Miss Wetherby.She must still be sleeping, then. For a moment, Reeves felt the strangest desire to go over to the bed and see what her face looked like in slumber. He recalled the stubborn set of her jaw last night as the two of them had argued out on the balcony. The blazing fire in her blue eyes. Those things would be gone now. She would look softer. Sweeter. He wanted to see that.
What a strange impulse. He shook it off and refocused on his daughter.
She pointed to the door and bit her lip.
For a moment, he thought she was frightened of something, but then he heard a low rumble and understood. “You want to go down to breakfast?”
She nodded.
“Not by yourself.” The idea of letting her be on her own after what had happened was intolerable. It sickened him to think of it. And he wasn’t ready to go down himself. “Let’s go and see if Norman can take you, all right? Get dressed.”
She did so quickly and quietly, her eyes darting to Miss Wetherby. She was clearly determined not to disturb her new friend’s rest. More and more, Reeves was shocked by how much his daughter had grown to like this woman. It had happened more quickly than he would have believed possible if he hadn’t seen it for himself.
Once she was dressed and ready, he took her out into the hall and knocked on the door of the room where his two men were staying. The door was answered quickly, and Norman appeared before them.
“Emma wants to go down to breakfast,” he said. “Do you think you might take her? I still have a few things to do before I’ll be ready to go.”
“Of course.” Norman smiled. He held out his hand to Emma, and she took it.
“Don’t let her out of your sight,” Reeves warned him.
“Of course not.” Norman inclined his head. “You can count on me.”
“I know I can.” There was no one in the world he trusted more, and it would be good for both him and Emma to put a little distance between them. It would enable them to start feeling like things were normal again. But knowing that and doing it were very different, and as Norman led her down the hall, his gut clenched. It felt so very wrong to let her walk away from him, especially after everything the two of them had been through.
The last time she walked away from me, I lost her.
He took a deep breath. That wasn’t going to happen this time. It was a different situation. Norman was with her. She was safe.
He turned and went back to his room.
Another surprise was waiting for him there. Miss Wetherby had awoken and was sitting upright in bed. She let out a gasp when she saw him and clutched at the bedclothes. “Your Grace.”
“You’re awake.” He turned his back on her to allow her a moment to make herself decent, if she wished. She seemed to have decided to take it, for after a moment, he heard her footsteps on the ground. He walked to the window and focused on the grounds below.
“I wanted to thank you for last night,” she said hesitantly.
That was a surprise. “You’re thanking me? I thought you were angry with me last night. Didn’t you resent the fact that I asked you to come back inside?”
“Well,” she said, “I wouldn’t say youasked, exactly.”
Which was only proving the point he was trying to make. “So, what is it you’re thanking me for?”
“Whether I liked the way you spoke to me or not, you were right about the things you said,” she told him. “It was cold out there, and you encouraged me to come back in. I appreciate that.”
He hadn’t meant to do her any particular favor. It felt odd to be thanked. “It would be difficult for me if you were to catchan illness,” he said gruffly. “You’re meant to be caring for my daughter. I don’t want to have to be caring foryou.”
“You can turn around,” she told him.
He did. She was wearing a simple dress, brown and unadorned. He’d have thought it was the same one he had seen her in yesterday, except that he noticed the sleeves were cut slightly differently. Perhaps her whole wardrobe was like this. Why would a woman who worked at an orphanage require anything finer than these simple garments?
But even in the plain brown dress, she was lovely. Her skin was clear, and her blue eyes sparkled like sapphires. It occurred to him that if he had seen her at a ball, he would have wanted to ask her to dance.
What an odd thing that was to think. He didn’t attend balls, and he certainly didn’t dance at them. He wondered what had put the idea in his head now. She was pretty, but many women were pretty, and that was no reason for a man to take leave of his senses. Reeves had always prided himself on being more levelheaded than that.
“I should thank you for allowing me to care for your daughter as well,” she said seriously. “We argued about it yesterday, but I want to be sure you know how appreciative I am. How much it means to me that you hear what I say about her needs, and that you trust my judgment about it.”
She was mistaken if that was what she thought. “I don’t trust your judgment,” he informed her. “I don’t trustyou. I brought you along because my daughter was insisting on it, and I don’t wish to deny her anything she wants. That doesn’t mean I trust you.
