HAT evening a cold dinner was served on the back terrace in order to accommodate the croquet matches going on. Reggie brought Thomas down to enjoy the late afternoon sun. With a large blanket spread under him, he delighted in bobbing his head toward sounds that caught his interest. Every guest came by to meet the new Montieth heir.

Only a few of Miriam’s guests would be spending another night at Silverley. Most had left that afternoon, including Selena Eddington. Whether Nicholas had spoken to her again or she had thought it prudent to leave, Reggie didn’t know.

Pamela Ritchie came over to look at Thomas. An unhappy woman, that. If she weren’t careful, those lines of dissatisfaction would become permanent.

Reggie hadn’t felt at all distressed when Nicholas and Anne Henslowe played in a croquet match together. They stood side by side waiting their turn and laughing together, but Reggie didn’t mind. Her attitude must, she felt, have something to do with all those grins and winks Nicholas had been giving her all afternoon. It was as if they shared a private joke, but they hadn’t said a word since coming face to face over lunch. Even so, he had only to look at her to begin chuckling.

He was a happy man. Reggie thought she knew why, and her suspicions made her just as happy as he was.

The sun was beginning to set, and there was a marvelous display of color. Thomas had had enough of the outdoors for one day, and was scooting around on the blanket with extra vigor, a sure sign that he was hungry.

“It’s so peaceful out here at this time of day,” Eleanor said quietly. “I’m going to miss you and this little fellow.”

“You’re not thinking of leaving already, are you?” Reggie asked surprised.

“You don’t need me here anymore, my dear.” They both knew she had stayed only to help Reggie ease into her marriage. “Dicken tells me Rebecca has been nothing short of a harridan since I’ve been away. Dicken misses me, too. And, truth to tell, this long absence from Cornwall has opened my eyes.”

“Why, Eleanor, you and Dicken are…?” Reggie said, delighted.

Eleanor smiled. “He has asked me to marry him many times in the last four years. I think I am finally ready to give it some serious thought.”

“Famous! Will you let Nicholas and me do the wedding party, or will Rebecca want to?”

“I’m afraid Rebecca will insist,” Eleanor laughed. “She has been pushing Dicken at me for ages.” Thomas squawked, demanding attention. “Want me to take him up, my dear?”

“Not unless you can manage to feed him, too.” Reggie smiled impishly.

“Do hurry back. Nicky has been keeping such a close eye on you all day, I’m sure he’ll go hunting for you if you’re gone long.”

“Not as long as I know where she is,” Nicholas said, approaching from behind them. He scooped Thomas up. “So the rascal’s hungry, is he? Good God, he’s dripping, too!” He quickly held the boy away from him, and the women laughed. Reggie wrapped a smaller blanket around Thomas’ bottom. “That’s something babies tend to do, and often. Here, let me have him.”

“No, I’ll carry him up for you.” Nicholas leaned closer, whispering for her ears alone. “Perhaps, after you’re finished with him, we might have a little time alone?”

“My, what a pretty picture this makes,” Miriam’s hard voice intruded. “A father doting on his bastard. You Eden men make wonderful fathers, Nicholas. Too bad you’re so terribly lacking as husbands.”

Nicholas swung around. “I will not take exception, madame. You are, naturally, upset that your well-wrought plot failed to turn out as expected.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” she replied disdainfully.

“Don’t you? Let me thank you now, before I forget. If not for your brilliant guest list, my wife and I might still be estranged. We’re not. And we have you to thank for our reconciliation, mother.”

Miriam’s expression mottled with fury she couldn’t contain. “I am sick to death of hearing you call me that. And, Nicholas, you don’t know just how brilliant my guest list really is,” she laughed. “I have a wonderful surprise for you. You see, your real mother is here! Isn’t that marvelous? So why don’t you make a fool of yourself by spending the rest of the evening asking every lady here if she’s the bitch who whelped you? That would be such fun.”

Nicholas couldn’t move. He was so stunned he couldn’t even reach out to stop Miriam from walking away. Reggie’s heart twisted when she took Thomas from him, he didn’t seem to know she had done so.

“Oh, Nicholas, don’t let her upset you,” Reggie said gently. “She only said that for spite.”

“Did she?” The eyes that met Reggie’s were tormented. “Did she? What if she told the truth?”

Desperate for help, Reggie turned toward Eleanor. The older woman was ashen. Reggie understood, but the need had never been greater.

“Tell him,” she said quietly, and Ellie gasped.

“Regina!”

“Can’t you see? It’s time.” She grasped Thomas more tightly and waited.

Nicholas looked from Reggie to Eleanor, misery and confusion mixed in his face.

“Oh, Nicky, don’t hate me,” Eleanor began on a pleading note. “Miriam was being spiteful, but—but she also spoke the truth.”

“No!” The word tore out of him. “Not you. You would have told if—”

“I couldn’t.” Eleanor was crying. “I gave Miriam my word I would never claim you when she gave me her word she would raise you as her own.”

“Is that what you think she did?” he asked painfully. “She was never a mother to me, Ellie, even when I was a child. You were here then. You know that”

“Yes, and I dried your tears and soothed your hurts and died a little every time. Your father didn’t want you labeled a bastard, Nicky, and I didn’t either. Miriam kept her word that she would never tell, so I had to keep mine.”

“She told my wife. And she put me through hell,” he hissed at her.

“She judged Regina correctly. She knew the knowledge would go no further and it hasn’t.”

“She always threatened to let the fact be known.”

“Only threats, Nicky.”

“But I lived with her threats. They governed my life. Even so, I would have taken the label gladly if I could have had a real mother. Didn’t you see that when I poured out my heart to you all those years? Why didn’t you tell me?”

The bastardy stigma wasn’t as important as this war. Both knew it. Eleanor sobbed, “Forgive me,” and ran into the house.

Reggie placed her hand on Nicholas’ arm. “She was afraid to tell you, afraid you would hate her. Go after her, Nicholas. Listen to her calmly and let her tell you what she told me. It hasn’t been easy for her all these years either.”

“You knew?” he asked incredulous.

“Since I gave birth to Thomas,” she answered gently. “She was with me during labor, and she wanted me to know the real reason why you weren’t there. You see, Nicholas, I’m afraid I didn’t believe that anyone could be so foolish as to let his having been birthed on the wrong side of the blanket stop him from marrying.” She smiled up at him. “I’m sorry, but I never appreciated how much it meant to you.”

“It doesn’t mean much anymore,” he conceded.

“Then don’t judge her so harshly, Nicholas, and hear her out without erupting. Please.”

He stood there looking at the house and she went on, “Not every woman has the courage to raise an illegitimate child. Look how you dealt with it, after all. You decided never to marry because you didn’t want a wife to share your burden. Do you think it’s not worse for the mother? And remember how young Eleanor was at the time.”

“You would have done it, wouldn’t you?”

She shrugged. “Yes, but remember we Malorys are already accustomed to having bastards in the family.”

He grunted.

“Go on, Nicholas. Talk to her. You’ll find she’s still the same woman who has always been your best friend. She’s been a mother to you all along. Now it’s your turn to listen to her sorrow.”

His hand cupped her face tenderly. Thomas was squirming in her arms, and Nicholas said, “Go feed my son, madame.”

Reggie smiled as he walked away from her, toward the house. Across the lawn, her eyes met Miriam’s and she shook her head as Miriam turned away abruptly. Would Miriam ever change?

She rubbed her cheek against Thomas’ head and began walking toward the house. “Don’t worry, my angel, you will have so much love you will never miss hers. Just wait until you’re old enough to hear about your great-uncles. Why, one was a pirate for a while, and…”