Ravenscroft Castle
Five Months Later
“Becky will murder us in our sleep if she ever finds out about this, Kat.”
Phoebe stared aghast at her sister-in-law, whose belly looked as if it might pop at any moment. Kat held in her hand a letter. A letter that was not addressed to either of them, but to Becky. Becky had no family that Phoebe knew of. In all her time with them, she had never received a single letter. From anyone. Ever.
So it was indeed suspicious that she would receive one now, which was why Phoebe had brought it to Kat, merely for the sake of discussion and speculation. Not with the intent to open it, for heaven’s sake!
“You are overreacting, Phoebe,” Kat assured her. “It is for Becky’s own good that we screen the letter before we pass it on to her.”
Phoebe eyed Kat askance. “How in the world could the two of us opening Becky’s post be for her own good?”
Clearly having been bested, Kat leveled her with an annoyed expression. “Do you want to know what is in the letter or not?”
Phoebe bit down on her lip while she thought about it. Of course she wanted to know what was in the letter. How could she not be just a little bit curious?
“Perhaps you’re right,” Phoebe said at last. “What if it is bad news? We might be able to soften the blow in that case. No one wants to read bad news in a letter. It’s much better coming from a friend, is it not?”
Kat smiled and patted her on the hand in a congratulatory sort of way. “My thoughts exactly.” Then she broke the seal on the letter and unfolded it, holding it out so they could both read.
Phoebe scooted a little closer—though Kat’s belly was so large, she couldn’t get all that close—and focused her eyes on the flowery script.
Dear Miss Thorn,
My husband and I were very pleased to receive your letter. Our two children, Max and Lydia, are in desperate need of a governess, though we have had some difficulty finding one who suits our every need. I am certain, with your education and background, that you will be a perfect match. Perhaps we could persuade you to join us for a trial period here in Essex? I look forward to your expeditious reply.
Sincerely,
Viscountess Hastings
Phoebe could hardly believe her eyes. Becky wanted to leave them? Even now, tears threatened to choke her. “Why?”
“Oh, Phoebe, darling, don’t get all upset now,” Kat said, patting her on the back. “It’s only a letter. This doesn’t mean she’s going to go.”
“You don’t think so? Why would she have written to this—” she peered at the letter again “—Viscountess Hastings if she didn’t mean to seek employment with her?”
Kat seemed stumped at this. “Well, it’s no matter, Phoebe, we can simply burn the letter.”
“Burn it!” Phoebe cried, turning astonished eyes on her sister-in-law. “Have you gone mad, Kat?”
“Shhh! She’ll hear us . . . and, no, I have not. If you don’t want her to go, don’t tell her about the letter.”
Phoebe sighed, wishing it were that easy. But she would never be able to lie to Becky like that, and the guilt would be so unbearable she would eventually confess all anyhow. “Thank you for the suggestion, Kat, but I can’t do that.”
“All right,” Kat said, looking more like The Canary now that the wheels were turning in her head. “Then why don’t we make it impossible for her to go?”
“Impossible?” Phoebe raised her brows, curiously. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, we should—oh!” Kat’s hand flew to her oversized stomach.
“Kat? What is it?”
Her sister-in-law looked at her with a panicked expression. “I think it’s time.”
“Time? Time!” Oh, Lord! She crossed the parlor and flung open the door. “It’s time!” she shouted into the corridor, hoping someone, anyone, would hear her and come to their aide.
Blessedly, word spread throughout the household in a matter of minutes, and before she knew what was happening, Kat was being assisted to her chamber. William picked her up in his arms, struggling a bit thanks to Kat’s massive belly, and carried her off, with the dowager and Lady Grimsby following behind.
Phoebe put a hand to her own stomach, now more than six months along with her own babe, and thanked God she was with child. It was the only thing keeping her from having to be in the delivery room with Kat. A place she really did not care to be.
***
“May we go in?”
The doctor held the door open and gestured for Phoebe and Benjamin to enter Katherine’s bedchamber. It was early the next morning, and sunlight streamed through the windows at the far end of the room. But the brightest spot to be found was in the middle of the large bed where Katherine sat with her new baby boy and her new baby girl. Phoebe and Benjamin walked together to her bedside and peered over the swaddling blankets to see the babes tucked inside. Two small pink heads, covered in matted black hair, poked up from their confines, and Phoebe’s heart melted at the sight.
“They’re so small,” she whispered, already in love with her tiny niece and nephew.
Benjamin reached out and put a loving hand on her round belly, eliciting a well of activity from their own little one.
“Do you want to hold one?” Katherine asked her.
Phoebe started at the question. “Erm . . . later, perhaps.” She felt the warmth creep into her cheeks as Benjamin turned to look at her, a bemused expression in his eyes.
“You’ve never held a baby, have you?”
Phoebe shook her head slowly as her hands grew numb from fright. Oh, goodness. What if she made it cry? Or dropped it? Heaven forbid! She really did not want to hold a baby right now. She had no idea what she would do once her own was born, but she preferred not to think about that.
“It’s all right, darling.” Benjamin took her hand and led her around the side of the bed. “I’ll hold little Will first to show you how it’s done.”
“Don’t patronize me, Benjamin,” she chided. “I’ve seen other people hold them plenty of times. I’ve just never done it myself.”
Benjamin smiled at her as he reached to retrieve William from Katherine’s arms. He cradled the baby with an expertise that indicated he had held many before this one.
“Where did you learn to hold a babe like that?” Phoebe asked, trying to hide the jealousy in her tone.
Benjamin glanced at his sister, an affectionate smile on his lips, and then turned back to Phoebe. “I was almost four when the twins were born and six when Kat was born. Once I learned how to hold them, I didn’t want to put them down.”
Phoebe glanced at her sister-in-law. She looked radiant and exhausted at the same time. But her eyes glittered with tears. Phoebe felt them prick at her own as well.
“I beg your pardon. What was that?” Benjamin spoke to the infant as if he’d just spoken to him. “You want me to teach you how to make girls weep over you, too?”
“Oh, do be quiet, Benjamin,” Katherine warned her brother, and then to Phoebe added, “Leave it to my brother to create a tender moment and then ruin it all in the same breath.”
“All right, love, it’s your turn. Sit here.” Benjamin stood from his perch on the bed and motioned for Phoebe to take his place.
Very gently, he lowered baby William into her outstretched arms, and Phoebe knew she had fallen in love with yet another boy. She held him gingerly at first, afraid she might break him if she held on too tight, but as she became more comfortable, she couldn’t resist the urge to nuzzle him closer. He was so soft, and he smelled sweet and warm. Now she understood why her husband might have been reluctant to put his brothers and sister down when they were wee things.
William came into the room then, after having stepped out to speak with the doctor. Benjamin greeted him with congratulations, and then both men left to go enjoy a celebratory cigar in the study.
“We should have guessed you were having twins,” Phoebe said once the door was shut. “You were big as a house after only five months.”
“How kind of you to point that out,” Katherine rejoined, her lips curving into a smile. “Now, what have you done with that letter?”
Phoebe smiled. Of course, not even twenty hours of labor with twins could deter Kat from gossip. “It has been resealed and delivered to Miss Thorn.”
“And?”
“And . . . ” Phoebe shifted the baby slightly in her arms and then looked up at her sister-in-law. “I think we should put whatever devious plan you have to keep her here into motion . . . immediately.”
The End
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