Page 9 of The Duke and his Muse
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“It’s good to see a friendly face other than my mother’s at Bartlett House,” Graham said dryly, perched on a stuffed chair in the dowager’s sitting room. “Everyone has judged me unworthy. I promise you, Nelly, I had no idea I had a child.”
“Your Grace!” His mother’s lady’s maid gave him a sweet smile. “Of course, you didn’t. Anyone who really knows you would never think such a thing.”
His mother emerged from her dressing room. “Nelly would never think anything unkind of you, my son. She has been a loyal maid and friend for many years.”
The other woman’s cheeks turned pink.
He rose to his feet. “Miss Haywood should be here any moment. I’ll just go along to the nursery and see if Daniel has woken from his nap.”
“That is what a nurse is for,” his mother said idly.
“You didn’t leave me to servants and I shall not do that with my own child,” he replied firmly.
And to be truthful, he enjoyed spending time with his son even if the boy was often sad.
He knocked at the nursery door and the door was opened by the nurse. “Your Grace! Your son just finished his afternoon meal. I was just about to bring Daniel downstairs.”
“Might I escort him with your accompaniment?”
“Whatever you wish, Your Grace.”
The woman was still not especially friendly to him, but Graham thought his attentions toward his son might have softened the nurse a bit.
Mrs. Blight stepped back into the room and Graham could see his son sitting on a rug near the hearth playing with brightly painted blocks.
The nursery had not changed overly much since he’d inhabited it. It sported the same wallpaper, rugs, and bedding in shades of green and brown. His family had always run to boys. Graham’s mother had miscarried two children; both had been male.
“Hello Daniel!” He smiled at the little boy who no longer looked scared when he saw his father. Like his nurse, the boy appeared to be slowly warming up to his father. Graham put out a hand. “Would you like to come downstairs with me? I have a new friend for you to meet.”
The boy looked at his nurse who nodded her approval and held out one of the books the boy so loved. Daniel immediately rushed to the nurse and took the book in his little hands.
“Do you want me to carry the book?” he asked the boy quietly.
Daniel’s response was to clutch the book to his chest, shaking his head repeatedly. “No!”
The boy didn’t speak often, but he did know one word and used it often.
“Shall I carry you down the stairs?”
Daniel shook his head again and clasping the book now in one hand, took his father’s offered hand.
As his fingers gently closed over Daniel’s, Graham felt a warmth spread through him and smiled. The nurse gave him a considering look and he turned away, gently pulling Daniel with him.
“There is a young woman coming to the house today to see you. Her father wrote your Forest Friends books and our visitor is the lady who drew the pictures for the books.” He didn’t feel silly discussing anything with his son after the last few months. His mother had told him to talk as much as he could around the child as that is how the boy would learn to speak himself.
Graham took his time walking across the landing and descending the staircase, careful to let Daniel set his own pace. He’d never thought of himself as a particularly patient man, but with his son he seemed to have all the patience in the world. Now that the boy cried less and less daily, Graham had no desire to cause Daniel any undue anxiety.
When they reached the bottom of the staircase, he could hear voices coming down the corridor from the drawing room. His guest must have arrived.
When he entered the room, it was to find the duchess conversing with Miss Hayward quite easily. The young woman rose to her feet when she saw her host.
“Your Grace.” Her curtsy was a little shaky.
“Miss Hayward, I see you’ve met my mother.”
“Her Grace has been very kind.”
