“It was not the first time she had been unfaithful to her husband, but he knew the child could not be his and so abandoned her. She came here with a babe in her arms, looking for you. But I knew you would never return, not after what I had done to you.”
“Did she tell you the child was mine?”
Ivana nodded. “She did. As soon as he grew, it was apparent she spoke the truth.”
“Where is she now?”
“She is dead.” Ivana swallowed down the lump in her throat. “Herr Gebert gave her employment at the tavern, in return for food and lodgings. I think she thought to wait for you in the hope you would come back, in the hope you would make a financial contribution to ease her burden.”
Elliot turned away, paced back and forth before stopping abruptly. “Wa
s it a fever, an illness that claimed her?”
“No.” This was perhaps the part of the tale Ivana struggled to comprehend. “She met another gentleman, not a nobleman like yourself, but a merchant travelling through here. She pleaded with Frau Bruhn to take your child.” The Bruhns were the kindest people Ivana knew and would never have refused the chance to give a child a secure home. “She went off with the merchant. They had a carriage accident a few miles from here. Some say the coachman was drunk on ale, that his slow reactions caused the conveyance to come off the road and slip down the muddy bank.”
Elliot drew his palm down his face and exhaled loudly. “If Leo had not come back here I would never have known about the boy.”
Ivana wondered if he struggled to use the word son. Perhaps he would feel different, when he saw how sweet and good natured his child was.
“There is something else you should know. Christoph barely speaks. For his age his oral skills are poor. There seems to be no reason for it. I have tried to encourage him over the last few months, yet have achieved only minimal results.”
Elliot cleared his throat. “Is he ill? Has he suffered some sort of trauma?”
“What, other than never knowing his father and losing his mother at such a young age?” Ivana could not hide the contempt in her tone, but she no longer had need to apportion blame. “Forgive me. The children mean the world to me.”
“After what you have experienced, after all you have done, I cannot condemn you for your opinion. But I seek to make amends for my mistakes. Know that I will not fail him again.”
Ivana’s heart soared at his words. She felt the truth in them, and that was all that mattered. “I do believe you will be an exceptional father, as exceptional as you are a husband.”
Elliot inclined his head. “That is great praise indeed from a woman who despised me to the core of my being.”
“We cannot go back and change the past. Both of us have done things we are not proud of, and so I say we draw a line in the sand, agree to move forward in the knowledge we are both better people.”
“They are wise words, indeed.” He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “Thank you, for taking care of my son. Thank you for loving my brother in the way he deserves.”
A sudden well of emotion rushed to the fore. She dabbed at the corner of her eye for fear the tears would fall. “Come,” she said walking back towards the door. “It is time to meet your son.”
They entered the room to find Alexander lying in the middle of the bed. The children sat around him staring at Evelyn seated in the chair eagerly reciting her story. They all looked so happy, so carefree, and Ivana’s heart swelled.
Alexander shot up as soon as his gaze met Elliot’s. “You’re awake.” He clambered from the bed, rushed over and drew him into an embrace. “Good Lord, you had us all worried.”
Elliot grabbed him by the shoulders. “Thankfully, I was oblivious to the event,” he said with a smile.
Evelyn came over and threw her arms around him. She looked up into his eyes. “I am so pleased to see you.” Her voice sounded croaky. The emotion of the last few days had been too much for all of them.
Elliot placed a brotherly hand to her cheek. “I hear we are to increase our numbers. Grace said we need two carriages to take our brood home.”
Alexander’s mouth curled up into an amused grin. “It seems I had no need to worry about spending my life alone.”
Ivana touched him on the shoulder. “Come and meet the children.”
She led him over to the bed, to the five pairs of wide eyes all staring at him with a look of wonder. Ivana introduced them, starting with the girls. Frederick and Edwin jumped down from the bed and offered the lord their most regal bow, just as she had taught them to do.
“Thank you, my lord,” Frederick began, “for considering that we might come to England to live with Christoph. We do not want to be parted from our brother.”
Ivana noted Elliot’s gaze shift to the little boy on the bed, and he inhaled deeply before turning to the older boys. “I understand completely. You are both more than welcome to come and live with us if that is what you want.”
“We do,” Edwin said, blinking rapidly.