Part 26

She lifted the small tunic nightgown up and frowned. Blair ran her fingers through the material, rubbed them together and inspected it closely in the light.

"It is as if you were choosing diamonds," Chuck commented wryly as he leaned against the doorframe. He watched the marchioness rifle through the small collection of infant's clothes that the butler had managed to procure from various shops in the town. "And you look as if you are sorely disappointed."

Blair groaned, then laid the piece of clothing on the table. She thrust out her lower lip as she spoke to Charlie, who she had laid down on his back beside her on the settee. "I am sorely sorry, sweeting," she said to the child. "It appears that you will not be the most finely dressed child in Christendom."

The marquis chuckled as he entered the salon. He glanced at the selection. As expected, the material was inexpensive and almost coarse, as the shop pandered to the masses of the town. In fact, even her own clothing that she had taken with her from Pembroke left much to be desired. With every memory that returned to her, Blair's taste in clothes rose exponentially.

She turned to her husband. "Your son and I look like commoners beside you, my lord," she pointed out.

And with every memory, she gained confidence in speaking to him. In fact, she spoke her mind more now than she ever had the first time they were in London. Chuck suspected that she had subconsciously decided that nothing she could say would make him leave her.

"I shall send for your own clothing. You have the best garments not just in Christendom but all the known universe," he assured her.

Her eyebrows rose. "And what of Charlie?"

He smirked. "We will have a tailor come to fit Charlie like a prince." Chuck turned to her. "Is that satisfactory to you, my lady?"

Blair grinned, then dropped a kiss on her husband's nose. "Yes," she answered. "I was afraid I would have to call for one myself if you did not catch my subtle hints."

Chuck laughed softly and shook his head. "There was no subtlety or hinting done here today, madame."

Blair laughed in return, then took Charlie in her arms. "Now that we have finagled what we want from papa, we are going out for a walk under the morning sun. They say it's good for the child." With the baby in one arm, Blair raised her hand for her husband to help her up. "Will you join us, my lord?"

"Nothing would please me more," he responded smoothly.

It was lazy like any morning walk. The sunlight was soft against their skin, but Blair still kept a light blanket around Charlie. Beside her, Chuck fell into the same pace that she used. "How long can you walk for?" he asked.

Her lips curved into a knowing smile. "Are you asking me if I am yet too tender?"

He arched an eyebrow. "You put words in my mouth."

She turned her face up towards him. "I am tender yet," she said softly. "But I can walk for a half hour each morning," Blair said, relaying the message from her doctor. "And do not think I did not ask. He was quite surprised at my inquiry."

His eyes warmed. "What did he say?"

Blair pulled him head down for a brief kiss. "Give me twelve weeks, my love," she whispered against his cheek.

"That is an eternity," he groaned.

He looked up at the noise, and Blair turned around. A handsome carriage pulled up to the gates, one that Chuck recognized as his father's. Of course. Bartholomew Bass would have his own vehicle take his stepdaughter to the country. Chuck placed his hand on the small of her back in a protective gesture. Invited or not, Serena van der Woodsen was part of their past in London, most of which were unpleasant to Blair.

Serena alighted from the carriage wearing her dark cloak. Blair frowned, then held her son closer to her body. And then Serena dropped her hood and lifted her gaze to her brother, then turned and saw the woman standing beside him.

"Blair?" she mouthed. And then, Serena threw a confused look towards her brother, who merely smiled. "Blair!" Serena broke into a run towards the couple. "Blair!"

Blair sucked in her breath at surprise. The young woman barreled towards them, it seemed with the full intention of wrapping her in an embrace. When she was closer, Blair held her away with an outstretched arm. "Stop," she commanded, her voice calm. "Stop lest you suffocate my son."

Serena stopped still and turned her attention to the small bundle in the other woman's arms that she had not noticed in her haste. "Oh," she exclaimed reverently. She stepped forward and looked down at the bundle, then touched the cloth to see the baby's face. "He is a replica of his father." She looked up at Blair once more, then at Chuck in amazement. "How?"

Chuck smirked. "Blair, come meet my lovely sister Serena."

Serena stepped back in shock. "Blair knows who I am, Chuck." When she turned to Blair, and saw the curious look in those dark eyes, Serena frowned. "You do not remember me?" Blair shook her head. "That is terrible!"

"I remember your brother," Blair offered. "That is good enough for me."

Serena's eyes fell to the baby in Blair's arms. "I suppose it is." In her excitement, she turned around to the two more occupants of the vehicle, and waved them over. "Come, your graces!" she invited.

Chuck looked up stunned to see the duke and duchess walking down the path towards his family. Immediately he took Blair's arm and turned her to him. "My love, please go inside the house."

"What?" she asked. "Are they not your parents? Did you not wish for them to meet Charlie?"

He placed his hand over hers where she held on to their son. "Trust me."

Blair nodded, then turned her back on Serena and proceeded to the house. He watched her until the door closed behind her. And then he turned back to his stepsister. "I thought my letter was clear enough. I was inviting you."

Lilly spoke for her daughter. "And Serena did not invite us. Your father wished to see you." And then she asked, clearly having been too far from them to recognize. Indeed, it would be hard to jump to the conclusion that it was Blair who spoke with Serena. "Who was that Charles?"

Chuck gave a curt nod to his father. "Your grace."

"Are you not going to open your house to me, Charles?"

Chuck licked his lips, then sighed. "Welcome to Hartington."

"Tell them, Chuck," Serena bubbled over.

When Chuck glanced back at his father, he noticed the appraising look that Bartholomew gave him. The duke said, "I was half afraid we would arrive to a half-dead inebriate. I am glad to see you healthy and content." And then, the duke stepped forward and pulled his son into his arms. "Is this what you needed, son? A moment of escape?"

"Father," Chuck began, his voice hoarse. "I must tell you something."

He pulled away from the duke, then straightened his stance. "Inside the house I have my family waiting," he told them quietly. "This is our small haven away from London. And I beg you not to bring with you anything that would disrupt our world."

"A family, Charles?" Lilly repeated in dismay. He had only just left London a few weeks before, and back then he was buried in his grief. She turned concerned eyes at her husband. "Is that not too hasty?" She prayed he had not been played by a widow saddled by children she could barely support. A grieving man was easy prey to opportunists. Bartholomew's friends had suspected her of the same when she brought two children into her marriage with the duke.

"Mother, just wait," Serena advised.

Bartholomew watched his son closely as Chuck made his way back to the house. The door opened and Chuck asked the butler, "Where is my lady?"

"My lord, she is waiting for you in the parlor with Lord Charlie."

"I will come in first," Chuck informed them. "I will send for you."

Lilly opened her mouth, but Bartholomew placed a hand on her arm to silence her.

"It will be alright, mother," Serena said.

"What is this?" Lilly said when Chuck left. "Who is this woman?" she worried. She looked at her husband. "Bart, you must step in. Your son cannot have an heir who is not of your blood."

The old man sighed. "Lilly—"

"You know why he's doing this," Lilly said. "I thought leaving him to grieve on his own would be good for him. But he cannot do this, Bart."

"Charles has always done what he wished to do."

"But he has never had to do it under the influence of grief."

Inside the parlor, Blair looked through the items of clothing for any fine enough to use. When the door opened, she whirled around, then breathed in relief when it was only Chuck who came in.

"What are you doing?"

Blair shook her head, and Chuck walked over to her in concern when he noted the flush on her cheeks. "I cannot find anything in this pile worthy enough to use," she said breathlessly,

Chuck noted the panic in her voice. "You do not need to dress him up."

"The duke and duchess are here. What will they think if they see your son dressed in such common garments?" She glared at him. "You should have told me they were coming."

"I did not know," he said softly.

"And you," she jabbed a finger into his chest, "should have been more prepared. I cannot believe that my son is going to be presented to his grandfather for the first time in something a little better than peasant's garb!"

"Peasant's garb?" He chuckled. "Blair—"

Her eyes narrowed. "Do not laugh at me," she warned him. "You should have been more prepared. Whether or not I remembered you, you knew you were going to have a child." She sighed. "You could have at least planned on giving him new clothes as a gift." Blair walked towards the baby and took him up to her arms.

"Blair, my family thought you dead," he began. "They had given up on my happiness. Do you think they would judge you and Charlie on your clothing?"

She stared back at him, and for the longest moment she was silent until he thought she would explode. But then, her face softened and she said, "I'm nervous."

He walked over to her and Charlie, then placed a kiss on her forehead. "If you do not wish to meet them now, I will send them on their way back."

She broke into a smile at the offer. "I shudder to think of their response to that."

He smiled. "I do not care."

"Send them in, my lord," she decided. "Your father deserves to meet his grandson."

Chuck's face fell. Of all the secrets that hounded them in London, this was the one he never knew how to break, had hesitated to tell her. But the presence of his son, and the knowledge that whatever happened, he would never let her go, was enough to assure him more than when they were new, finding their footing in a fresh commitment that they never expected. "Do not do it for my father," he told her. "Blair," Chuck took her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles, "your father perished in a duel against my father."

"What?"

"We only learned it before we were married," he admitted. His heart was racing. It was the very thing that had sent her scurrying away, into his friend's arms for comfort. She could easily walk away now, despite everything. It must have been a gift that she remembered nothing of her father, of the way she had been told he died, of being there to clean his wound, because instead of the anguish that was stark on her face when he found her after she first overheard the truth, she now tightened her jaw and took a breath. "It should change nothing between you and me." He cursed at himself for sounding as if he were pleading. Yet again, he continued, "I cannot lose you or Charlie over this." His voice broke.

She frowned. Finally, she asked, "Why would you?"

He released his breath and he almost melted in relief. "Blair—"

She cupped his cheek. "You and I, Chuck, we are more than the people around us, more than the place we choose to live." With her words came the realization that she had, as he, been stuck in the same rut. "You and I and Charlie, we can live anywhere in the world, with anyone in the world, be dressed in the ugliest clothes," she smiled wryly, "and we will always be a family."

He turned his head and placed a kiss in her palm. "I'll ask them to come in."

"Go. I'll put Charlie in one of his new tunics."

Carefully, Blair put the light blue shirt on her son as Chuck walked towards the door. She nodded at her husband when she was ready. Chuck opened the door and waved in their guests.

It was Serena who walked in at first, and gave her friend an encouraging smile. And then, Blair held her breath when the duke and duchess stepped inside.

"Father, your grace, I would like to present to you my son, Lord Charles Gregory Bass." Blair rose to hold her son up proudly. "And you have met my wife, of course. Blair, my parents."

"My God," the duke muttered.

Lilly held up a hand to her mouth.

"Lord Pembroke saved her from the man who abducted her. She is slowly recovering many of the memories that she has forgotten because of that night."

"It's a miracle," Lilly cried. She turned to her stepson and embraced him. "Oh Charles, I had been afraid you would never recover. This—"

"I know." Chuck returned the hug.

The duke walked over to Blair, and Chuck watched intently as Bartholomew stopped in front of his daughter-in-law. "May I?" he rasped. He looked down at his grandson's face. "He is the very image of Charles as a child."

Blair offered the baby to the duke. "Here, my lord. Charlie should know his grandfather." The duke swallowed and he hesitated. "I know, your grace. I will not presume to judge what only you and my father would ever understand."

"Blair, for what it's worth, I still carry the guilt of his death to this day," the duke confessed.

"Come, Lord Devonshire. Take your grandson."

Bartholomew took the youngest Bass in his arms and greeted, "Lord Charlie, are you ready for your heritage?" And then, the duke frowned. He turned to his son. "Charles, why not ask your maids to take your baby clothes from storage and air them out? Blair can probably pick some items for Charlie. They are very fine material and are preserved well."

Blair gasped. "Chuck!"

There was a swift knock on the door, and they turned to see the butler bow. "Jeremiah, just in time," Chuck greeted. "Will you ask Mrs Potter to take out my old baby clothes?"

Bartholomew chuckled. "Jeremiah."

"Your grace?"

"Have Mrs Potter prepare the clothes, as well as the crib, and Charles' toys. Is the rocking chair still here?"

"Lord Charles' entire nursery is still here in the last room of the left wing, your grace."

"Very well. Have her air it out as well."

Jeremiah nodded. Chuck glared at his butler, who he had thought was loyal to him. "You never thought to mention all this?"

The butler flushed. "My lord, Lord Marcus Beaton and Lady Emma are here to see you, and they appear rather urgent."

Blair turned to the butler and said, "Will you send them to the music room? I shall speak with them."

"They asked to speak with me," Chuck told her.

"But we both know that they are looking for me, my lord. We will cut the middleman."

"Blair—"

She smiled and walked over to her husband. Without hesitation, she pulled him down for a kiss, in front of his parents and his stepsister. "Do you think he can convince me to leave with him?" He shook his head. "Good. Now stay here with Charlie." She turned to Serena. "Lord Marcus is a wonderful man. Would you like to come with me?"

Serena stepped towards her friend and nodded. "I would."

tbc

Just one more chapter after this. Thank you for your amazing support.