Chapter Twenty Gifts

Chapter Twenty

Gifts

“Y ou mustn’t worry,” said Elizabeth. The four of them hurried after the king’s guard, down quiet corridors less ornate and spacious than the newer areas of the palace. “Antonino is not in danger. He’s not in peril, or I’d feel it.”

“Feel it?” Felicity clung to her, still panicked.

“I’d feel the disturbance.”

“But if he is not here?” said Carlo. “If someone has taken him for ransom, taken him away, you could not feel—”

“He’s here at Buckingham. I’m certain he’s here.”

“But this is too far for him to walk, surely,” Felicity said. “He would not have gone this far on his own.”

“Little boys have great energy, especially when fueled by biscuits and punch.”

And he had not gone on his own, if her hunch was correct. She prayed it was. Felicity’s tears hurt Elizabeth’s heart. A mother’s love was no small matter. She allowed herself, just for a moment, to touch her still-flat belly. I love you already. I think I understand.

“The Saxe-Coburg suite of rooms began here,” said the guard. “And continued down the hall. This was her calling room.” He gestured farther. “Prince Leopold’s study.” They walked on. “His chambers to the left, and hers to the right. Her dressing room is there, and her bedroom beyond that.”

“The nursery?”

The staid guard betrayed a flicker of emotion. “It was set up, my lady, but never used.”

“I know. Which room is it?”

“I believe it’s behind her bedroom, madam, which is through the far door.”

Elizabeth strode to the entrance he indicated, followed by the others.

“I’ll need to go fetch a key,” he called. “They keep these chambers locked.”

She arrived at the door and found it ajar. “There’s no need. It’s not locked.”

“But…” He sounded puzzled. “It ought to be.”

Felicity moved past Elizabeth into the room. A curtain was pushed to the side, admitting light that fell across Princess Charlotte’s old bed. Elizabeth did not sense the princess here, did not sense any life here. For a stricken moment, she thought she might be wrong, then she saw the door on the far wall, wide open. The door to the nursery. Felicity flew through it and let out a cry before the others could catch up.

There was little Antonino kneeling on the floor, stacking blocks he’d pulled from an upended trunk. A crib lay still and empty, covered by dusty gauze. A rocking chair, a table, a chaise, all covered, unused. But somehow the sturdy toy box had been spilled open, its offerings spread across the floor.

“ Mamma. Pappa. ” Antonino held out a block. “I’m building un castello .”

“Oh, you frightened us.” She took him in her arms, hugging him tightly. “Nino, you frightened us so.” She questioned him in Italian. “How did you get here?”

“The lady showed me. She gave me toys.”

A curtain fluttered, drawing the guard’s attention. “Who has been in here?” he muttered. “These rooms are supposed to stay locked.”

“What lady?” asked Prince Carlo.

Elizabeth strained to remember her schoolroom Italian, to understand the child’s answer. “The floating lady in the green dress,” he said, preoccupied by his blocks. “It was a big dress. It sparkled when she showed me the way.”

“Which guest attended in a green dress?” Felicity turned to them, asking in English. “A sparkling green dress?”

“No one I can remember,” said August. Carlo shook his head.

“Could it have been one of the servants?” she asked the guard.

He finished fastening the window. “Begging your pardon, Your Highness. None of the servants wear sparkling green.”

But Princess Charlotte had worn green. She’d appeared to her father, the king, in her favored green dress. The hair on Elizabeth’s arms stood on end. She turned to the gauze-covered rocking chair to discover a faint ghostly specter sitting upon it, gazing at her.

She gasped and stepped back. The others in the room peered at the place she looked.

“What is it?” asked August softly. “What do you see?”

“The lady in green,” she said. “The lady who led him here.”

She noticed then that the woman held a baby, an infant clasped to her chest. It stirred and she cradled it closer, adjusting its swaddling. His swaddling. This must be Charlotte with her ill-fated firstborn.

“You do not see her in the chair?” she asked the others.

They shook their heads, silent.

“This is her room. Her nursery. Princess Charlotte.” She felt August’s touch and jumped. “No, it’s all right. I don’t mean to frighten all of you. But I believe… I believe she brought Antonino here. She seems terribly lonely.”

Felicity had gone pale. “Can I take him away now? We must get back to my other children.”

The ghost in green rocked her baby and regarded Elizabeth, deep feeling in her expression. Her aura was sad.

“He may not wish to leave the toys,” said Elizabeth, ruffling Antonino’s hair. “But yes. Perhaps all of you ought to go.”

“I will stay,” August offered.

“No, I think…” She didn’t understand why she had to be alone with Charlotte’s specter, only perceived it was necessary. “It will only be a moment. She will not last here long.”

“ Addio ,” called little Nino, waving a hand at the figure his parents were unable to see. “Thank you for the toys,” he added in English.

Carlo and Felicity hustled him from the room, following the guard, who’d already fled.

“I’ll be outside the door if you need me,” said August.

She nodded, sparing him a glance before looking back at the figure. Elizabeth feared if she looked away too long, Charlotte might disappear. But when the others left, the princess’s glowing outline seemed to grow stronger. She rearranged her baby, still holding it close to her breast.

“A polite little boy. Little Nino.”

The words came to Elizabeth, not aloud, but within her mind. She nodded. “He is a prince,” she said. “There was some worry when he went missing.”

“He might have been my little boy, if he’d lived and grown a few years.” A pause. “I would never have hurt him.” The words were softer, wisps of thought.

“Of course you wouldn’t have hurt him,” said Elizabeth. Then, “You are so very sad.”

“I miss my husband,” said the specter. “We loved each other so much. We were barely wed when I departed this earth with my child. Oh, I loved him.” Charlotte’s outline grew sharper still, until Elizabeth could see her eyes as if in life, see the very detail of her lashes. “You know what it is to love.”

Elizabeth nodded, her throat going tight.

“My husband cannot see me now,” said the princess. “I have tried…”

“I’m sorry. That must pain you.” She took a step closer. “Your father saw you once, in your beautiful green dress.”

A brief, ghostly smile. “I remember. He was full of laudanum. Have you ever seen a ghost before?”

Elizabeth paused. “Perhaps. But not like this.”

“We can appear to those with your gifts. Leopold does not have such gifts. He won’t see me.”

“Perhaps he would, but the pain is still too great.”

It was hard for Elizabeth not to lose her composure, feeling Charlotte’s longing, her shattering grief. Why, if she were to leave August so soon in their marriage… If she were to perish in childbirth…

Her pulse increased with sudden panic.

“Do not fret,” said Charlotte. “You will birth the babes inside you with ease.”

Elizabeth wrapped her hands around her middle. “Did you say babes ?”

“There are two in there, dear. You didn’t know?”

“How do you know?”

“I see many things from this vantage point. Your children will be born healthy, and you and your husband shall live long lives together, along with your friends.”

Was she truly hearing Princess Charlotte’s disembodied words, or making up her own to comfort herself? “Your Highness, h-how can you foretell what hasn’t happened?”

“You’ll see, dear lady, after you die. But that won’t be soon.” She faded a little, like a cloud moving across a sunny patch of grass. “You will tell the young boy’s mother I am sorry? A moment of weakness, to lure him here. I have my own son with me, so I should be content.”

“He seems a lovely child.”

“He is a sweet, handsome babe.” She fussed with his blanket a moment, then her liquid gaze flicked sideways, toward the door. “Your husband worries. He waits for you. You must go.”

“What about you, Your Highness?” Elizabeth took another step closer to the flickering spirit. “Will you stay here? Perhaps you do not know…you were mourned awfully when you died, by everyone. Is…is there any way I can help you?”

Charlotte’s ghost inclined her head, a slow, deliberate movement. “You are kind. I am assured one day I shall be at peace. When my husband joins me, perhaps.”

“I hope that will be soon.” Elizabeth realized what she said and shook her head. “No, I don’t mean that your husband should pass on soon, if it is not his time—”

She heard ghostly echoes of laughter between their two planes of existence, and a faint, happy gurgle from the infant. “Goodbye, Elizabeth,” said Charlotte’s ghost. “I wish you well.”

The apparition grew exceedingly bright for a moment; Elizabeth dipped into a curtsy. By the time she rose and lifted her head, only the faintest outline remained. The lost princess finally faded entirely, holding her baby boy close in her arms.

She turned away to find August just inside the door. “You didn’t see her?” she asked. “The princess? She was so bright for that moment. She had her baby with her.” She walked toward him, then ran to his outstretched arms and burst into tears. “She had her baby with her, August.”

“I didn’t see her, love, but I know you did. It’s all right. Everything is all right.”

“She misses her husband. She really misses him. She loved him so much.” She babbled out the princess’s words like some sort of madwoman as she cried. “She tries to get him to see her, but he won’t see.”

“Shh.” He held her, caressing her hair. “Be calm, love. You must not become upset in your condition.”

“Oh.” She pulled away and looked up at him through her tears. “She said there were two babies, not one. She said I would birth them well, that they would be healthy and…” A few more sobs escaped. “And that we would live long, h-happy lives together.”

“I could have told you that.” He smiled at her, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “But I’m glad to have it confirmed.”

“Am I losing my mind, or am I able to talk to ghosts now?” She rested her head against August’s chest, listening for the soothing beat of his heart.

“I believe it’s called ‘communing with the dead,’” he teased, reminding her of the king’s request. “And as long as it doesn’t make you fearful, I suppose no harm is done by it.”

“I was not fearful. She shone so. She was beautiful. I—I just wasn’t sure what to say. How to help.”

“Perhaps it was not help she needed. Perhaps it was only to be seen and heard once more in this world.”

Elizabeth turned back to the rocking chair, now empty. All mystical energy and lingering vibrancy were gone. A glance about the room showed the toys had disappeared from the floor, put back in their dust-covered toy box as if it had never been tipped over.

“She said I must give Felicity her apology, that she was sorry to have worried her. And then, oh goodness…” She clung to her husband. “Then I am ready to go home.”

*

August looked on as Elizabeth furtively, quietly relayed Princess Charlotte’s message to Felicity. To his relief, she believed without question or ridicule.

“Thank God for your gifts,” Felicity said, embracing his wife. “I’ll watch my children much more closely from now on.”

“You mustn’t be anxious,” said Elizabeth. “Nino was always safe. Even without me, he would have been found at some point.”

“Only after I suffered extensive hysterics. No, my dear, you have been heroic. You must accept your just praise.”

Prince Carlo embraced her too and invited them to visit Tuscany the next time they traveled. They agreed they would, then circulated through the crowds to find their friends and family and bid them goodbye.

August noticed that people were staring again, regarding his wife with questioning gazes, but it was a different sort of question. Admiring, rather than condemning. How did she find the poor child when no one else could? Are her gifts given by the Savior himself?

He took his wife home and lay down in bed with her, and let her pour out her overflowing feelings, all her thoughts about her encounter with Charlotte’s apparition. It’s unbelievable , she said, but do you believe me?

Yes, he believed her. He had not one doubt.

“I only wish I could have seen her, too,” he said once Elizabeth had calmed. “I would have asked if these babies inside you are boys or girls.”

“Oh, you’re teasing now.” She nestled closer against him. “Yes, I should have thought to ask. Do you really think there are two?”

“My sisters were twins, you know. Isabella and Constance.”

“That’s right. And Constance had twins a couple years ago. Twin girls , again. So perhaps we know what we’ve got.”

“Perhaps. Girls would be lovely. Or boys.”

Elizabeth frowned. “I should have asked. Now we’ve a long time to wait to find out.”

“Charlotte might visit you again, Lisbet. She seemed to have much to talk about.”

“She’s welcome to visit as much as she likes, but not this evening.”

“Why not this evening?”

She put her arms around his shoulders with a sweet, come-hither smile. “Because I have other plans.”

“Dear girl, after the day you’ve had? And we’ve not taken our dinner yet. You’re eating for two now. No, three!”

“We’ve been eating all day at the palace.” Her charming smile turned downright flirtatious. “You can eat me up instead.”

He went instantly hard. By God, she tempted him, but she was in the family way…

“Perhaps we should consult the midwife first. Or consult a doctor.”

“Oh no.” She took his face between her hands, scowling at his contemplative expression. “Rosalind said this would happen. She said husbands become afraid to touch their wives when they’re expecting.”

“Rosalind? When were you talking about this?”

“Today,” she said. “As it happens, she thinks she might be expecting again, too.”

“Ah, that’s fun. The two of you might make it to the Warrens’ end-of-Season ball before you start showing,” he teased. “After that, your gowns will have to be let out.”

“After that, the Season’s done and we shall return to the country, and while away the hours together at St. Pierre.”

“You and Rosalind?”

“You know I mean you and me. That is, if you still want me after my gowns are let out.”

“Why wouldn’t I want you?” He traced the concerned lines on her forehead. “I adore you, darling. I will always want you.”

“Rosalind says she’s not telling Marlow about her condition yet, out of fear he’ll curtail his…intimate behavior…on her behalf.”

August burst out laughing. Marlow’s “intimate behavior” was surely as bad or worse than his, and Rosalind, apparently, wasn’t willing to part with it.

“Perhaps Marlow is wise to restrain himself.” He feigned a deep sigh. “You know how I can be. What if I should hurt you?”

“You won’t! I’m not a delicate flower. And surely you can exercise a bit of control—just a small bit, mind you—over these next few months.”

“Hmm. I suppose I can try.” He traced the collar of her light shift. “I brought you here to rest before dinner. Now I see that I am to be dinner.”

He took off her shift and let her tug at his shirt and trousers a bit before he relented and stripped. She regarded him hungrily, then a bit wistfully.

“We shall not be parted,” he said, answering her unspoken thoughts. “Not by death or childbirth or anything else.”

Her eyes widened. “There you go again, reading my mind. I’m not the only gifted one in this marriage.”

“I don’t need to read minds to tell you’ve been ruminating on it since this afternoon.” He stroked a hand down her side, tracing her beloved shape. “We won’t end up like Charlotte and Leopold. Why, she told you as much.”

“I know. I want to believe her. I just keep thinking about how sad she was.”

He pulled her beneath him, positioning himself over her. He kissed her throat, her ear, her lovely, perfect breasts. “I’ll make you stop thinking about it.”

She gasped as he found her sensitive place and stroked it to life. He felt her get wetter, hotter. He caressed and teased her until her pleasured sighs turned to pleas.

“Do you want me? Now, Lisbet?”

“Yes, please.” She clutched his buttocks, trying to pull him closer. “I want you inside me.”

“Show me how much you want me.”

She moaned, arching her hips, and he answered her need with a deep, powerful thrust. No, wait, he must control himself. The next one was gentler.

“That feels…so wonderful…” she whispered.

“I’ll never leave you, darling,” he whispered back, just to drive it home. “Never, ever.”

“Deeper, please. August, love…deeper. Oh God, yes!”

“Like this?” he asked.

“Mmm. Pleeease. Ohhh!”

Yes, she’d already forgotten. Good.