Page 4 of Avoiding the Merry Viscount
His father sobbed again and laid across his wife. “Take me. Please don’t leave me, Emily,” his father pleaded, as if there was someone listening to him. His shoulders shook and his chest heaved.
Elias had never seen his father in such a state, and it was more than he could bear. Elias was devastated knowing that he’d lose his mother, and scared that he might lose his father too.
Drawing a deep breath, Elias wiped the tears from his eyes. “Papa,” he whispered.
Suddenly, his father shot up. “No. Please, no. She’s not breathing. Help her.”
The doctor put his fingers to her neck, and his shoulders slumped after a few moments. “I’m sorry, my lord. She is gone.”
*
On Christmas Eve,two days later, Elias did his best to help his sisters gather the greenery to decorate for Christmas. It felt wrong and sad to do so without their mother, but Lady Onslow convinced him it would help the girls take their minds off of things. The Onslows had insisted on staying and helping the family through the devastating time, and Elias appreciated them beyond what words could convey.
Lady Onslow cradled his youngest sister Grace in her arms and watched while Matt, Hudson, and Jude carried baskets and helped Diana and Hannah cut the greenery they wanted. Elias carried Jenny, his three-year-old sister, since she wanted to help too.
He was thankful Jenny and Grace were too young to understand the gravity of the situation. Diana was devastated, but having Hannah and Lady Onslow there had been a tremendous help.
Their father hadn’t left his bedchamber since it happened. He would only allow Elias and Lord Onslow in, as he didn’t want to frighten the girls. Lord Onslow tried to convince Elias’s father to join the family, that it would make him feel better to be around his children, but his father just hugged his pillow and cried.
Elias would have never believed it was possible for the man he’d always viewed as the strongest and most level-headed person there was to crumble beneath the weight of his pain.
“Are you all right?” Hudson asked, appearing beside him.
“That one, brother,” Jenny called, pointing to the branch she wanted. Her little nose and cheeks were red from the cold, but at least her eyes were dry. His heart panged at the realization that his sisters wouldn’t have a mother to teach them about becoming young ladies and running a household with the efficiency their mother had. That job would fall to governesses and tutors.
Elias closed his eyes, fighting the emotion within him, trying to harden it into a tight ball and swallow it down. “Will you cut that for her?” he asked, ignoring Hudson’s question.
Hudson did as he asked and placed the branch in the basket that Elias held in his free hand.
They walked in silence to join the others, since everyone’s baskets had been filled. Once everyone was inside, Lady Onslow ordered tea and warm milk. Another task that his mother should be there to do. She would have had the most elaborate spread with all of their favorite treats.
Elias set Jenny down and she ran to Lady Onslow and crawled up to sit beside her on the settee, where Hudson’s mama held a sleeping Grace. Diana and Hannah sat together in the chair next to her, and Hannah held Diana’s hand while they waited. Lord Onslow sat in the chair on the other side of the settee, watching his wife with the girls.
Elias moved to stand before the fire, putting his back to everyone in the room. He wasn’t alone for long before all three of his friendshad joined his side. Hudson on his left, then Jude on his right, with Matt on the other side of Jude. They said nothing, but just stared into the fire with him. He found their presence comforting, and the fact that they didn’t speak even more so.
After a quarter hour of standing before the fire, Elias finally spoke. “Thank you for being here.”
“We will be wherever you need us to be.” Hudson clasped his shoulder.
“Can you keep an eye on my sisters in case Lady Onslow should require help? I wish to visit Papa.”
His friends all nodded and moved back to the other side of the room, where tea was being brought in on a cart.
Elias made his way upstairs and to the room that his parents had shared for his entire life. When he opened the door, his father was sitting in a chair by the window. At least he was out of bed, which made Elias feel hopeful his father might at least be making a bit of progress.
“Papa?”
“My son,” he quavered.
Elias moved across the room and stood near the window that his father looked out. He remained silent, unsure what to say to make things better for his father. He was aware how deeply his father and mother had loved each other, but to see that love ripped apart and his father’s heart shattered and irreparable made him rethink everything he thought about love.
“How are the girls?” his father asked.
“They miss you,” he answered honestly.
His father closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. “I miss them too.” He paused for a few moments, then spoke again. “They all look so much like her. Especially Diana, who also has her mother’s spirit. I just…I don’t know if I can.”
Diana looked like a miniature version of their mother. Althougheach of his mother’s children inherited her deep blue eyes. And each of the girls had her blonde hair, while Elias looked more like his father with darker hair, except for the blue eyes.
