Who Brings Forth the Wind (Kensington Chronicles) (36 page)

there instead.

While most women were sewing or visiting with friends,

Drew's mother was teaching him to eat correctly and to

respect his elders. It suddenly occurred to him why. There

would not have been money in the viscount's household for a

luxury such as a nurse. Tanner determined to ask Stacy if she

wanted to hire a nanny, but he knew what the answer would

be.

"Tanner," Stacy cut into his thoughts, "would it be a problem

if I visited Bracken today?"

Tanner's brows rose to his hairline. "You certainly don't

need to ask permission to go calling, Stacy. Just order the

carriage and go."

*Thank you, Tanner," she said softly. He almost told her

that wasn't necessary either.

"Am I going to Racken?"

"It's Bracken," his mother corrected him, "and, yes, you

are. You can play with Lady Sunny's little boys."

"Do they have toys?"

"I'm sure they do," Stacy answered absently and reached

for her cup of tea. She wouldn't have been quite so calm if

she'd seen Tanner's shocked look.

He had a sudden image of his son playing with shoes on

the floor of his mother's sitting room. Something painful tore

inside of him at the way his wife and son had been living for

the past three years. This was his family home; all of his

childhood toys must be here somewhere.

Tanner excused himself a very short time later. Stacy was

surprised to see him go so suddenly, but she was thankful for

their brief time. She would have been even more thankful if

she'd known that he was ordering the house servants at Winsow

to ready the nursery for Drew while he and Stacy were at

Bracken.

"Oh, Sunny, you should have seen his face when he saw

Drew. I thought my heart would break."

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"He didn't question his parentage at all?"

"No," Stacy answered and went ahead to tell her the entire

story. "God is so good," Stacy said as she finished.

"How about the verses; were they an encouragement?"

Sunny's voice said she hoped they had been.

'"Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands

that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the

word be won by the conversation of the wives, while they

behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear; whose

adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the

hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel, but let

it be the hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible,

even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. First Peter 3:1-4.'"

"I can't believe you memorized those verses," Sunny said

in amazement.

"I cling to them," Stacy told her, "and it's been such a

comfort. But my favorite verse isn't with those. It's at the

middle of chapter three. 'For the eyes of the Lord are over the

righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers; but the

face of the Lord is against them that do evil.'"

"You challenge me, Stacy. I haven't memorized a verse in

several weeks."

"Oh, Sunny, I think God understands. You said that Preston

had a cold and then you and then Sterling. I think at times

like that you have to concentrate on the verses you already

know."

Sunny's brow drew down in a mock frown. "I thought

when we studied that I would be teaching you. I really needed

to hear that, Stacy. Thank you."

Stacy smiled. "There is so much I don't know, Sunny, and

I'm still too timid. I haven't even told Tanner about my conversion.

I need boldness."

"Has there been an opportunity to tell him?"

This gave Stacy pause. "Now that you mention it, I'm not

sure if there has. Maybe I need to give it more time."

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"It sounds like you'll have the time. And don't forget your

verses so fast. Your life will show him better than words."

"Yes, it should. My pride rears its head, and I want to shout

at Tanner and defend myself. His words about not forgiving

me were hard to take, so I concentrated on his wanting a real

family. I've prayed about that for so long."

"Speaking of families, did you want to check on the boys?"

"Yes. Drew will be growing hungry soon."

"As will Sterling and Preston. We can have tea when

they're settled with lunch."

"Oh, Mumma," Drew cried when his mother appeared at

the nursery room door.

"Hello, my darling. Having fun?"

Drew ran to hug Stacy. "They have real boats!" His voice

was breathless with excitement. "Lots of boats!"

Stacy's grin was as large as her son's eyes.

"How about some lunch?" Sunny asked the gang, and they

responded loudly.

Stacy studied them as they moved out of the room and

down the hall. Sterling was a most handsome young lad,

sporting his father's dark hair and eyes. He was just short of

his sixth birthday. Preston was less than a year older than

Drew, and his hair was as dark as Drew's was fair. They were of

the same build, Preston being an inch or so taller, and both

were the picture of young health.

Since he was a little older, Sterling was inclined to be

more serious, whereas both Drew and Preston were in some

ways little more than babies. Sterling was wonderfully patient

with all of their antics, and Stacy had not as yet heard a cross

word between them.

After seeing that they were nicely settled, the Hawkesbury

nanny in attendance, Stacy and Sunny went to the small salon

for their tea.

260

They made themselves comfortable and talked as if Stad

had been back for years instead of weeks. The Duchessir

Cambridge had a small sandwich halfway to her mouth whc

her husband and Brandon walked into the room. Stacy,

pecting she might choke if she took a bite, replaced

sandwich and sat still while Tanner approached.

He bent as soon as he was near, grasped her jaw, arxi

kissed her. Stacy stared up into his face a moment, her own!

face still cupped in his hand, before speaking.j

"You could have ridden over with us. "Stacy prayed that he

was not checking up on her.

"In truth I was in need of a ride. My horse has been getting

fat of late. If you don't mind my company, however, I'll go back

with you."

"All right," Stacy smiled sweetly, the first real smile since

her husband had come for her. It was so reminiscent of their

first months as husband and wife that Tanner had a hard time

taking his eyes away. Only Brandon, coming to greet Stacy,

moved him on.

In the next few minutes, the men took seats and were

served tea. The conversation ran from one subject to the next

until Parks, head of housekeeping at Bracken, came to the

door.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, my lord," he said to Brandon.

"That's all right, Parks. What is it?"

"Nanny reports that young Lord Richardson bumped his

head while playing and is quite inconsolable."

Stacy began to rise.

"I'll go," Tanner told her. He moved to the door, Brandon

behind him.

"You look thunderstruck," Sunny commented when the

men left.

"I'm just surprised that he wanted to go."

"I guess I'm not. Whenever he visits here and the boys are

present, he always speaks to them with genuine interest. I

think he really loves children."

261

Sunny talked on, cutting off only when the men reap-

red,

Drew in his father's arms. He was not crying, but his

iir head lay on Tanner's shoulder and the evidence of tears

on his cheek. Tanner deliberately took the settee next to

icy and as soon as Drew saw his mother, he reached for her.

Stacy took him on her lap but looked down to see that he

[was smiling back at Tanner.

"You certainly don't look any worse for wear," Stacy commented

and looked for the bump. Some tears filled Drew's

eyes, but they did not spill.

"I believe it was quite minor." Tanner's voice was dry. His

son might have overreacted, but he was adorable while doing

it.

"I think what you really need is a nap," Stacy said.

Drew's lip quivered, but Stacy's voice was firm.

"You will not fuss about it, Drew. Now let's say goodbye to

Lord and Lady Hawkesbury."

Tanner came behind his wife and son to say his own

goodbyes, but he was rather preoccupied. Why hadn't it

occurred to him that Drew cried harder because he was tired?

He decided he could learn a lot about parenting from Stacy.

Tanner would have laughed at his own seriousness if he

could have seen Brandon's and Sunny's amused expressions

after he left. Of course, they would have been the first to admit that they had no idea what it was like not to meet your son until

he was three.

263

G/!lMi/~

As usual, stacywas starving. She had eaten a large dinner

and even enjoyed Tanner's presence in the process, but that

felt like hours ago. She tried to sleep, but it just wasn't going to

work. After fighting the urge for just a few minutes, she

decided to go to the kitchen. She knew the feeling and was

certain it would not go away.

With a decisive move, she threw the covers back and

reached for her wrapper. It came to her as she was leaving her

room that Tanner would simply ring for something, but Stacy's

relationship with the staff was only just slightly warmer now

than it had been when they first arrived

Cook, Price, and of course, Hettie were the only servants

who did not act as if they were doing Stacy a favor every time

she called on them. It was only when Drew needed something

that she was bold enough to speak up, which of course was the

very reason Stacy was walking toward the kitchen this late at

night, feeling rather clandestine about fixing herself a snack

while the rest of the mansion slept.

Tanner climbed the stairs rather late that night. He'd had

some figures to go over concerning a land deal he and Brandon

were involved in, and he'd not been satisfied with the

263

outcome. They had already talked of it several times and were

going to talk of it again in another few weeks. Tanner had

wanted the paperwork out of his head so that he could once

again concentrate on Drew and Stacy.

As was swiftly becoming his habit of the last few weeks,

Tanner moved to Stacy's door. Each night before he went to

bed he would check on both her and Drew. He'd have much

preferred Stacy to join him in his own room, but that had not

yet happened She was growing less wary of him each day, and

he felt that given time they would once again live as man and

wife.

This didn't immediately erase all the past, but Stacy had a

good memory; she would not forget his reaction last time and