Love, Remember Me (36 page)

"And we arrived while you were at mass," Blaze said, taking up the explanation. "Our timing was quite perfect, I think." She smiled at her daughter.

It was suddenly the best Christmas Nyssa could ever remember. She was surrounded by so many who loved her—her parents, her siblings,
her husband
. Aye, he really did love her, and he never wavered in his devotion to her. Yet although she cared for him more than when they had first been wed, she still did not think she loved him. It was a puzzle, but she realized she was not unhappy, and surely that was all to the good.

Her family celebrated her nineteenth birthday with her, and they stayed until after Twelfth Night. Her Morgan grandparents, her aunts, her uncles, and her cousins all came to visit during those days. When they finally had all departed but for her mother and the three youngest of her siblings, she felt relief to have her home to herself again, though she had been so happy to see everyone.

The winter set in at last with the coming of February. Varian fretted about his flocks, for the lambing was upon them, and as always in lambing season, the weather was stormy. Old Lord Morgan rode over from Ashby to advise his granddaughter's husband, for he had once had enormous flocks of his own.

They had heard nothing of the court since the royal messenger's visit on St. Thomas's Day, when they had learned that the king and the queen would celebrate Christmas at Hampton Court. They had no visitors but an occasional family member. Nyssa was growing more and more short-tempered with her expanding girth. Nothing was remotely comfortable these days, neither sitting, nor standing, nor lying upon her bed.

February passed, and on the first day of March, Nyssa went into labor. "It is too soon," she fretted, frightened.

"From the look of you," her mother said with a smile, "it is none too soon. You are like a ripe peach ready to burst."

"I am bursting," wailed the Countess of March, "and it hurts!"

Her mother ignored her, instead ordering that the birthing table be brought into the countess's bedchamber and set by the fire, where it was warm. Kettles of hot water boiled over the fire. A large stack of clean cloths was prepared. The infant's cradle was brought, along with the swaddling clothes. The nursemaid was called to ready herself for her new duties.

Outside, gray, icy sleet was flinging itself against the glass windowpanes, and the wind was beginning to rise. Blaze made her daughter walk about until finally her waters broke. Only then did the Countess of Langford allow Nyssa to get onto the birthing table.

In the Great Hall, Varian de Winter paced nervously. His father-in-law, just arrived, sat calmly by the fire, sipping at his wine and chatting with his youngest son, who was playing with a puppy at his feet.

"Var, can I take puppy home with me?" little Henry Wyndham asked his brother-in-law. Henry would shortly be four. His big violet-blue eyes reminded Lord de Winter of his wife. The boy smiled up ingenuously at the man, his baby teeth like small freshwater pearls.

"Aye, 'tis yours, Hal. What will you call him?"

"Puppy," the little boy said with perfect logic.

The two men chuckled at the child, and he grinned good-naturedly back at them.

Blaze could not believe the ease with which Nyssa was delivering her child. She remembered how she herself had labored lightly for an entire day. Then her labor had become harder and harder, until finally, just before midnight, Nyssa had been born. Nyssa, however, was having quite an easy time of it. Blaze bent to peer between her daughter's legs, and saw that the child's head was quite visible.

"At the next pain, I want you to bear down as hard as you can and push," she told Nyssa. "It will take very little to birth this child."

The young Countess of March obeyed her mother, and as she was wracked by a hard pain, bore down, pushing with all her might. The child began to slip forth from her body. "Ohhh, I can feel it, Mama!"

"Push again, Nyssa," her mother ordered.

The young woman pushed, and suddenly a howl broke the virtual stillness of the room. Blaze Wyndham smiled broadly as she lifted her firstborn grandchild up and lay the wailing infant upon his mother's body.

"You have a son," she told her daughter, and then sought for the afterbirth. It had not yet emerged. Taking a small, sharp knife set aside for the purpose, she cut the cord and knotted it tightly in the baby's navel. Ohh, he was a fine boy!

"
Mama!
" Nyssa's voice was sharp. "The pain is beginning again."

" 'Tis the afterbirth," Blaze said, disposing of it.

"No," Nyssa told her. "I feel the same way I felt just a moment ago, when Edmund was born."

Blaze looked down again and gasped with surprise. "Heartha, take Lord Edmund and clean him up," she called to her tiring woman. "Tillie, I will want you to stand by. Your mistress is about to deliver another baby. 'Tis twins, Nyssa! Why did I not realize it before now? You come from a family known for its twin births! That is why you were so big, and that is why your babies are being born today instead of at the end of the month. Twins always come early."

Within a brief few moments Nyssa had delivered her second child. "What is it?" she demanded. "Do not mix it up with Edmund. He is the heir. I do not want him to lose his birthright."

"No fear of that," her mother said. "This one is a daughter. Ohh, I don't envy the poor little queen when Henry Tudor learns you have given Varian de Winter not just one, but two children. He will be so envious."

"Let me see her," Nyssa demanded, and Blaze put the baby on her daughter's chest. The infant's eyes were open, and she appeared to focus quite clearly upon her mother. She made small noises that absolutely fascinated Nyssa.

"What will you call Edmund's sister?" Lady Wyndham asked.

"I had not considered a daughter, but I think if it is all right with Varian, I shall call her Sabrina. Lady Sabrina Mary de Winter. What think you, Mama?"

" 'Tis a lovely name," Blaze said, "and now I think we had best cleanse Lady Sabrina free of her birthing blood so she may be swaddled and presented to her father, along with her brother."

The two infants were quickly cleansed with warmed, scented oil, and then swaddled in clean clothes. Heartha held the heir to Winterhaven, and Tillie proudly cradled his sister.

"Go and introduce them to their father and grandfather while I attend to my daughter," Blaze said, and the two servants hurried from the bedchamber while Lady Wyndham made Nyssa presentable for the husband who would surely be coming to visit her within a short time.

Slowly Tillie and Heartha made their way down the stairs and into the Great Hall.

"My lord!" said Heartha. "You have a son."

Varian de Winter leapt to his feet and strode toward her.

"And a daughter, my lord," Tillie told him.

The Earl of March stopped in his tracks. "A son
and
a daughter?" He looked nonplussed.

"Runs in the family," Anthony Wyndham said matter-of-factly, coming to look at his first two grandchildren. "Old Lady Morgan birthed four sets of twins, y'know. Two sets were girls. One was a mixed pair like these two, and the last set was boys." He peered down at the babies. "Which one's the lad?" he asked the two women.

"This one here, m'lord," Heartha said, beaming. "Lord Edmund Anthony de Winter's 'is name, Mistress Nyssa says."

"Is it?" Anthony Wyndham felt a bit misty-eyed. "Is that all right with you, my lord?" he asked his son-in-law.

Varian nodded, fascinated by the miniature of himself cradled in the tiring woman's arms. "Aye. I bred them, but according to Nyssa, I do not get to name them." He looked up with a grin and then said to Tillie, "What is my daughter to be called?"

"She's Lady Sabrina Mary de Winter, m'lord," Tillie replied.

"Is my wife well?" he queried her.

"Oh, aye, m'lord. My mistress is quite well. Lady Wyndham says her labor was a very easy one," Tillie informed him.

The earl left the hall and hurried to his wife's chamber. Nyssa was already newly bathed and in a fresh chamber robe.

"Did you see them?" she asked him impatiently as he entered. "Are they not the most perfect and beautiful babies, my lord?"

"Sabrina is bald," he noted, "but," he added, seeing his wife's outraged look, "she is the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen."

"And Edmund? I have given you an heir, sir. Are you not pleased with me? What is my reward to be? When I was born, my father gave my mother a manor, and I was but one baby. What shall I have for two?"

"
Nyssa!
Such greed," Blaze said, but she was laughing.

"This," the earl said, slipping a beautiful gold chain with a large pear-shaped diamond from his doublet, "is your reward for giving me an heir, madame. Since I was not expecting a second baby, I must beg your indulgence. What would you like?"

"I want a flock of sheep," she said. "I shall put aside the gold from the sale of their wool and invest it. By the time Sabrina is ready to wed one day, I shall have a fine dowry for her."

"The lambs born this spring are yours," he said. It was a highly practical idea, Varian thought. There would be other children, and some of them were bound to be daughters. Daughters needed fine dowries to obtain fine husbands. One day the king would die, and being related to a Howard queen would mean nothing then. Gold was the only thing that lasted. That never changed.

The babies were returned to their mother, and looking down at them, Nyssa felt a tremendous rush of love for her children. She was astounded to have two of them, amazed that they were finally a reality that she could touch, and caress. She looked at her mother. "How can you give both equal attention, Mama? I adore them both already."

"You cannot," came the wise reply, "but if you kiss one, be certain to kiss the other so neither will feel slighted. You will need a wet nurse now, my child. Twins are hard that way."

"Not yet!" Nyssa cried. "I have just had them. I want them to myself, Mama." She looked at her husband and smiled.

"A wet nurse will share the burden with you, Nyssa," her mother answered. "These grandchildren of mine will need all the food they can get. Look how quickly Jane and Annie grew in the last year. I have had a wet nurse to share my load. I favor neither of your sisters. When they cry for food, I pick one up, and Clara picks the other one up to nurse. Sometimes I have Jane, and sometimes Annie. It matters not to your sisters as long as their little bellies are filled."

"Listen to your mother, sweeting," Varian told her. "She has experience in these matters." He took his son from Heartha and smiled down at him before handing him to Nyssa. Then Varian removed his daughter from Tillie's arms. "They are perfect, and I thank you, madame, for giving me such fine children. They shall be baptized in the morning. Let Anthony stand godfather for Edmund and Sabrina both."

"Let us wait a few days, my lord, so that the rest of my family might be summoned. Anthony may stand godfather for Edmund, but I would have my brother Philip be Sabrina's godfather."

"And the godmothers?" he queried her.

"Aunts Bliss and Blythe, with your permission, my lord."

He agreed. "And the king must be notified, of course."

She nodded. "Aye. The sooner the better, and then perhaps Cat will realize that we cannot come back to court to play with her."

Several days later the king, at Whitehall, received a messenger from the Earl and the Countess of March. The messenger bowed low, and given permission to speak, said, "On the first day of March, in the year of our lord fifteen hundred and forty-one, Lady Nyssa Catherine de Winter gave birth to twin children, a son and a daughter, Your Grace. The heir to Winterhaven was baptized Edmund Anthony de Winter, and his sister will be called Sabrina Mary de Winter. Both the infants, and their mother, are well. The earl and his wife tender you their loyalty. God save good King Henry, and Queen Catherine!" He bowed again, and was dismissed.

"Twins," Henry Tudor said, his eyes narrowing to slits. "I would be content with one child." He looked at his pretty wife. "We must try harder, Catherine, my rose. Your cousin and his wife are already two up on us. It will not do, my pet."

"Can we see them this summer on our Midlands progress?" the queen said, ignoring him. "Will you order them to join us? She will have to have a wet nurse with two children, and so surely she can come to court for a short time, my dear lord. It would make me sooo happy to see Nyssa again. Perhaps I shall even be enceinte by then, and Nyssa could tell me all that I needed to know about babies." She smiled sweetly at him.

"Very well," he said, unable to resist her, and he pulled her down into his lap for a cuddle. "Would it truly make you happy, Catherine? You know I would do anything to make you happy."

"Aye, my darling, it would make me very happy," she told him, and kissed his mouth, her little tongue snaking unexpectedly over his lips. "Do you like that, my liege?" She pressed herself against him.

He fumbled with her bodice, pulling it open, handling her breasts with great familiarity. Then one of his hands slipped beneath her skirt and slid up her leg, past her thigh, and a single finger found its target. "Do you like this?" he growled at her, his finger working faster and faster against her little jewel.

The queen twisted her body about, unfastening her husband's codpiece loosed about his manhood, which was already well-aroused. Then seating herself upon his lap, facing him, she took him into her sheath. "Does that please you, my lord?" she murmured against his ear, biting down hard on it. Then she began to ride him.

He slipped his hand beneath her bottom, crushing the flesh of her buttocks with his finger. "I am going to mark you," he said.

"
Yes!
" she half sobbed. "Yes! Mark me! Make me your own, Henry Tudor." She moved faster and faster upon him, until finally they both exploded with their mutual pleasure. "Ahhhhhh," she groaned as his love juices filled her. "Ahhh, Henry!"

Perhaps they had made a child, the king thought, praying it was so. He wanted a child with this exquisite girl-wife whom he loved so very, very much. How had he gained such good fortune in his old age?