Page 71 of Everything But the Earl
“No. I have interviewed a few candidates, but haven’t found one I like yet. I’ve been feeding him myself.”
“That is unorthodox.”
“So everyone says. I will hire a nanny, once I find one I trust. In the meantime, I am his mother, and I should be able to take care of him.”
“Of course.”
Dafydd calmed and drifted back to sleep. Grace placed him carefully back into his crib.
“You should know, though,” Grace said. “The labor was quite difficult. I lost consciousness for a while, due to lack of blood.”
Owen’s mouth fell open. “That is… Thank God you are all right now.”
Grace walked toward the master’s bedroom and through the room that connected them. Owen followed.
“He was born here,” Grace said. “I had to replace the mattress and bedding.”
“Oh. Oh, Grace. I’m so sorry that I was not here.”
“I didn’t tell you. I should have told you.”
“Have you been abed these last three weeks?”
“Not entirely, but a lot of the time. My friends and the staff have been helping. I sent them away today because I knew you were coming and I wanted to see you alone.”
“This Catrin woman you wrote me about?”
“She has several children of her own. She helped me a great deal when Dafydd was first born. And Morfudd and Gwen Williams have been here too to look after him so I could sleep. And Mary, my maid, she’s helped a great deal, too. You should give her a raise.”
“I will,” said Owen. “You’ve been taking care of Dafydd by yourself?”
She nodded. “I will hire a nurse. It’s just hard. I don’t know how noblewomen leave their children in nurseries on distant floors, to be taken care of by strangers and then just go back to their lives like nothing significant has changed. I love him so much, Owen. I struggle to be apart from him.”
Owen put an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “You should raise him however you see fit. But if you are still recovering, you should perhaps get some help. I can afford to hire help.”
“I’m so sorry, Owen.”
“I know. And I am quite shocked, so I may have more to say on this later, but… I am just glad you are all right. That you both are.”
“I can sleep in my own room tonight so that you can have the bed.”
“It’s all right. If you are sleeping here and do not mind a large earl taking up part of the bed, there is no need to sleep elsewhere.”
“I do not mind, but I cannot… That is, I am still recovering and a bit sore, so I won’t be able to…”
“It is all right. I will make no demands of you.”
That was a relief. “I am glad to see you,” she said.
Chapter Nineteen
Of all things,a baby was not among the things Owen suspected.
He hated himself a little for immediately wondering about the boy’s parentage. But he’d done the math, and it made sense for Dafydd to have been conceived when Owen and Grace had first arrived in Wales. Also, the poor boy looked like Owen’s uncle Edmund, so it was hard to deny a family resemblance. The dark hair, the chin cleft, those were distinct Thomas traits.
And now he had a son. He didn’t think this would ever stop being startling news.
Dafydd Gruffudd Thomas was a fitting Welsh name for a Welsh boy. Technically, he was Baron Conwy, the courtesy title of the eldest son of the Earl of Caernarfon, but Owen would wait to break that news until a time when Grace looked less exhausted.
