s face lit with delight. “Is she now? Well, that’d be the best news. First, though, I want to wash the salt from my hair and eat a meal that would stop a bullock in its tracks and…ah! You are a thoughtful man,” he finished as Vaughn thrust a brandy glass into Seth’s spare hand.
He drank deeply and sighed. “It’s so damned good to be home.”
* * * * *
As water was already boiling in preparation for Anna’s delivery, some of it was spared for Seth’s bath.
Natasha could not bear to be out of sight of him. She sat on the big bed while he splashed in the tin bath, scrubbing every inch of
himself at least twice and pouring jugs full of the water over his head to rid himself of the grime of sea travel.
As he bathed, Natasha brought him up to date on family affairs. First, all their children, one by one. Then Anna and Rhys and their troubles, then Elisa and Vaughn and their woes, including Raymond’s graduation to adulthood and his private accommodation in the carriage house.
With a sigh, Seth stood, his body streaming water. Natasha handed him a cloth for drying himself. He stepped out of the bath and wrapped the cloth about his hips and looked at her. “Ye’ve omitted news about the most important person,” he pointed out.
Natasha made herself look away from his body and meet his gaze. “Me?” she guessed. She shook her head. “I have no news, except to say my husband is back safely and my gratitude is wider and deeper than the sea he crossed.”
Seth padded over to the bed and stopped in front of her. “I’ll always come home to ye. You know that, don’t you?” His voice was gravelly, rough the way it got when he was speaking of something close to his heart.
Natasha swallowed. “One day, you may not have a choice about that.”
He considered her for a long moment. “Maybe,” he said at last. “Perhaps. That’s life for ye. One day, I won’t come home, my lovely.” He picked up her hand. “Shh… Don’t look at me that way. I had a lot of time to think, out there in the middle of the Pacific. I can see from your eyes you’ve been doing a lot of thinking of your own, so we’d best lay it out now and get it over and done with.”
Natasha trembled. “Must we?”
He drew her to her feet. “Would ye rather stew over it, until it’s a rancid mess in your middle?”
Natasha rolled her eyes. “Put like that…”
He kissed her. It was a soft touch of endearment. “I’m an active man, ‘tasha. I don’t sit back on my estate and sip wine. Never have, never could. Chances are, one day, something will catch up with me. I won’t go looking for it and I’m wily and cautious, so I may yet live to a ripe old age, although the chances are less than, say, Rhys outliving me. The most dangerous thing he faces is angry criminals.”
Natasha thought of the drawn pallor of Rhys’ face, lately. She stayed silent.
“Thing is, my love,” Seth continued, “I’m doing the only work worth doing. I’m protecting my family. Building it, helping it grow. It’s the most important work of my life, taking care of ye all. So I’m going to keep on doing it, the best I know how. And if, one day, I don’t come home to ye despite my best intentions, then you must remember this conversation. You must remember and tell yourself I wanted it this way—that whatever happened, it was to protect you. You and Lilly and Cian and Neil and Daniel and whoever else we may be blessed with before then.”
“Ye think ye’ll be blessed with more children after such a declaration, then?” Natasha replied, deliberately aping his accent.
Seth grinned. “I do.” He gathered her up in his damp arms and put her back on the bed. “For that is important work, too.”
Natasha gave up and laughed as his lips pressed against her throat. “Damn it, I can’t stay angry at you.”
The distant, abrupt sound of a baby squalling made them both look up. Seth smiled, studying her. “A newborn soul arrives among us,” he said softly. He pulled her closer. “Let’s try for one of our own.”
* * * * *
Two days after the birth of Morgan Harrow Davies and Seth’s return to Innesford, the rain stopped altogether. The clouds parted, then were whipped away by the wind, revealing pale blue sky and sunshine.
Even the wind dropped to a gentle breeze that brought with it the smell of sand and salt baking in the sun.
No one discussed it, yet everyone gravitated outside, bringing with them an assortment of chairs and blankets to sit upon. Even Annalies ventured outside, dressed in a warm wrapper.
The children, in particular, enjoyed the expansion of their horizons. Corcoran found an old assortment of croquet and cricket balls in a trunk and brought them out for the children to play with. The balls were too large for little hands to pick up and throw, although the children soon learned they could kick them with great effect, cannoning the balls off each other. They chased them as the balls rolled across the expanse of lawn.
The adults watched them play and giggle, with indulgent smiles.
“We should obtain an actual croquet set or two, Seth,” Natasha suggested.
“You would have to roll the lawn, for that,” Annalies pointed out.
Raymond sat up. “Oh, do! Then we could use it as a cricket pitch, too!”
“A pitch would spell the end of the windows,” Seth said. He stood and moved over to where the children were gathered around the balls, experimenting with piling them on top of each other, picked up Cian, turned him upside down and hung him high in the air.
Cian shrieked with delight, while Lilly tried to retrieve him. Seth laughed and staggered back as if Lilly’s tiny fist was driving him. Delighted, Lilly chased him. So did the others, even little Neil.
Cian kicked his feet as Seth bounced him, while the children surrounding him, pushing at his knees. Seth staggered again. “Oh no! I’m going! Going down!” He dropped down among them and tossed Seth onto his back. Instantly, the other four piled onto Seth, laughing and shouting in their high, small voices.
Corcoran stepped out onto the gravel between the house and the lawn, through the open French doors and cleared his throat. “Lunch is served, my lords, ladies and gentlemen.”
“Thank you, Corcoran,” Natasha told him.
Elisa sighed. “Oh dear, it’s so nice out here. I don’t feel like moving at all, even though I am hungry.”
Vaughn’s smile was small and heated.
Seth got to his feet, with children hanging from his arms and shoulders. “Corcoran, could you bring the food out here? We can eat in the sun.”
“We’re serving soup,” Corcoran pointed out, his brow lifting in surprise.
Rhys stood. “Let’s just bring the whole table out. That will solve the soup issue. Then Anna won’t have to move, either. Come along, Vaughn. Raymond. You can help.”
Corcoran’s brow lifted even higher. Seth patted his shoulder as he moved past, plucking children from him and placing them back on their feet.
“Very good, my lord,” Corcoran said heavily and followed the men inside.
* * * * *
Once lunch was finished, the adults lingered at the table, while the children, who had been permitted to sit at the table with them, escaped at the first possible moment and went back to playing with the balls and each other.
“This was a marvelous idea, Rhys,” Natasha decided, sitting back in her chair. “I don’t think I’ve eaten so much in a long time. It was simple mock turtle soup, yet it tasted much nicer than I ever remember.”
“Yes, I noticed that, too,” Annalies said. “It must be the sun that makes us hungry.”
“Or perhaps it’s that we’re all here,” Vaughn said. “Enjoying ourselves,” he added, picking up Elisa’s hand.
Elisa blushed.
Rhys played with his discarded napkin. “It does seem that we’ve all turned a corner in one way or another, in the last few days. I blame you, Seth—it all happened just after you came home.”
Natasha smiled.
“Then you are mellow and contented, Rhys?” Seth asked.
“I suppose…yes. I am.” Rhys glanced at Annalies. “How could I not be?”
“Good. While you’re happy is a fine time for me to tell you I intend to pay for your partnership stake,” Seth said.
Rhys sat up. “No, Seth, I won’t hear of it.”
“Ye will and you’ll take the damn funds,” Seth growled. “I owe you my life and I’ve not forgotten, not for a moment. You got me out of that hellhole—”
“Language, Seth,” Natasha chided him. “The children are still within earshot.”
Seth let out an impatient breath. “No one else would have lifted a finger, Rhys. You did. Y
ou and Vaughn. One day I’ll settle that debt, too.” He glanced at Vaughn.
Rhys blew out his breath. “It’s too much.” He sounded apologetic.
“For a life? Is any sum too much?” Seth shot back.
“Take the money, Rhys,” Natasha advised him. “Seth won’t give up on this.”
Rhys glanced at his sister. “Very well,” he said. “I will, with my thanks.” He settled back in his chair, bemused.
“Good,” Seth said shortly and sat back, too. “This way you won’t have to deal with the Queen’s odious Exchequer to squeeze a dram of your wife’s money out of him. The parsimonious sod.”
“Seth…” Natasha murmured again, although everyone else was smiling, for the Exchequer and his frugal ways was known to all of them.
“Oh, I’ll still have to confront him,” Rhys said.
Seth snorted. “Why on earth would you want to do that?”
Rhys picked up Annalies’ hand once more and looked at her. “It’s your story, my love.”
Annalies’ smile was warm and slow. “We have been blessed with Morgan. His arrival was a near thing. The doctor insisted I should not have a baby so soon after Iefan. This time, I will hark his advice. Rhys and I will take in foundlings, instead. We will raise them as our own.”
Elisa sat forward, jolted into it. Her heart ran hard. “Orphans, Anna?”
“Yes,” Annalies replied. “I’ve told you about them before. All the desperate children that can be found right in the middle of London, living in terrible conditions... When I first learned of their existence I was horrified. I have wanted to help them ever since.”
“You do help them, Anna,” Natasha pointed out. “You spend your own money to feed them. You donate to the orphanages.”
“This is one more way I can ensure that at least a handful of them are given a chance for a good life,” Annalies replied calmly. “My mind is quite made up on this.”
Elisa drew in a breath that shook. She looked at Vaughn and was astonished to see he had been watching her. When her gaze met his, he nodded. A smile touched the corner of his mouth. “Mine, too,” he murmured.
Lost At Sea Page 3