Page 67 of Love, Remember Me

Slowly Tillie and Heartha made their way down the stairs and into the Great Hall.

"My lord!" said Heartha. "You have a son."

Varian de Winter leapt to his feet and strode toward her.

"And a daughter, my lord," Tillie told him.

The Earl of March stopped in his tracks. "A sonanda daughter?" He looked nonplussed.

"Runs in the family," Anthony Wyndham said matter-of-factly, coming to look at his first two grandchildren. "Old Lady Morgan birthed four sets of twins, y'know. Two sets were girls. One was a mixed pair like these two, and the last set was boys." He peered down at the babies. "Which one's the lad?" he asked the two women.

"This one here, m'lord," Heartha said, beaming. "Lord Edmund Anthony de Winter's 'is name, Mistress Nyssa says."

"Is it?" Anthony Wyndham felt a bit misty-eyed. "Is that all right with you, my lord?" he asked his son-in-law.

Varian nodded, fascinated by the miniature of himself cradled in the tiring woman's arms. "Aye. I bred them, but according to Nyssa, I do not get to name them." He looked up with a grin and then said to Tillie, "What is my daughter to be called?"

"She's Lady Sabrina Mary de Winter, m'lord," Tillie replied.

"Is my wife well?" he queried her.

"Oh, aye, m'lord. My mistress is quite well. Lady Wyndham says her labor was a very easy one," Tillie informed him.

The earl left the hall and hurried to his wife's chamber. Nyssa was already newly bathed and in a fresh chamber robe.

"Did you see them?" she asked him impatiently as he entered. "Are they not the most perfect and beautiful babies, my lord?"

"Sabrina is bald," he noted, "but," he added, seeing his wife's outraged look, "she is the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen."

"And Edmund? I have given you an heir, sir. Are you not pleased with me? What is my reward to be? When I was born, my father gave my mother a manor, and I was but one baby. What shall I have for two?"

"Nyssa!Such greed," Blaze said, but she was laughing.

"This," the earl said, slipping a beautiful gold chain with a large pear-shaped diamond from his doublet, "is your reward for giving me an heir, madame. Since I was not expecting a second baby, I must beg your indulgence. What would you like?"

"I want a flock of sheep," she said. "I shall put aside the gold from the sale of their wool and invest it. By the time Sabrina is ready to wed one day, I shall have a fine dowry for her."

"The lambs born this spring are yours," he said. It was a highly practical idea, Varian thought. There would be other children, and some of them were bound to be daughters. Daughters needed fine dowries to obtain fine husbands. One day the king would die, and being related to a Howard queen would mean nothing then. Gold was the only thing that lasted. That never changed.

The babies were returned to their mother, and looking down at them, Nyssa felt a tremendous rush of love for her children. She was astounded to have two of them, amazed that they were finally a reality that she could touch, and caress. She looked at her mother. "How can you give both equal attention, Mama? I adore them both already."

"You cannot," came the wise reply, "but if you kiss one, be certain to kiss the other so neither will feel slighted. You will need a wet nurse now, my child. Twins are hard that way."

"Not yet!" Nyssa cried. "I have just had them. I want them to myself, Mama." She looked at her husband and smiled.

"A wet nurse will share the burden with you, Nyssa," her mother answered. "These grandchildren of mine will need all the food they can get. Look how quickly Jane and Annie grew in the last year. I have had a wet nurse to share my load. I favor neither of your sisters. When they cry for food, I pick one up, and Clara picks the other one up to nurse. Sometimes I have Jane, and sometimes Annie. It matters not to your sisters as long as their little bellies are filled."

"Listen to your mother, sweeting," Varian told her. "She has experience in these matters." He took his son from Heartha and smiled down at him before handing him to Nyssa. Then Varian removed his daughter from Tillie's arms. "They are perfect, and I thank you, madame, for giving me such fine children. They shall be baptized in the morning. Let Anthony stand godfather for Edmund and Sabrina both."

"Let us wait a few days, my lord, so that the rest of my family might be summoned. Anthony may stand godfather for Edmund, but I would have my brother Philip be Sabrina's godfather."

"And the godmothers?" he queried her.

"Aunts Bliss and Blythe, with your permission, my lord."

He agreed. "And the king must be notified, of course."

She nodded. "Aye. The sooner the better, and then perhaps Cat will realize that we cannot come back to court to play with her."

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