Lost Love Found (22 page)

Maggie pouted at her elder sister’s gentle rebuke while Payton shot Valentina a grateful look, glad for her support.

How like her mother she is in temperament and kindness of heart, thought Lord Bliss of his eldest child.

They soon heard the bustle of another guest’s arrival, and in a moment the Earl of Kempe entered the inn. He bowed elegantly to Lord Bliss and his sons and kissed the ladies’ hands. “Did I not tell you, divinity, that you would see me sooner than you expected? I made my honorable intentions known to your father earlier, so you cannot object to my accompanying you home to Pearroc Royal.” He grinned at her wickedly.

“To what purpose do you follow me, my lord?” Valentina demanded of him.

“You can no longer hide behind the wall of mourning, divinity. Lord Barrows has been dead and gone fifteen months. To what purpose have I followed you? Why, I have come courting, my dear. I have come courting.”

“I have no wish to be courted,” she said emphatically.

“Then I must convince you otherwise. And how can I do that if we are not together?”

“Good night, my lord,” Valentina said, and turned to go up the stairs.

“She is not an easy woman,” said Tom Ashburne, shaking his head ruefully.

“Nay,” agreed Lord Bliss, “she is not, but if you win her, my lord, she will be worth the trouble.”

“You approve my suit, sir?” the earl said.

“I do not disapprove it, my lord, but understand that the final decision rests with Valentina. I have never forced my daughters to the altar, and I will not do so now.”

“You are liberal with your offspring,” remarked the earl.

“As a father of seven I can say that I believe children thrive beneath a firm but gentle hand. Valentina is my daughter, not my possession, sir.”

In the hour before dawn, they came downstairs to discover that Lord Burke had arrived during the night. The innkeeper’s wife had spread a pallet before the fire for him to sleep on. Seeing the Earl of Kempe, Lord Burke said, “Did you think to steal a march on me, Tom?” His eyes were merry.

“Indeed I did, Padraic. I believe I underestimated you.”

“As always, Tom, you have once again allowed your ego to overrule good sense,” Lord Burke replied.

“Peace, man!” The earl laughed.

“Good morrow, Val,” Lord Burke said to his cousin.

“Good morning, Padraic. You are as big a fool as Tom, I see,” Valentina said sharply. She had not slept well, not being used to getting so much sleeping time any more. She had very much enjoyed yesterday with her family despite the reason for their trip home. The arrival of both Tom Ashburne and Padraic Burke was an intrusion she did not appreciate. They behaved more like two young boys squabbling over the last piece of jellycake than like two grown men.

As if reading her mind, Lord Burke said, “I apologize, Val, for this invasion of your privacy and your sadness, but you will understand that because I love you, I would share your sadness with you.”

“Oh, Padraic,” she said contrite, “it is I who should apologize for greeting you so harshly. I am saddened by Mag’s approaching death.”

While everyone’s attention was on the morning meal, Lord Bliss watched his daughter and nephew talking, the two dark heads close together. So little Maggie had not exaggerated the situation. Perhaps, one of these men would be the one to make her happy. She had not been happy in her first marriage, Lord Bliss knew that now. They had all pushed her to the altar, so that Anne and Bevin might wed their sweethearts without further delay, and he must not allow her to be hurried again. This time, he would see Valentina as happy as he and Aidan were happy.

Several days later, they reached Pearroc Royal under gray skies. Aidan St. Michael hurried outside to greet her husband and children. Her joy in seeing them was dampened by the reason for their return.

She had been used to a houseful of children, and with Anne and Bevin wed and the others at court, she’d had only her youngest child, Jamie, now seven, to keep her company. Until this moment, she had not admitted to herself how lonely she was.

Hugging her sons and youngest daughter, she then turned to her eldest child, holding out her arms. Valentina stepped into her mother’s embrace and, kissing her soft cheek, looking lovingly into the beloved gray eyes. “Dear child!” Aidan sighed, hugging Valentina tightly.

“Mama! It is so good to be home!”

Together, mother and daughter entered into the house, Aidan not noticing for a moment her guests, so involved was she with her daughter. “Are you happy at court? Does the queen treat you well? Have you met any gentlemen, perhaps?”

“I am happy at court, Mama. I love the queen dearly, and how is Mag?” was Valentina’s reply.

“Not good these last two days, but now that you are all home,” said Lady Bliss looking about her, “I think she will rally some. Padraic! I did not see you for a moment, and who is this other gentleman who is with you?”

“They are both Valentina’s suitors, Mama!” burst out Maggie. “Padraic and Lord Ashburne want to marry her! Isn’t that wonderful?”

Everyone laughed, and Conn said to his wife, “My dear, I would present to you, Thomas, Lord Ashburne, the earl of Kempe. Both he and Padraic are valiantly attempting to court our eldest child, but to no avail, I fear, although I suspect that eventually she will succumb to one of them and their charms.”

“What charms?” demanded Valentina mischievously.

They both made a great show of ignoring her, and the earl raised Aidan’s hand to his lips to kiss it. “I hope you will forgive my intrusion, madam, at such a sorrowful time, but I simply cannot allow Padraic the advantage over me. After all, he has known Val her entire life. I, to my great regret, have not.”

“You are most welcome to Pearroc Royal, my lord,” came the gracious reply.

“Can I see Mag now, Mama?” Valentina said, bringing back to them the reason for this visit home.

“Of course, my dear, go right up. I must make these two gentlemen comfortable if they are to bide with us awhile,” her mother said.

Valentina hurried to old Mag’s bedchamber, which was located on the same floor of the house as were the family sleeping quarters. The old lady had been with the St. Michael family for nearly fifty years, and was considered family. She was well over eighty years old. Before her arrival in England, she had been a nursemaid, and then she had become the tiring woman to Lady Bliss’s mother, Bevin FitzGerald. She held a place of honor in many hearts. Valentina opened the door to Mag’s room and slipped inside. Maide, a young maidservant, sat watching by the bed where the old lady was dozing. She arose and curtsied as Lady Barrows entered.

“She ain’t been as restless these last few hours, m’lady, and right glad she’ll be to see ye home,” the girl whispered.

“I’ll sit with her awhile, Maide,” Valentina whispered back. “You go and get something to eat.”

“Thank ye, m’lady.” The door closed quietly behind Maide.

Valentina bent down and kissed Mag’s forehead. The old woman opened her eyes. As recognition dawned, she smiled. “God bless ye, child, coming all the way from London to see me on my deathbed. ’Twill not be long now. Master Cluny’s waiting for me, ye know. Right impatient he is, too, the old fool!” Cluny had been Lord Bliss’s manservant and had come with him from Ireland. He and Mag had been the closest of friends and the greatest of antagonists; and it always surprised the family that they never married. Cluny had died two years prior, and Mag had silently mourned him.

“Colly came back with me, and Pay and Maggie, too, Mag,” Valentina told her with a smile.

“Yer sister Anne has come, and she’s brought the baby with her,” Mag said. “A lovely boy he is, too. Looks just like his da, he does, and Master Robert is ever so proud. Produced him just six and a half months after the wedding, she did, yet he was healthy for an early bairn.” The old lady struggled to sit up. “Prop my pillows behind me, child, so I can get a better look at ye.” When Valentina had complied, she asked sharply, “Are ye happy at court? ’Tis a hurly-burly place. I remember it.”

“ ’Twas that way last winter with the earl’s rebellion,” said Valentina, “but mostly they wait for the queen to die.”

“She’s good to ye?”

Valentina nodded. “I am very fond of her, Mag. She has so few about her now whom she can trust. It is tragic. But we have talked long enough, Mag. Mama says you have been poorly these past few days, and you need to rest.”

“Nonsense, child! I’ll soon have all the rest I could ever want. Eternal rest! Now, do not look low, my dearie. I am a very old woman, and I am not sad to be going, though it pains me to leave those I love behind. Still, there is Master Cluny, and he will have his way in this as he ever did. Ye’ll not leave me until I’ve gone, will ye, child? The queen will let ye stay with me?”

“Aye, Mag, she will. She is a good mistress,” said Valentina, close to tears.

“Mistress Bevin’s bairn is near to being born now, ye know,” the old woman confided. “How I wish I might see her and the babe before I die, but ’tis not to be, I know that.”

Over the next few days, Valentina spent a great deal of time with old Mag, nursing her, talking with her. Mag loved her and thrived on the attention. She was delighted to learn that Valentina was the object of a rivalry between Lord Burke and Lord Kempe.

“Yer a late bloomer like yer mother,” she said, “though I did not see it at first. Which one will ye choose, my dearie?”

“I do not know them well enough to make a choice, Mag,” Valentina said.

“Not know yer cousin, Padraic? Why ye’ve known him yer entire life, child!”

“I’ve known him as my cousin, Mag, but until recently, I have never thought of him as a husband. Padraic has always been my friend, for all the difference in our ages.”

“And this earl? What of him?”

“Tom? I do not know what to make of him, Mag. I am never certain if he is really serious or not. He is outrageously handsome, and he has great charm, but for all his persistence, I do not know if he is the man I seek,” said Valentina thoughtfully.

“Bring them both to see me,” said old Mag. “Ye know I’ve always had an instinct for people.”

“It would not tire you to receive visitors?”

“No, child. It cheers me to see people.”

“I shall bring them tomorrow then,” Valentina promised, and she did.

Mag was delighted. “Let me look at ye, Master Padraic,” she said. “Lord bless me but yer a handsome fellow! So ye love my pretty girlie, do ye?”

“Aye, Mag, I do,” he said as he kissed her withered cheek.

“Ye might have spoken up sooner, and saved us all a pack of trouble,” she grumbled.

“I wish I had.”

“Mag, dearest, this is Lord Ashburne,” said Valentina, drawing the earl forward.

Mag looked him up and down boldly, then nodded. “He looks presentable enough,” she said.

Tom Ashburne laughed. “My old nurse used to say that a handsome face could hide a multitude of wickedness,” he teased her gently.

“But it doesn’t with yer lordship. That much I can see. Ye’ve gotten all the hell out of yerself by now,” said Mag. Then she looked at Valentina. “Well, dearie, ye’ve a hard choice here. I’m sorry I’ll not be here to dance at yer wedding.”

Mag rallied in those first few days that Valentina and the others were home. One warm, late October day she asked to be carried to the window so that she could gaze out across the estate fields. Her eyes took in all the autumn beauty of the landscape. When Val opened the window, she smiled, hearing the birdsong and sniffing eagerly at the air, and waved weakly to Lord Burke and Lord Ashburne who were riding in from a morning’s hunting. That night, however, Mag took a bad turn, slipping into a delirium.

“I will sit with her,” Valentina volunteered.

“But you were with her most of the day,” Aidan protested. “You will exhaust yourself, my child. I will sit with her. I have, after all, known her longer than any of you.”

“I will relieve you at midnight, Mama,” Valentina said, and Aidan agreed.

“Is it the end?” Padraic asked Valentina before she left the hall to sleep.

“Perhaps,” said Valentina softly. “Poor Mama! Mag has been with her for Mama’s entire life. She’ll miss her terribly.”

At midnight Lady Barrows slipped into the invalid’s room and Aidan departed for her own chamber. The old woman tossed restlessly, her brow wet with sweat. Valentina wiped the dampness from Mag’s forehead and then seated herself by the bedside. She read by the light of a large candle. Occasionally the old woman muttered unintelligibly. There was a clock upon the mantel that slowly ticked away the hours and Valentina began to nod. She put her book aside and went to the window, drawing the curtains back to look out at the moon-silvered landscape. The moon rode high on a bank of dark-edged clouds, and the night scene so enraptured Valentina that she started when she heard old Mag speaking. Her voice was clear, and Val thought she might be awake, but she was not. Valentina wiped the fevered brow again, but this time Mag would not be soothed.

“I should not have listened,” Mag’s voice rasped, her breathing harsh. “I should not have listened at Mistress Aidan’s door when his lordship went in to her.” Her head rolled from side to side as her breathing quickened. “France. Mistress Aidan’s in France. God forgive me. Should not have listened.”

“Mag! Mag! ’Tis all right,” Valentina said gently.

“Not in France! My mistress is not in France! There’s a prince, and a wicked king … Oh, Cluny! She is not sure the bairn is his lordship’s child! God forgive me! I should not have listened! Mistress Aidan does not know who the father of her bairn is!”

At first Valentina did not comprehend what she was hearing. “She is not sure the bairn is his lordship’s child.” What child was Mag speaking of?

“They’ll never know,” muttered Mag. “They’ll never know, for his lordship’s accepted the bairn, praise God! He loves little Mistress Valentina, but she doesn’t look like either of them. Still, who is ever to know? Oh, I should not have listened! God forgive me!”

A cold hand clutched Valentina’s heart as the words sank in. Was she not her father’s child? What prince and what wicked king, and what did they have to do with this? What secrets had been kept from her? What had Mag listened to?