The Mistress of His Manor by Catherine George Page A

herself with the reminder that Kate had done this twice before. But the thought of her mother in agonising labour was unbearable. If this is the end result, thought Jo in anguish, no consuming passion for me.
    Afterwards, it took a lot of cajoling from Jo to get Kitty into a bath and put her to bed.
    ‘Want Mummy,’ wailed the child piteously as Jo sat on the bed with her.
    ‘I know, darling, so do I,’ said Jo, surprising her little sister.
    ‘But you’re a big girl!’
    ‘Even big girls need their Mummies sometimes,’ Jo assured her.
    Amazed by such weakness from a girl as big as her sister, Kitty agreed to listen to one of her longer stories, and to Jo’s infinite relief fell asleep before the end of it.
    Jo was on her way downstairs to make herself some much needed tea when her phone rang again. ‘Grandpa?’ she said eagerly.
    ‘Afraid not, Joanna. It’s March. Dan told me he’d seen you running past the pub earlier, on your way to the car park. Did you come to see me?’
    In his dreams! ‘Absolutely not. I can’t talk now. My mother’s in hospital and I’m waiting for news.’
    ‘The baby?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘In that case I’ll get off the line at once and call you tomorrow.’
    ‘Please don’t put yourself to the trouble—Lord Arnborough.’ Jo snapped her phone shut and hurried back to Kitty, who’d begun to wail.
    Tom rang twice during the endless evening, but only to report that Kate was still in labour. It was midnight when the phone rang again, and at last it was Jack—hoarse and triumphant.
    ‘Darling, you’ve got a little brother, all seven pounds of him, and your wonderful, marvellous mother is exhausted, but she’s come through it safely. Thank God—’
    His voice cracked on the last, and Jo heaved in a shaky breath, wanting to cry her eyes out with relief. ‘Oh Jack, I’m so relieved. Are you coming home now?’
    ‘As soon as Kate is settled for the night. Have you had a rough time with Kitty?’
    ‘She’s been wanting her mummy.’ Jo’s voice thickened. ‘So have I.’
    ‘For God’s sake don’t cry, or I will, too. And Dad’s had enough on his plate tonight without that!’
    Jo managed a chuckle. ‘Poor Grandpa.’
    When the men got home there was much kissing and hugging and reports on Kate’s well-being. Jo rang Anna Maitland very briefly, while Jack went up to check on his sleeping daughter, then whipped up a midnight feast of soup and toast and mugs of tea.
    ‘It should be champagne,’ said Jack, yawning, ‘but if I even sniff the cork I’ll keel over.’
    ‘So what’s he like, this new brother of mine?’ demanded Jo. ‘Does he have any hair? Is he like Kitty?’
    ‘At the moment he’s bald, with a chubby red face, and he looks like himself!’
    Tom laughed. ‘Has he got a name yet?’
    ‘Oh, yes,’ said Jack casually. ‘We’ve had names ready for months. Margaret Joanna for a girl, and Thomas John for a boy.’
    Jo’s throat thickened at the look on her grandfather’s face. ‘Perfect,’ she said huskily.
    She was settling down in her old room before she allowed herself to think of the phone call from March. Or Lord Arnborough, she reminded herself acidly. A good thing she’d found out now, before things went any further. March was a man she could have grown to care for in an adult way very different from the fleeting teenage infatuation she’d felt for Charlie. But he’d walked out on her anyway, so there was no possibility of that—whatever his name was…
    Jo woke with a start as Kitty burst in the room next morning with big news. Her excitement about the new baby was intense. She was going to see him later, with Daddy, and did Jo know that you didn’t buy babies? God sent them to you in the hospital. But she wished the baby was a girl.
    ‘God had already sent Mummy two girls, darling,’ she pointed out. ‘He wanted her to have a boy this time.’
    ‘I told Daddy to ask for a girl next time.’ Kitty sighed. ‘But he said there