Then she picked up and rang a small silver bell sitting on a little table beside her. She remained silent until the parlour maid appeared.
“Yes, Madam.”
“Please have Polly bring... you know.”
“Yes, Madam.” The door closed, and Mary addressed Edmund.
“Edmund, you will recall the happy summer and autumn we spent together, before you told me you would never leave Thornton Lacey? Do you recall the nights we spent together?”
Indeed, Edmund had passed many restless hours recalling those nights, longing to have her in his bed again, but he barely nodded in reply.
“All those nights as man and wife, Edmund, and did you never stop to wonder whether—? Two healthy young people coming together as often as we did? After I left you, I went to Brighton, but soon I was obliged to take refuge in Wales, to conceal my state.”
“Mary!”
“The child was born in June of the year ten, and I thought I would die of the pain and suffering I underwent in bringing him into the world. And from the moment I held your son in my arms, I wanted only the best in life for him. That consideration will explain my subsequent conduct. You must acquit the mother, even if you condemn the wife.”
“Madam?”
“Edmund, had you addressed me just now with any tenderness, with any forgiveness, with any consideration of what I have suffered, I would have, in return, spared you this additional revelation. At first, I kept you in ignorance of your son’s birth because I had greater ambitions for him. The child would have better prospects if he was thought to be the son of an Earl, one of the richest men in England, even if illegitimate, than as the heir presumptive to your father’s bankrupt baronetcy. Lord Elsham has no male heir, and so, in my ambitious delusions, I saw the baby becoming as important to Elsham as it was possible for him to be. So, I informed Lord Elsham that the child was his. Wait—wait—Edmund—”
Edmund flushed red, and his fists were clenched.
“—by the time the baby passed out of infancy, Elsham was undeceived. They share not a single feature, and he can consult a calendar as well as you can. We quarrelled, and we parted. I then attempted to reconcile with you, and sent you a letter by Lady Delingpole, but you—”
“And the child? The child? Is he well? Where is he now?”
“I kept him in the countryside, in Wales. But he is now—”
“Nearly two years old!”
The door opened, and a plump little nursery-maid came in, holding a sturdy young child in her arms, who wiggled and kicked and testified to his desire to be set down. She began to carry the little boy to her mistress, but that lady directed her by a motion, to go to Edmund, who tried to stand up to receive his son from his nurse’s arms, but his legs had turned to water.
Edmund awkwardly took the boy upon his knee and examined him. A baby version of himself looked back at him—the same curling locks, lighter than his own, but he, too, was fair-haired as a child. The same deep blue eyes, the same broad forehead, the same close-set ears.
“I wanted to name him ‘Henry,’ but of course your sister named my brother’s son ‘Henry.” It was only fitting. So I named him ‘Thomas.’ After your father.”
The nursery-maid withdrew, and Mary’s composure suddenly dissolved. Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.
“I never imagined I could love anyone or anything as much as I love my child. By law, Edmund, you can take Thomas from my arms. He is yours, he belongs to you, and I have no rights over him. So when you told me we could not live together as man and wife until Julia was married...” her voice choked. “And Julia was determined to wait, year after year, for William Price! That, Edmund, is why I did everything I could, to encourage her to come to her senses. For my son’s sake.”
The little boy looked around the room, then returned his gaze to Edmund. The two looked at one another, equally fascinated. At last, the child gave a delighted smile, and Edmund’s heart felt as though it would burst.
“I was desperate,” Mary continued, through her sobs. “I was trapped. I wanted to tell you about Thomas, but I was terrified that if you learned about your son while we were estranged, you would take him from me and cast me out forever. Then Lord Elsham returned, and berated me for keeping the truth from you. He threatened to tell you himself, if I did not.”
Little Thomas bounced up and down on Edmund’s knee. “How do you do? Play horsey?” he said clearly.
Mary smiled proudly through her tears. “He speaks very well for one so young, doesn’t he? I remember your aunt Norris once told me the same about you, that you could recite your alphabet by your second birthday, and name all the little wooden animals in your Noah’s ark...” She began to weep aloud.
“And now—you condemn me—you say there is no hope for me. I have lost everyone—I ever loved in my life. Selfish—you called me. But this last—I will now do willingly—for our son’s sake. I
