The Actor and the Earl by Rebecca Cohen Page A

would ask for your fidelity, but if that is not possible, then I ask for you to be discreet.”
    Anthony’s kiss was unexpected and sweeter than anything they had shared before. “It is no hardship to keep my vows when you are the one I have made them to.”
    “Thank you.” Sebastian could feel the blush as it spread across his cheeks.
    “The pleasure is all mine, believe me.” Anthony kissed him again. “Now come, let us meet the only other man in this household I would be willing to let you spend time with alone.”
    William’s playroom would have been the envy of any child. A host of dolls sat in one corner, surrounded by an army of toy soldiers, and there was a hobbyhorse leaning up against a tallboy. Sebastian suspected it would not be used for a few years to come, given the size of the small boy who was peering out nervously from behind the legs of his nurse.
    Even with the restriction of his corset and the whalebone in his farthingale, Sebastian managed to crouch down so he was at eye level with the little boy, who disappeared behind his nurse. “Hello, William,” said Sebastian.
    William’s blond hair reappeared, and he gazed at Sebastian with wide baby-blue eyes. His nurse muttered an apology, which Sebastian waved away, and she shooed William out from behind her skirts. He looked up at her uncertainly, and she stroked his hair.
    “Hello,” he said.
    Anthony crouched down as well, and William toddled toward him clutching a rag doll. “Don’t let the outside of an angel fool you. He can be a little devil when he wants.”
    “I thought that was what little boys did best.”
    Although Sebastian wasn’t sure William was old enough to understand everything they were saying, the expression William pulled gave the impression that he did, and he gave a disgruntled pout that reminded Sebastian of Anthony.
    “My name is Bronwyn. I’m hoping you might want to be my friend.”
    William looked to his father for reassurance, and when Anthony nodded, he held out the doll for Sebastian. “Thank you,” Sebastian said, taking it. “Does he have a name?”
    “Dolly.”
    William scuttled away, looking for something in the corner of the room. The nurse excused herself with a curtsey, and Sebastian, his knees beginning to ache, stood up. William rushed back with a wooden soldier which he also handed to Sebastian, and waited expectantly.
    “I think he likes you,” said Anthony, sounding pleased. “He’s not normally one to share his toys.”
    Sebastian thanked William and gave him back the doll and the soldier. “Both very fine toys. Maybe next time I can tell you a story?”
    William’s enthusiastic nodding was accompanied by Anthony’s amused snort. “You’ve a way with Crofton men, Bronwyn. It seems we are all putty in your hands.”
    Noticing the nursing chair, Sebastian sat down, William taking his action as an invitation. Ignoring Anthony’s warning to be careful, he clambered onto Sebastian’s lap. Sebastian put a protective arm around William to make sure he wouldn’t fall, and William cuddled closer.
    “This was also my nursery,” said Anthony, picking up a soldier and turning it over in his hand. “My mother used to sit in that very chair and tell me stories.”
    “I don’t remember my mother. Bronwyn claims she does, but I think she only says that to taunt me.”
    “What happened?”
    “I don’t need to tell you that childbirth can be dangerous—twins doubly so. From the little my father said, she never really recovered, and passed away before I was two.”
    “It must have been difficult. I mean, I had a nurse, but my mother always came to kiss me good night, and even my father was known to engage in a fierce battle with my soldiers from time to time.”
    Sebastian laughed. “Sounds idyllic. I was mainly in the care of a nurse, and when I got older, a tutor. My father was away more often than he was at home. And when he died….”
    Anthony squeezed Sebastian’s shoulder. “Is that