Aunts can be formidable creatures." He withdrew his hands from hers, wrapped them about her, and drew her close. He lowered his forehead to her shoulder and surprised and embarrassed himself horribly by weeping.
24
THERE was a whole day when nothing dreadful happened and it seemed that nothing would.
Surely Randolph Turner would not dare to come, Margaret thought. And yet the stakes were high for him. The son he had wanted and schemed so desperately and fiendishly to get was actually in existence. The child had been born to his legal wife less than nine months after she left him. And it might seem unlikely to him that he would have any other children, unless he used the same method as before.
Margaret knew he would come.
They all knew it.
Duncan had told the whole story to Stephen and Elliott. Margaret had told Vanessa. The time for secrecy, for the keeping of a promise of secrecy, was long gone.
On the second day they took a picnic tea down to a secluded stretch of the river, which was nevertheless within sight of the front of the house. Elliott fished with Toby for a while, and then Stephen galloped about with the child on his back. Duncan swung him in circles until they were both dizzy, and Vanessa told him about her own children, whom she was missing dreadfully. "Your cousins," she said, ruffling his hair. "They are going to enjoy playing with you." Margaret fed him a meat pasty before it was officially teatime when he claimed to be starving. "He is going to be a horribly spoiled child," she commented to Vanessa when Toby had run back to demand more attention from the men. "Oh, don't, Meg," Vanessa said, patting her on the back. "Loving and paying attention to a child is not spoiling him but just the opposite.
All will be well. You will see." Margaret wiped away her tears, which seemed to flow so easily these days. "Yes," she said, and smiled. "It will, Nessie." And then, abruptly, "I am several days late." "Oh, Meg." Vanessa looked sharply at her. "Does Duncan know?" "No," Margaret said. "There is really nothing to know yet. Nothing at all certain, anyway. Perhaps it is nothing at all." Her sister continued to pat her back.
Margaret was feeling cautiously cheerful as she and Duncan packed up the picnic basket later and they all prepared to stroll back to the house.
Perhaps the alarm had been sounded for no good reason – except that it had brought some of her family on an unexpected visit. They would probably stay for a few more days, and then she and Duncan and Toby would be alone together again and life would return to normal.
Or would it? /Could/ it?
And was she really feeling cheerful? How could she when her stomach was knotted with dread? /Something/ was going to happen.
Toby went skipping and dashing off ahead as he usually did. The men walked together ahead of the ladies, the picnic basket tucked under Stephen's arm.
And then they all became aware of a large traveling carriage approaching up the driveway. "Toby," Duncan called sharply.
But the child either did not hear him or was too excited to stop to see what his papa wanted of him. He went running off in the direction of the terrace, and Duncan went after him.
They all increased their pace.
Toby reached the terrace before Duncan caught up to him. So did the carriage. The door opened and someone vaulted out without waiting for the steps to be set down. He grabbed Toby, but the child wriggled free and came dashing back to Duncan, who bent briefly to say something to him and then strode onward to meet his visitors.
Toby came dashing back to the others, his feet pumping beneath him, his arms outstretched, sheer terror on his face.
Elliott would have scooped him up, but he dashed past, wailing in panic. "Mama," he cried. "Mama, Mama." Margaret bent down, gathered him into her arms, and stood again.
He wrapped his arms about her neck tightly enough to half choke her, and pressed himself to her as if he would have climbed right inside her if he could. "Mama," he said. "A bad man. A bad man has come to take me away." He was radiating fear and heat. "Shh," she said, rocking him. "Shh, love. No one is going to take you anywhere. Papa is here, and so is Mama. No one is going to hurt you." Pray God she spoke the truth. "He is a bad man," he said, his chest heaving, his face pressed to her neck. "But Papa and Uncle Elliott and Uncle Stephen are /good/ men," she said. "And Aunt Nessie and I are good ladies. We are not going to let anyone hurt you or take you anywhere." Oh, dear God, let it be the truth.
His body gradually relaxed against hers and he stopped wailing, though he still clung tightly to her.
Elliott and Stephen had kept going and were on the terrace with Duncan.
It was Norman Pennethorne who had vaulted out of the carriage, Margaret could see now. He was handing down his wife from the carriage, and Randolph Turner was coming behind her.
Strangely, it was almost a relief to see them. This matter needed to be settled, and now perhaps it would be.
She kissed Toby's damp curls before moving onward. "/There/ he is," Caroline Pennethorne cried, pointing toward Margaret as she stepped onto the terrace. "Oh, look at him, Randolph. He is a boy already, and you have been deprived of him all this time. It is criminal. You will surely swing for this, Lord Sheringford, and I will be delighted to come and watch and cheer with the rest of the mob. The kidnapping of a child carries the death penalty, does it not, Norman?" Toby had tightened his grip again and was moaning, his face pressed to Margaret's neck. His whole body trembled convulsively. "You will indeed suffer for this, Sheringford," Mr. Pennethorne said. "You – " "Might I suggest," Duncan said in biting tones, "that we conduct this discussion in civilized fashion in the drawing room, away from the ears of servants – and children?" Randolph Turner was standing at the foot of the carriage steps, silent and pale, his eyes riveted on Toby. "We will not set foot inside Woodbine while you are master here, Sheringford," Mr. Pennethorne declared. "Which will not be for much longer, I am delighted to inform you." "Then we will talk outside," Duncan said. "On the avenue behind the house." He gestured in the direction of the bridge. "Will you be so good as to take Toby up to the nursery, Maggie, and have Mrs. Harris remain with him there?" Toby wailed and tightened his grip. "We are not going to allow that child out of our sight," Mr. Pennethorne said, "only to have him spirited away by the time we return for him." "Then Mrs. Pennethorne must remain and risk sullying her person by stepping inside the house with us," Margaret said, suddenly coldly angry. "I will stay with Toby in the nursery, Duncan. He needs me. I daresay Nessie will too." She hated to miss what was about to happen. Waiting to hear about it would be a mortal agony. But Toby was not going to be left in the care of servants, even if Mrs. Harris had had the care of him all his life.
He was the important one in all this, after all. And he had just called her Mama. "I am not setting foot inside that house," Mrs. Pennethorne said. "The devil's lair. I am coming with you, Norman. And with Randolph." There was no further argument.
Margaret climbed the steps to the house, Vanessa beside her, and she carried Toby up to the nursery, where she sat in a deep chair, cradling him on her lap.
Vanessa disappeared for a few moments and returned with a large woolly blanket, which she tucked about Toby even though it was a warm day and his body was still radiating heat.
In no time at all he was fast asleep.
Duncan strode off in the direction of the bridge and the grassy avenue beyond it. Merton and Moreland were just behind him. He did not look back to see if the others were following. He did not stop until he was far enough down the avenue that they were quite out of earshot from the house or stables.