Page 44 of Snowdrops and Winterberry
“And if she married Mr. Simpkin and traveled with him to build his gardens, I wouldn’t see her very often?”
“Likely not.”
Again, the tears he tried to hold back pushed to the surface. “But if she couldn’t be with Mr. Simpkin, she would be sad.”
In a quiet and soft voice, one that told him Mother Julia understood what he was realizing and knew that it made him ache inside, she said, “I think she would hurt in her heart.”
A person oughtn’t to make someone he loves hurt in her heart.
“May I stay here while I think about this?” he asked.
Mother Julia pulled the blanket from the foot of her bed. “Lie on the pillow, sweeting. You can lie here and rest. Sleep all night long if you need to. I’ll be here to watch over you.”
He shifted so he could lay his head on the pillow. She set the blanket over him and tucked him in, as Nurse Robbie used to do before he went to school and became too old for that.
Nurse Robbie needed to go with Mr. Simpkin. He knew she did. But thinking of her going away made him want to cry. Dukes weren’t supposed to cry.
Mother Julia brushed her hand over his hair, tenderly stroking it. She hummed a song, though he didn’t know what itwas. He felt safe with her. That seldom happened.
So he let himself do something he almost never did.
He cried.
Chapter Eighteen
The time arrived for theTwelfth Night celebration at Brier Hill. Adam had been quiet that day, but in a contemplative way rather than a sad one. Robbie wasn’t entirely certain what was weighing on him.
She’d been beside herself with worry when discovering, after bearing her troubles to Howard, that Adam hadn’t been in his bed. When Lord Jonquil had run him to ground in Lady Jonquil’s bedchamber, apparently sleeping quite soundly, Robbie had been more than relieved. She’d been reassured.
Whenever Adam was permitted to spend time at Brier Hill, he’d be loved and he would know he was. And, as Robbie meant to accept Lord and Lady Jonquil’s offer of employment until Adam was ready to continue on without her, she could offer him more of that reassurance when he was at Brier Hill.
All the preparations for their celebration were in readiness. Lord Jonquil slipped from the drawing room to fetch his wife, she being the only person in the house who was not privy to the plans for the night.
“Do you think she’ll like our party?” Adam asked.
“She will,” Robbie said. “I’m certain of it.”
He nodded. “I’m glad. I like when she is happy.”
Howard stepped up beside Robbie and set an arm around her waist. “It’s a fine thing when a man can bring happiness to the womenfolk, i’n’ it, Your Grace?”
“It is.” Adam gave Howard a conspiratorial look.
“What have I missed?” Robbie asked her sweetheart.
“The menfolk had a discussion in the garden,” Howard said, more formally and somberly than was necessary, enough so that she very nearly laughed.
“And you decided that you’d like to see the women in yourlives happy?”
He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “Always.”
She watched Adam for signs of disapproval—he’d not countenanced her growing closeness to Howard the last weeks—but none was forthcoming.
In the next moment, Lady Jonquil and her husband appeared in the doorway of the sitting room. Her curious gaze swept over them all before resting for a moment on the cake, then the homemade crown, then the pile of games and toys.
A smile slowly formed on her face. “Twelfth Night?”
“Adam’s idea,” Lord Jonquil said.
