“Oh. I see.”
Christian stared into the distance. “You love to read?”
“I do. When I was a child, I brought home armfuls of books every week from our library. So when I saw them discussing the man in the cloak, and found out they couldn’t read, I figured I would teach them.”
“The man in the cloak?”
They had walked to the meadow, where the stable master was working with one of the new horses. Christian leaned against the fence.
“Yes. He apparently goes around doing good deeds.”
Christian was acting weird. “Don’t you approve of him?”
“I do, but others might not.”
He touched her cheek. “You have been outside too long and are cold. We shall go in.”
Inside, Christian led her down a passageway she hadn’t been down before.
“Where we going?”
He opened a door to a room filled with odds and ends.
“I will have the men clean out this room. You could use it to show the children and others their letters. Would that please you?”
“Very much.” Ashley touched the smooth walls that were adingy white. She turned to look at him. “Could we paint two of the walls a dark color?”
“Aye, why?”
“I saw someone using chalk the other day. If we painted the walls a dark color, they could write on the walls with the chalk, and then we could clean it off every day. Outside we can use the dirt to draw in, but paper is expensive, I don’t want to waste it.”
Christian nodded. “It shall be done. You shall have as much chalk as you desire. But why two walls?”
“I’ll write the letters and the words on one wall, and they can practice on the other wall. When we are done for the day, one of the children will wash the walls and fetch more chalk as needed. That child may have one of the jam pastries.”
Christian grinned. “They will be lining up to do your bidding.”
He was standing so close that she thought she could count his eyelashes. The air grew heavy, and it was that moment of anticipation, when she thought he was going to kiss her. But he was engaged, his fiancée somewhere in the castle, and there was no way she would be called a home wrecker. Ashley quickly stepped back.
“Thank you. I’m going to go find a few of the children to start carrying everything out of the room.”
He looked hurt. “I will send servants to aid you.” Christian stopped in the doorway. “If I could change things…”
“Don’t.”
She lingered in the room until she was sure he was gone. This wouldn’t do. He’d been more charming than ever. She couldn’t stand him being so nice, and she definitely wasn’t letting him kiss her and break her already cracked heart.
Ashley looked through the stuff in the room, pulling out a few stools the children could sit on and a table that was missing one leg. She’d ask if it could be fixed so she could use it in the room.
“I’ve got it.”
She was going to act like a brat. Do all the things that she had seen her friends do that made guys lose interest. She picked up a cloth-covered bundle, and old, tattered ribbons fell out. Ashley grinned. She would enlist the little girls from her class to help. It was going to be perfect.
CHAPTER 21
The next morning,Ashley practically jumped out of bed, washed, and was waiting for Gwen to help her dress. The girl blinked at her.
“You’re up early.”
