Page 62 of Love, Remember Me

Blaze burst out laughing. "Considering the amount of time you and Varian spend in this bed, I am hardly surprised to find you having a baby, Nyssa. It would have been more extraordinary if you had not become enceinte. The women of this family are known for their fertility. Why, your grandmother produced your twin uncles just three months after you were born."

"We are to have a child!" Varian had been standing stock-still, astounded by their conversation. Now he managed to voice his happiness. "Ohh, sweeting, how can I thank you?" The Earl of March had tears in his eyes.

"I suppose Mama is correct," Nyssa allowed.

"Of course I am," her mother said firmly. "I am never wrong about these things."

"I had hoped to have my heir born at Winterhaven," the earl said slowly, "but I realize it will be impossible for Nyssa to travel in her delicate condition. We will have to rely upon your hospitality."

"Nonsense!" Blaze told him. "In a week or two Nyssa will have passed through this unpleasant part and will feel much better. There is no reason why she cannot travel in safety to Winterhaven. It is time that you went home, my lord. My daughter will have a great deal to do there, considering how long it has been since anyone has really kept their residence at Winterhaven. There will be servants to train, and the entire house will have to be refurbished. It is, I suspect, quite woefully old-fashioned. Nyssa tells me you have given her carte blanche to do whatever she would with the house."

"I have never had a baby before," Nyssa said nervously. "I will be all alone at Winterhaven. Ohh, Mama! Please let me stay!"

"When the time comes, I will come to you, Nyssa," her mother replied. "Besides, you are much nearer to Ashby at Winterhaven. No one knows more about birthing babies than your grandmother. You will be fine. Now, I must go and prepare Anthony for your happy news." She bustled from the bedchamber, her smile wide.

"You did this to me deliberately!" Nyssa accused Varian.

"My only thought, I swear, was for our pleasure," he told her. "Certainly my ignorance of your condition should have told you that I knew no more about it than you." He chuckled. "How could you not know?" he wondered aloud.

"I suppose I never paid a great deal of attention to Mama when she was breeding," Nyssa said, somewhat mollified. "We never really knew until suddenly one day her belly would bloom and she would tell us we would soon have another little brother. Philip and I never really cared, for we had each other to love and keep company. Giles was not born until I was almost eight. Puppies, kittens, my pony; these things were of far more interest to me than Mama having a baby, Varian."

"Aye," he said, remembering the duchess Elizabeth, his grandfather's second wife, when she had had her children. He had paid her scant mind, and if someone had asked him if she was breeding, he would have been hard-pressed to say if it was so or not. None of it mattered now. What mattered was that they were to have a baby.

Nyssa suddenly arose from her bed, a new light of determination in her eyes. "There are things I must ask Mama," she said. "I do not know if we dare to continue sharing our passion. I do not think I should like it if we had to stop altogether, but I do not know." Then her eyes twinkled. "One good thing has come of this, my lord. We will not have to go back to court! Whatever your cousin Catherine wants, the king would not allow me to endanger our child."

He laughed. "I agree, sweeting. In a few days, when you feel better, we will go home to Winterhaven and settle down like two mice in their winter burrow. No one but family shall come to visit, and we will never go to court again unless you wish it. Cat will soon forget about us amid all the wonders she will have as Queen of England."

"Ohh, Varian," Nyssa declared fervently, "I do like you so very much! I do not think I could have found a better husband myself." She flung her arms about him and kissed him passionately.

His heart almost broke with his happiness. It was the first time since they had married that she had voiced any strong emotion toward him. She was going to love him. One day she would love him every bit as much as he loved her. But for now it was enough.She liked him very much, and they were to have a baby. "I should like to call our son Thomas, after my grandfather," he said.

"Never!" Nyssa said. "I will never forgive your grandfather for his cruelty. Our son will be called Edmund Anthony de Winter, after my two fathers. I think it only fitting, and my family will agree."

"If you bring your family into this matter," he said, laughing, "then I am outnumbered, madame. We will call our second son Thomas."

"We will call our second son Henry after your father, and after the king," Nyssa declared firmly.

"Then our third son shall be Thomas," he said stubbornly.

"After our dear archbishop, if you wish it, my lord," she answered him sweetly, and smiled. "But never shall I name a son of mine after Thomas Howard!"

"I do not believe in beating breeding women," he said. "Are you certain you are breeding, madame?"

"My mama says so, and she is the expert, sir. Besides, you cannot beat me," Nyssa told him.

"Why not?" he retorted.

"Because you will never be able to catch me," she teased him, and slipping from his arms, she ran from the room.

His laughter followed her.

CHAPTER 10

WINTERHAVENhad been built in the thirteenth century. Despite the battlements crowning its four towers, which gave it the appearance of a small castle, its interior was that of a comfortable, well-to-do manor house. It was set upon the topmost crest of a hill. A small moat surrounded it. The moat was filled with weeds, for it had been many years since it had been necessary to flood it and fortify the house. The drawbridge had long ago been dispensed with. The Earl and Countess of March clattered across a pretty stone bridge, stopping directly in front of the main entry, which was already wide open to welcome them.

The house was built of pale gray stone. Nyssa was pleased to see that someone had modernized the windows in the recent past. Ancient buildings such as this one were usually much too dark. Everything was neat, but shabby. She could see that there was a great deal of work to be done. She wondered if Varian could afford it. It was not something that they had discussed. Her father had given her husband a very generous dowry, but he had insisted that Nyssa's house, Riverside, as well as the bulk of her inherited wealth, remain in her own hands.

"Nyssa seems fond of you, and you seem to genuinely care for her," Anthony Wyndham had told the Earl of March thoughtfully. "Still, I think it better for now, and perhaps for always, that my daughter retain a certain measure of her independence. Neither Nyssa nor I chose you to be her husband. When we know you better, we will reconsider the matter."

---