Free Every Mother's Son by Val Wood Page A

children are growing up, and as you might know they have been friends of Christopher Hart’s children since they were very young.’
    He had her attention now: her eyes narrowed, and her forehead creased into a frown. ‘You mean Noah’s son, not your bairns,’ she corrected. ‘She used to tek him to ’manor.’
    ‘No,’ he said softly, ‘all of them. Mostly Daniel, I agree; he’s a similar age to ’twins. But lately Maria too; she went with him to ’twins’ sixteenth birthday party up at ’manor.’
    ‘And?’ she said. ‘What’s that to do wi’ owt?’
    He held her gaze. ‘It’s to do with what you once said. About me. About my parentage. I want to know if what you said back then is really true.’ Or if you were speaking out of spite, he thought. As we know that you can and do.
    Her mouth twisted and she grunted. ‘Why would I lie?’ she muttered. ‘What would be ’advantage o’ that?’
    ‘But can you be sure?’ he hedged. ‘My father, Nathaniel – surely he would have guessed?’
    ‘Of course I’m sure!’ Her voice was strident, outraged, censuring him for such an unseemly suggestion. ‘Huh! Mr Tuke believed me all right. He was that proud that he’d sired a son.’ She paused, and then smirked. ‘At least he was at first. He might have had doubts as you got older cos you looked nowt like him. But it was too late by then.’
    Fletcher closed his eyes, defeated. What was to be done? He opened them to find her staring at him.
    ‘You’ve spoiled your chances, o’ course,’ she muttered.
    ‘What?’ Baffled, Fletcher stared back at her.
    ‘Spoiled your chances. You should have gone to him – Christopher – like I said all them years ago.’ Ellen nibbled her nails. ‘You should have told him afore his wife gave birth to them twin babbies, you’d have been ’eldest son then, seeing as his first wife onny gave him a daughter. It might still work,’ she rumbled on. ‘You’d still be heir to ’estate even if from ’wrong side o’ blanket, but she might mek trouble; his second wife, I mean. She’ll want it for her sons.’
    ‘Mother!’ he shouted, and stood up. ‘Don’t you understand? I’m not talking about me . I’m talking about my children and what it means to them!’
    She looked up at him. ‘They’ll be way down in ’pecking order,’ she sneered. ‘Especially with a mother like they’ve got and wi’ knowledge that she was once married to Noah.’
    He lifted his hands in exasperation. ‘Are you being obtuse or do you really not understand what I’m saying? I’m telling you, Ma, that my children are friends of Christopher Hart’s children. What if they should form an attachment?’
    He thought of Maria’s animated conversation when he had collected her and Daniel from the party. He’d pretended he wasn’t listening as she described the talks she had had with Stephen, but he was, and he’d grown afraid. Nothing would come of it, he had persuaded himself. They are way out of our class, but then so had his mother been, and Christopher Hart had gone dallying where he should not.
    ‘They’d not,’ she said. But her voice trembled.
    ‘They have three sons,’ he exploded, his voice breaking. ‘And I have three daughters! And are you telling me, once and for all, that their father Christopher Hart is also my father? Is it true or not?’
    She looked at him for only a moment before turning her head away so that he could only see her profile, which told him nothing. She lifted her chin, in pride or defiance he couldn’t tell, but there was no shame, no regret for what had gone before or the future consequences of her actions.
    ‘It’s true.’ She turned back to face him. ‘I knew he couldn’t marry me, but I didn’t care about that. Men like him don’t marry for love, but they can marry to please their family and take a mistress elsewhere, and that’s what I wanted and expected.’
    Fletcher saw his mother’s face slump and crease and she suddenly