She glanced over at one of the other workers, a woman named Maria. “Will you stay with Emma, please, until I get back?” She turned to Emma. “Sit with Miss Maria, all right? I’m just going to discuss some things with your father, and I’ll be right back. I promise.”
Emma seemed uneasy, but she cooperated and went to Maria’s side. Bridget turned back to the duke. “Follow me, then.”
She led him along the dimly lit hall that would take them to the vicar’s study. As the noise of the children returning to their supper faded into the background, he spoke again. “What would your mother and father think about this?”
“Excuse me?” Who was this man to say anything about her parents?
“Well, do you think they would like you going off alone with a man you hardly know?” he asked. “Don’t you think they would find it a bit scandalous?”
They’d reached the study, and she held the door open. “Your Grace, I’m doing you a favor,” she said. “I asked you here so that we could discuss your daughter’s emotional state, which I think will be of interest to you. We aren’t here for you to pass judgments on my life; if that’s all you want to do, I’ll bid you farewell now, because I certainly have no need to hear it.”
He smirked and walked into the study. “Say what you came to say,” he said. “But be quick about it. I mean to take my daughter home tonight, without your approval if I must, and I want to get on the road home before it gets too late.”
Bridget joined him in the study. She pulled the door almost all the way closed, leaving it open just a crack. The truth was that he was right about the appearance of scandal, and that wasn’t something she wanted to invite if she could avoid it.
She turned to face him. “You need to understand that Emma is in a very fragile state,” she said. “When she came to us, she was half-starved. She has a bruise on her face—someone had been rough with her. And she hasn’t spoken in days. She was able to write down some details about herself—that’s how I learned her name. But it’s been clear to me that something troubling happened to her, and that she’s deeply upset by it.”
“I don’t know why you’re telling me this,” the duke said. He was frowning, clearly irritated. “My daughter has been lost,away from her home and her father. Of course, she has been distressed. But now I’m going to take her home, and everything is going back to normal.”
“But I’m not so sure,” Bridget said. “You saw the way she reacted when she heard you meant to take her home tonight. I think it would be in her best interests for the two of you to stay here for a few days, as the vicar offered. At least for the night, and see how she’s doing in the morning.”
“This isn’t your decision to make,” the duke told her firmly. “I appreciate your care for my daughter, but I’ll be the one to decide what’s best for her. And what’s best is a return to normalcy as quickly as possible, not spending days on end in an orphanage.”
“But what I’m telling you is that I’m not sure shecanreturn to normalcy that quickly,” Bridget insisted. “If you’re not willing to stay, will you allow me to ride back with you for part of your journey?”
He scowled. “What do you imagine that would do?”
“I’ve been taking care of your daughter for days now. I know how to watch her for signs of trauma. I know what she needs.”
“Are you saying you don’t believe I know how to care for my own daughter?” he demanded.
“I’m saying she’s been through an ordeal, and you might not know how to help her withthat,” Bridget said. “I deal with things like this all the time. It’s not unusual for children to come into the orphanage with scars on their hearts and fear in their eyes. I know how to help them with that. If you whisk Emma away tonight, I worry for her well-being. If you let me come with you for part of your journey, I may be able to help you.”
He loomed over her, eyes dark, hands fisted at his sides. Her heart pounded. She knew she ought to be frightened. Shewasfrightened. He was so intimidating.
But she felt something else, too. Maybe he had been right to say that they shouldn’t go into this room alone together. The temptation to close the distance between them, to be even nearer to him, was almost more than she could bear. Shewantedhim to push her back against the wall, as he seemed to be threatening to do, if only because it would allow her to feel the strength in his arms. She knew she would be dreaming about that later.
“You think you know how to care for her better than I do,” the duke said.
“No,” Bridget managed, feeling as if his gaze was boring into her, preventing her from moving. “I don’t mean that. I’m sorry. But I care about her. Truly. I just want to help. I want you to let me help. You must understand I’ve been with her for a week, worrying about her, caring for her, trying to get her to eat or speak. I can’t let her disappear in the night without trying to do something more.”
He turned his back on her, and for a moment she feared she had angered him so deeply that he wouldn’t allow the conversation to continue.
Then he turned back to face her. “Very well,” he said. “I’ll give you until the end of winter.”
“What?” What did he mean, he would give her until the end of winter? Surely, he wasn’t saying they would stay here that long? She didn’t want Emma to leave without a word, but that sort of stay did seem a little excessive.
“I mean, you’ll come back with us,” the duke said. “And you’ll stay with me, and care for her, until the end of winter.”
“But…” Bridget shook her head. “I can’t do that. I have my work here at the orphanage. I can’t just leave all the other children. I can’t leave the other people who depend on me here, the people I work with. It wouldn’t be right. I have a responsibility to them.”
“Well, it’s your decision,” the duke said. “You told me you wanted to help care for my daughter. If you want to do that, I suggest you go and pack a bag, because I’m leaving in two hours, with or without you.”
He turned and strode out of the study, leaving Bridget staring after him.
What could she do?She recognized that she had been given a gift here, that he was doing her a favor by allowing her to come along.
But to expect her to stay all winter? How could she leave the orphanage for that amount of time? How could she leave the children who had grown used to having her around? How could she let the other workers continue this difficult job without her?
