“Well, thank you, young Henry,” he said. “I feel much better now.”
The boy beamed again, patting Albert on the back before skipping ahead a little. Albert marveled at how wonderful the boy was. It was evident as to why his parents were so proud of him.
As they continued walking, the boy would move ahead and pick random, various flowers and take them to Miss Elwood. She smiled and politely accepted five of them before giving him a wide-eyed smile.
“I have a wonderful idea,” she said. “Why don’t I help you pick some for your mother, as well?”
Henry’s entire face lit up, and he nodded eagerly.
“Oh, that’s very thoughtful of you, Miss Elwood,” he said. “Can we do that right now?”
Miss Elwood looked up at Albert questioningly, and he nodded eagerly in approval.
“Lead the way, you two,” he said, gesturing in front of him.
He was too happy to follow them across the meadow to continue picking flowers. He was so awestricken by Miss Elwood that he needed a moment to collect his thoughts. She had gotten on so well with Neil and Rachel. He knew they liked her, even without having spoken with them about it yet. But Miss Elwood was also very good with young Henry, and she seemed to genuinely enjoy spending time with the boy. Albert knew without a doubt that the young woman would make a wonderful mother.
But that notion brought him terrible guilt. He had every intention of getting her to call off their wedding, which would mean that without a husband, she would never have children. It had never occurred to him to ask her whether she wanted children. Why would he, when he didn’t actually plan to marry her?
However, now, he was wondering if he shouldn’t go ahead and marry her. There was always the chance that she wouldn’t be physically attracted to him, and then, she wouldn’t produce children, anyway. But then, there was the chance that she was, and that she was happy to have a family with him. That might, at the very least, make up for the romantic love he would never be able to give her.
No,he scolded himself.Don’t even consider such a ridiculous notion.Even if he could give her children, Albert knew that Miss Elwood would be better off without him. The scandal sheets came to mind as a stark reminder of why that was true. He didn’t know what kind of life she could have once she got away from him. But he was sure that he knew what kind of life she’d have if she didn’t. To him, that was a risk worth taking, for her sake.
It didn’t take Henry long to have a large enough armful of flowers that he needed some extra help carrying them. Albert saw Miss Elwood and the boy clumsily juggling the extra flowers, and he rushed up to help them.
“Here, allow me,” he said, giving the boy a sweet smile.
Henry shook his head firmly.
“I want to be the one to give these to Mama,” he said. “If you’re holding them, that means you will give them to her.”
Albert chuckled, never ceasing to be amazed at the boy’s sharp mind. He glanced at Miss Elwood, who looked pointedly at him as she began cradling the flowers she was holding in her arms, like one might an infant.
Albert understood at once, and he grinned. He walked over to the boy, mimicking the infant rocking position, and showing him how to lay the flowers in his arms.
“There you are,” he said, stepping back. “How’s that?”
Henry’s eyes lit up when he realized he could carry all the flowers that way. He beamed up at Albert and nodded.
“Thank you,” he said.
Slowly, to treat the flowers gently, the trio ended their walk and headed back to Rachel and Neil. Henry presented the flowers, sans the ones he had given to Miss Elwood, to his mother with great pride.
“Here you are, Mother,” he said, bowing as his mother took the flowers. “Miss Elwood helped me gather these for you. It was her idea, in fact.”
Rachel smelled the flowers, smiling up at her son and Miss Elwood.
“That was very thoughtful of both of you,” she said, giving Albert a knowing glance. “I cannot wait to take these home and put them in a vase.”
Henry beamed, and Miss Elwood blushed.
“I’m glad you like them,” they said, almost in unison.
Albert and Neil oversaw the repacking of the picnic, while Miss Elwood, her lady’s maid and Rachel watched over Henry and juggled the flowers. When everything was ready for them to depart, everyone bowed and curtseyed, respectively.
“Albert, why don’t you come by for drinks later this evening?” Neil said.
Albert glanced at Miss Elwood for any indication that she might be hurt that she wasn’t invited, or upset by the notion of him drinking. But she was still wearing her same sweet smile, even looking at him with mild encouragement.
