Riverbreeze: Part 1 (22 page)

But did he want Elizabeth taking care of his
son? He was frowning as he followed as quickly as his sore leg
allowed him, leaning heavily on his stick. He once again thought of
that embroidery on her gown and it was so confusing to him because
it was undeniable that Elizabeth was indeed a very pretty girl with
a sweet, angelic face and big innocent-looking eyes. But he simply
could not associate that face with the images on her gown. He had
assumed that the twins were innocent, naïve young ladies, brought
up in a reverent home with a devout father. He assumed that their
minds had always been filled with pure thoughts of devotion to God,
family and home. It was inconceivable to him that they actually
might have had thoughts of men and sex and the marriage bed. After
all, Kathleen had never been so worldly.

But was it really so inconceivable? Elizabeth
and Evelyn had grown up in London, a sophisticated city where he
assumed one might be exposed to all kinds of indecencies, and they
had been raised by a governess who may have had loose morals.
Obviously they were not naïve. And Robert wondered again if he
wanted that kind of woman caring for his son. He wasn’t sure yet.
But one thing he did know; he certainly couldn’t condemn her just
because of some embroidery on her gown no matter how erotic it
was.

He needed to know more about her, and Robert
also remembered back to when he and Jamie were getting to that
awkward age when their voices were changing and other strange
things were happening to their bodies. And forbidden thoughts of
girls and kissing and touching would send heat to their faces and
other places. And despite the rigors of twice-daily prayers and all
day worship on Sunday and instruction in the Bible, those thoughts
and feelings never went away. Robert could only guess if girls went
through the same thing. He had only had experiences with two women
in his life, his late wife, Kathleen, who had been the good little
girl, obeying her strict father’s rules to the letter, and with
Makki, whose world was completely different from his, and who had
no Christian morals whatsoever.

Robert was almost to the door when another
lovely, young girl with bright red hair and skin so pale it was
almost translucent stepped up to him. He remembered her from a
previous meeting, remembered how she had practically thrown herself
at him, smiling and cooing and touching him whenever she thought
she could get away with it. But for the life of him he could not
remember her name and that annoyed him.

“Robert, do you need help with your son?” She
asked, looking up at him with hope in her eyes. Her slim hand
touched him lightly on his forearm as she leaned in close.

He took a small step back, a polite smile on
his lips. She was a tad too obvious for his liking. “Thank you, but
no.” He said. “Elizabeth has already gone ahead of me.” He
continued as he inched his way by her.

She looked crestfallen, but mercifully let
him go.

Luckily there were no other women left in the
room, that disturbance Walter had mentioned seemed to have drawn
everyone outside. That was fine with him, more than fine with him.
He wouldn’t have to put up with any more fawning females.

Once upstairs, he checked the bedchamber
where he had left his sleeping son. It was empty, but it stank; he
recoiled at the sharp odor of urine in the room and noticed that
the quilt had been pulled off the bed and draped over a drying
rack. The sheets lay on the floor in a puddle and he felt guilty
that someone, most likely Sally, poor thing, was going to have a
lot of extra laundry to do.
All that milk
,
he thought.

Returning to the hall, he was momentarily
startled when Robin came charging out of the room where the
children had been, a huge smile on his face. He smelled fresh and
clean; he was stark naked and by the joyful look on his face and
the way he carried his body, he loved every minute of it. He ran
straight into Robert’s leg, tightly wrapped his arms around it and
promptly jumped on Robert’s foot. Robert had to grit his teeth and
couldn’t stop himself from letting out a grunt of pain. But he
didn’t scold Robin. He didn’t want to turn that smile on his son’s
face to a frown.

The little boy continued to hold on to his
father’s leg while he bounced up and down, saying, “Daddy, lady
change me.”

Despite the pain and inconvenience of being
jostled by his small son, Robert smiled down upon him and said,
“That lady is Mistress Elizabeth and she is your second
cousin.”

Robin went still and stared up at him, his
face blank. Elizabeth? He wouldn’t be able to say that name for
another year! Second cousin? What was that?

Elizabeth appeared in the doorway, holding a
snowy white child’s smock. “Robin! There you are. Now do come and
get your shirt on.” She said to him, but then her eyes settled on
Robert. She smiled delightedly at him as if to say ‘he’s adorable’.
Robert returned the smile, his eyebrows raised as if to ask, ‘why
is he naked?’ Even though he already knew Robin had wet the bed.
And he also realized now that he needn’t have worried about
Elizabeth’s competence as a nurserymaid. She looked perfectly
natural standing there holding a child’s garment in her hands and
her long hair tied back and clipped up out of the way.

“He was soaking wet.” She said, correctly
interpreting his expression.

“Me wet, Daddy.” Little Robin repeated
matter-of-factly, looking at Robert with his big, blue eyes.

“That’s all right, son.” Robert ruffled his
flaxen curls. He turned his attention back to Elizabeth when he
heard her speaking to him.

“This is all I could find for him to wear.”
She was saying. “Do you think Maureen will mind if he wears one of
her children’s smocks?”

“She won’t mind. Go get your shirt on now,
Robin.” Robert urged, giving Robin a gentle nudge with a hand on
the back of his head.

Robert watched fondly as his son went
willingly back to Elizabeth, skipping in a horse’s trot. She held
out her arms to him and he fell into her embrace with a giggle.
Robert realized a bond had already been established between the two
of them. He was surprised. But like he had said earlier, she was a
pretty girl and Robin liked pretty girls. But Elizabeth must have
also treated him kindly and gently. Normally he put up a huge fuss
when he had to be cleaned, but there wasn’t any evidence that he
had behaved badly.

Elizabeth deftly slipped the smock over his
head and helped guide his arms into the long sleeves. The smock was
made out of a soft wool flannel and tied at the neck with a
drawstring. It hung full and loose down to Robin’s ankles and had
separate long leading sleeves, almost like a leash.

“Do you want a nappy on him?” She asked while
she tied the drawstring into a little bow.

Robert didn’t get a chance to answer because
Robin cried out, “NO! No want nappy!”

Elizabeth almost laughed, seeing Robert’s
chagrin. Just the same, he said, “He’s fine. No nappy.”

“Very well. No nappy, young man.” Said she, a
mildly stern look on her face. “But do be good.” She tickled him in
the stomach. He giggled and Robert stood by watching, feeling
something swell in his heart. She was so good with Robin; how could
he ever have doubted her? “Now,” She continued in that universal
mothering tone, taking a hold of Robin’s hand. “I have a present
for you. Let’s go back into my room and see what it is.”

Robin practically squealed with excitement.
“Daddy, you come too?” He said, holding his other hand out to his
father.

Naturally Robert couldn’t refuse his son,
seeing that excitement, but he would have preferred Elizabeth to
have asked him first if it was all right to give Robin a gift. But
she hadn’t and that annoyed him.

As Robert walked the rest of the way to the
door where Elizabeth and Robin waited for him, he eyed Elizabeth
over his son’s head. “What present?” He mouthed.

“You’ll see.” She mouthed back, a secret
smile on her face. She looked totally pleased with herself and
Robert didn’t know if he should be worried or not.

Robin could barely contain his excitement as
Elizabeth guided him towards the far wall. “Where present?” He
asked, looking up at Elizabeth with shiny, eager eyes, his face all
aglow.

“’Tis in the trunk.” She said in a whispery
voice that meant to excite him all the more. She pointed to her
wood and leather trunk against the wall, laughing when he dropped
her hand like a forgotten thing and ran to it

“Open! Open!” He demanded, pounding on the
lid.

“I’m coming, sweetheart.” Elizabeth said with
a laugh. Then to Robert in a hushed, delighted voice, she said, “He
is so cute.” Then she quickly turned and hurried to Robin’s
side.

Robert hung back at the door shaking his head
in amazement while he watched Elizabeth kneel down in front of the
trunk, Robin right at her side. She was having as much fun as Robin
was and Robert could not believe how loving and naturally maternal
she was. Before he knew it she would be taking his place, he
thought annoyingly.

Elizabeth slowly opened the lid of the trunk,
whispering something to Robin that Robert couldn’t hear and then
she took out a stuffed cloth animal that had been made to look
exactly like a dog. She handed it to the lad, who looked at it with
childish awe. “See, ‘tis a dog called a beagle.” She said. “It has
eyes and a nose and big floppy ears.” She pointed out each feature
with a slim forefinger. “And a tail.” She ended, tickling his nose
with the tip of the tail. Robin squirmed, giggling.

Robert moved into the room so he could have a
better view. He had heard what Elizabeth had said out loud, but he
still hadn’t gotten a good look at the toy. Robin swung around and
proudly held it up to show his father, saying, “Look, Daddy, a…a…”
He couldn’t finish because he had forgotten what the animal was. He
had never seen a dog before; horses, yes, squirrels, chipmunks,
rabbits, deer, goats, sheep, cows, and numerous other wild animals,
but never a dog.

“A dog, a doggy.” Elizabeth whispered in his
ear.

“A dog-gee.” Robin repeated the new word
triumphantly, then he immediately sat down on the floor and hugged
the stuffed animal to his chest and started rocking it.

Elizabeth came over to stand beside Robert.
She looked very pleased with herself.

But Robert was not pleased. He could see that
the toy had been expertly stitched and was made from pieces of
luxurious velvet in black, brown and white. The stuffed beagle was
the same size as a real beagle and had a brown head and brown ears,
a black body with white stomach and a black tail with a white tip
and its legs were brown where they were attached to the body and
then white down to the feet. The eyes, nose and mouth had been
meticulously embroidered on the face with silk thread and a pink
satin ribbon was tied around its neck. It was too fine a gift for
her to give to his son and again he wished she had asked him
first.

“Where did you get that? From the same person
who stitched your gown?” He whispered in a hoarse voice so as not
to disturb Robin.

For a moment Elizabeth’s face registered
shock. But then she gathered herself. “Yes.” She said firmly,
facing him squarely. “My sister stitched it.”

“Your sister!” He hissed, trying to keep his
voice down.

“What is wrong with that?” She hissed back,
although she kept her eyes on Robin. The boy was now moving the dog
back and forth in front of him on the floor in a walking motion.
“Look, he likes it.”

“And did you assume that I would like this?”
He accused, his voice low and hoarse, flipping one side of her
collar over her shoulder and looking pointedly at her breasts.

Elizabeth blushed, but she kept her head
high. “Yes, I did. I thought you might admire the garden of delight
since you’re such an
earthy
man.”

Robert didn’t know whether he should laugh
out loud or be shocked. Neither it seemed as the mood was once
again broken by Robin’s high-pitched voice, saying, “MOOOOO.”

* * *

Once Robert and Elizabeth had straightened
Robin out about animal sounds and taught him a barking sound for a
dog, which they almost regretted because they thought he would
never shut up, Elizabeth offered to show him her real beagles.
Together the two adults put on Robin’s little moccasins. Naturally
Elizabeth asked about them and Robert explained that he had made
the soft shoes from some beautifully tanned deer hide that he had
received from a good friend. She didn’t ask about the friend for
which Robert was grateful because she might disapprove, although he
shouldn’t have cared, but she did admire and compliment his
workmanship. He graciously thanked her, even after she jokingly
said that his stitchery was almost as good as her sister’s!

Exiting the front door of the house, the
three of them ran into Maureen and her four children. They all
looked clean and refreshed and were talking and laughing gaily as
if nothing had happened to upset them earlier. Martha, the oldest,
was carrying baby Thomas, while Mary and Phillip each held one of
Maureen’s hands. Maureen was beaming at her children, but when she
caught sight of Robert her smile faltered.

Even though he knew it was rude, he studied
her face, worried for her health. He wanted to ask her what had
happened, but knew that she would say it was none of business. And
Robin was demanding her attention, tugging on her skirt and nearly
screaming at her. Once Maureen focused on Robin, he proudly showed
her his new treasure and once she and her children all oohed and
aahed at the toy, Elizabeth explained that they were going to find
Evelyn whom she assumed was still watching the dogs. Of course,
Maureen’s children wanted to go along and Elizabeth welcomed them.
Robert stayed behind, saying he just wanted a few minutes of
Maureen’s time.