A Rose At Midnight. Jacqueline Navin

even some cheese,” James answered. He was exuberant, a state which delighted Caroline. His small face had a flush of color and the dark circles under his eyes had faded considerably. “I think it was all the excitement. It made me hungry. Now, please Cara, tell me what happened. Are you going to be a countess?”

      Feigning a lighthearted laugh, Caroline gave her brother’s hands a reassuring squeeze. “It went well, James.” She darted a glance up at her mother, who still stood motionless, before she continued. “Very well indeed. The earl said he wanted to examine our family and contact the references I gave him, but otherwise I believe he was favorably impressed.”

      Audrae Wembly gasped and turned away, her short steps clicking loudly on the bare floor. James glanced over, then leveled a wizened look at his sister. “She doesn’t know if she should be happy or sad,” he explained solemnly. “She doesn’t want you to have to marry him, but we need the money.”

      A feeling so powerful it was almost blinding came over Caroline—pure love, exquisitely bittersweet. It actually hurt.

      They often teased James about being an “old soul,” for he had wisdom and perception beyond his years. Perhaps it came from so many years of illness, or from the unhappiness in their home when Father was alive. However he had accomplished such uncanny maturity, it never ceased to amaze and humble his sister. It frightened her as well, for she could not help but think—only at night and when she was feeling particularly anxious—that a child as unique and wondrous as James was too unearthly, too perfect, too precious to dwell long in this world.

      “Yes, perhaps,” she replied, “but had you seen Hawking Park, James, you would know there is no cause for any such reservation.”

      “Is it very beautiful?” he asked excitedly. “More beautiful than here?”

      “Yes, it is. It is the most grand place I have ever seen. Why, it is like a palace.” She told him all about it, the towering columns and marble floors and beautiful objets d’art wherever you looked. She even told him about the unclothed nymphs, which made him gasp in shock and clamp a small hand over his mouth. Delighted giggles escaped just the same, warming Caroline’s heart.

      If she had any misgivings about today’s business, they were gone now that she was in the company of her brother. He listened with rapt attention, asking only the occasional question as he digested all of the details as if it were some fantastic fairy tale come true.

      Caroline noticed he was most keenly interested in the character of the earl himself.

      “I wonder why he does not appear ill,” he mused, his brow furrowed. “You did not discuss his sickness?”

      With a start, Caroline realized she did not even know the nature of the malady which afflicted the earl. “You know, I didn’t think to. I suspect I was a bit overwhelmed. It is a good thing I have you to remind me. I shall ask him the next time we meet.”

      His little chest puffed up, so pleased was he that he had been of service. “When will that be?” he inquired.

      She could see from the heaviness of his eyelids James was starting to tire. She tousled his hair. “He told me he will review my references, and I suppose there is the family to be looked into. When these things are accomplished, he will send for me.”

      “Oh, Cara! How can you wait? I wish to know right now if we are going to live in a palace!”

      Caroline glanced nervously at her mother, who looked away. She had not mentioned James to the earl, and with very good reason. In order to make the best appearance possible, she had decided that the earl should not know about him. Oh, certainly his inquiries would reveal that she had a brother, but it was almost impossible for him to learn of James’ consumption. It was imperative that he not know of it. Not only did she fear that if her possible future husband thought her encumbered with such a heavy family obligation as a sick child, he would look disfavorably on her, thinking perhaps that she would not be able to devote herself completely to her own child, but there was also the question of James’ illness tainting the purity of her heredity.

      “You are tiring,” Caroline said. “I’ll wager you did not nap all day, did you? Now, rest, my darling, and when you wake, we’ll talk more.”

      Yawning, James protested. “But I’m not tired at all.”

      “No? Hmm. Perhaps I was wrong then. Well, settle back and I shall tell you more.” Caroline smiled, softly speaking of the sleek phaeton and the other wonders of the day as she rubbed gentle circles at his temple. It was an old trick discovered when James was a babe. He could never seem to keep his eyes open for long when sleepy and the featherlight touch was applied to the side of his face. Within minutes, his eyes drifted shut and his breathing slowed, deepened, as he slipped into sleep.

      “Thank goodness,” Audrae whispered beside her. “He refused to rest. He was so determined to be awake when you returned.”

      “I’m glad he was able to do it. They are so important to him, these little victories.”

      The two women exchanged a long look. Without speaking, Audrae turned to leave. Caroline lingered, gazing at the angelic face of her brother. His cheeks were flushed, his small mouth like a tiny rosebud. His lashes were dark where they lay like small fans against his cheek. She frowned as she fingered his red-gold curls. His hair was too long. She must see about cutting it for him.

      Her fingers froze and she withdrew her hand. A pain that was jagged and familiar lanced through her body. Her eyes blurred, obscuring the vision of James cradled in slumber, such an innocent, so very precious and fragile-she had to marry the earl. They needed the money so desperately!

      Blinking away the moisture from her eyes, Caroline followed her mother into the other room.

      “Now,” Audrae said definitively as she closed the door, “tell me about him.”

      Caroline drew in a deep breath. Her mother was a good five inches shorter, and slight of frame, yet she held herself with an air of uncompromising authority that brooked no hesitation. She had been a beauty of renown in her day, whose looks had weathered a disastrous marriage well, but not unscathed. Her once fiery hair was now almost gray and lines of worry had been etched across her brow and around her mouth. Still a handsome woman, strong and sharp, she nevertheless wore the burdens of her unhappy life.

      “He was very forthright, Mother. He conducted the interview like any for a position for hire, asking me pertinent questions and offering some explanations as to his own character.” She recalled some of those questions, then went on quickly, “He explained his need to foster an heir, as he has had no issue. He was polite overall, if a bit challenging at times. I have no idea how many women he has interviewed, but I believe I did well. He even said so.”

      Her mother’s shrewd eyes missed nothing. “Why did you blush just now?”

      Caroline silently groaned. By nature a private person, she could however never keep a thing from her mother. Except one secret. The darkest secret of all she had kept in utter solitude for ten years.

      “I am afraid the position of wife—or more precisely mother of his future heir—did necessitate some unorthodox topics of conversation.”

      Her mother’s eyes snapped wide. “Did he make untoward suggestions?”

      “No, no, nothing like that, Mother. He did ask some. unconventional questions regarding.well, my virtue.” At her mother’s incensed look, Caroline rushed, “Which was completely understandable, given I could be a woman who found herself in an inconvenient condition, and saw this as an excellent way to salvage her name and bring legitimacy to her unborn babe.”

      Audrae narrowed her eyes. “What other improprieties did he commit?”

      Caroline waved her hand ineffectually in the air, trying to appear casual. “He wanted to know about my hips.”

      “You. your. he. hips?”

      “You know, for birthing the babe,” Caroline explained, attempting for all the