“And the circus is where all thegoodmemories with your mother took place. All of your performances were together, as a team. Of course you would miss that.”
“I knew you would understand.” He gave a crooked smile. “Once I learned to read, a whole new world opened up.Everyonehad a story. Bean encouraged me to find articles that interested me—probably to keep me reading—but he needn’t have bothered. I was hooked. There was even a time when I thought I might want to be a reporter for a newspaper.”
“Until you decided to fight injustice another way?”
“Bean was already doing that on his own. I think it was part of why he adopted the six of us. To have a legacy, like you do with your family.”
Kunigunde nodded her comprehension.
“Two years later, a woman came to the door with a problem. A young mother. This time, Bean wasn’t certain how to find the answers she needed—butIknew. I had half of the information she sought upstairs in my bookshelf, and I knew just where to go to find the rest.”
“You mean the newspapers? Information in journalists’ notes that did not get published?”
He chuckled. “No. Through a fourth-floor window. A room only accessible from inside a secure building…unless you happened to have the ability to climb five stories of exterior white stucco in the dead of night with no rope or net.”
“Were you nervous?”
“Beanwas nervous. I was ready to make a new name for myself. Not ‘the Flying Fox,’ but Graham Wynchester. I wanted to beuseful, not a novelty. I wanted to right wrongs.”
Her eyes warmed. “And you saved the day.”
He laughed. “Isaved the day. It was the first time. I couldn’t believe it.” His chest swelled at the memory of helping to reunite a mother with her child. It had felt like reuniting with his own mother, if only for a moment.
“I imagine you couldn’t wait to do it again.”
“After that, I was addicted. To newspapers, to spying, to rescuing anyone and everyone. To me, these aren’t ‘adventures.’ These are people’s lives at stake. People like us, people different from us. People who need us.”
She nodded slowly. “I understand that, too. Wanting to be needed, to be useful. Wanting to make a difference. Wanting to be recognized for a job well done.”
“Youareimportant, whether or not you join the Royal Guard. Don’t lose yourself when you gain a uniform. It’s just a symbol, like a playbill. Juffrouw Kunigunde de Heusch is already enough.”
She stared into her wine but didn’t reach for it. “Are you trying to save me, too?”
“I don’t have to. You’re one of the most capable women I know. The truth is simpler.” He hesitated, then forged ahead. “I missed you while I was gone.”
Her gaze flew to his.
“During our week apart, I thought of you every moment. Since our return, my esteem for you has only compounded. I am constantly reminded how special you are.”
How important she was quickly becoming tohim.
“Normally, I would not declare myself so soon. But the one thing we don’t have much of is time, and I don’t want to waste a minute of it. This ‘romantic snack’ was just an excuse. I didn’t know what I could give you that you don’t already have…so I gave a piece of myself that I’ve never shared with anyone outside of the family.”
“I…How are you possibly still unwed?”
Graham chuckled. “I used to answer that question by saying I was waiting for a princess. But lately, real life has been better than fairy tales.”
He rose to his feet and held out his hand for Kunigunde.
She bit her lip, then placed her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet. The skirts of her gown rustled against him. He could not bear for her to disappear forever in a few weeks.
“I like you,” he told her softly. “I don’t know yet where this is going. Maybe somewhere. Maybe nowhere. But I would like to find out, if you’re interested.”
She gazed back at him with her dark eyes. “I am trying very hard not to be interested, but you’ve made it impossible. No, do not look at me like that. It weakens my knees. We have no future, no matter how fond we are of each other. This won’t ever be more than it is now.”
He traced his thumb along the softness of her cheek. “Still temporary?”
“And I’m not gone yet.” She wrapped her arms about his neck.
