In His Eyes(15)

“Sibby, this might not be a good idea.” Ella arched her eyebrows. “What if your people refuse to accept it?”

She snorted. “They’ll do as I tell ’em.”

The youth being evidence of the likelihood of such a statement, Ella was inclined to believe it. A small cry pierced the silence that hung over them, and both women took the opportunity to escape the tension in the foyer. They found Basil in the nursery, lifting the babe from the crib.

“He’s a right fine boy, miss.” She beamed at Ella. “Plump and pretty. What happened to his parents?”

Ella reached for him and snuggled him close. “His mama died in the birth.”

“What ’bout his daddy?”

Sibby waved her hand. “You hush now. You got too many questions than what’s good for you. Some things we just don’t ask.”

Glad she didn’t have to attempt to explain despondent circumstances to such a cheery girl, Ella smiled. “Sibby is right.”

Basil poked out her lip. “Nobody thinks I’m big enough for nothin’.”

Ella gazed down at the perfect little face in her arms while Sibby gently lectured the girl on proper behavior and how some things only came with age. Such a beautiful child. No doubt one day there would be young ladies fanning themselves over those expressive eyes and dark hair… Ella frowned.

“What?”

Ella glanced up to see that Sibby watched her closely, as though she doubted Ella knew what to do with a child. She didn’t really, but it offended all the same.

“He has such dark hair.”

Sibby glanced at him. “Yeah, he do. So?”

“Well, if you haven’t noticed,” Ella said with a turn of her lips, “it looks nothing like my own.”

“Hmm.” Sibby inspected her as though she hadn’t yet realized Ella’s features. “You do got some red hair.”

Ella laughed. “You just noticed?”

Sibby shrugged. “That don’t matter. You white folks have all kinds of colored hair.”

“Usually features do run in a family, Sibby. Surely you know that.”

She squinted at Ella, then looked down at the baby. “Well, you got that bright hair and them green eyes, but baby Archibald has dark hair and eyes like Mr. Westley. Should be all right.”

Ella made a face. “Archibald?”

“Course.”

She knew she must bestow the family’s name on the child, but still…. “Why not Westley instead?”

Sibby shook her head, tight curls trembling. “That’s Mr. Westley’s name.”

Incredulous, Ella opened her mouth to retort, but Sibby continued as though her logic followed reason.

“That’s not the way it goes. The first Westley Archibald Remington went by Westley. Then his son was Archibald, then Westley again. See? Keeps it clear that way.” She gave a smug smile, as though she had just explained something extraordinary to a dullard.

Ella arched her eyebrows. “Well, as there are no others here to cause confusion, then I don’t see why Westley is a problem.” She lifted her chin. “I don’t care for Archibald.”

Sibby clicked her tongue. “That ain’t how it’s done.”

“Sibby,” Ella said with a snort. “Do you really think ‘how it’s done’ applies? How it’s done would have been with a proper wedding and a child born to the father he’s named for.”

Sibby glared at her. “You want this to work or not?”

The baby started to make little noises Ella guessed would portend hungry wails. “What if this is an utter disaster? Then what? When I leave here, I don’t want to call my boy Archibald for the rest of his life.”

“Humph. It’s a right respectable name.”

He loosed a fist from the blanket and flailed it about. Ella stroked his tiny hand, and he grasped her finger with surprising strength. Bright eyes stared up at her, and her heart lurched. Yes, no matter what happened here, she would not give up this child.

Nor would she call him Archibald.

Sibby groaned. “Fine. We don’t have to call him Archibald. How ’bout Archie?”

“No.” She liked that even less. “Perhaps we can call him something else entirely. He can keep the official name for documents and such, but we call him something more fetching.”

“No, ma’am. We ain’t doing that. You ain’t going to convince the people around here that child belongs to the Remingtons if he is called by a different name.”

Ella sighed. “Very well. Then Westley it is, so called for how much I dearly miss my husband now lost to me.”

Sibby’s mouth fell open, and Ella offered a sweet smile. “A good compromise, yes?”

“Oh, Lord.” Sibby groaned. “What kind of mess have I done gotten us into?”

Baby Westley began to wail and Ella bounced him. “There, my little Lee. Are you hungry?”

“Lee?”

Ella smiled and handed over the child so Sibby could nurse him. “Just as I am Eleanor called Ella, so he will be Westley called Lee. Surely you do not begrudge me giving something of myself to the boy who will be my son?”

Sibby took the baby and settled into the rocker, flicking an annoyed gaze at his mother.