“I thought he might have come here. He paid very close attention to our directions after we delivered you yesterday.” Jeremy rubbed the back of his neck. And in that single motion, Lydia saw it. He was concerned that Ollie had returned to the docks and put himself in danger.
Worry swept through her at the thought.
“We need to find him,” she said. “We need to go back to the warehouse now.” She glanced down at her gown, which would stand out like a sore thumb amongst the fishmongers, beggars, and seaman ever-present along Wapping Street.
Jeremy shook his head. “It’s getting late. Perhaps Baxter?—”
“Pardon me, my lord, my lady.” Lydia turned around to see Mrs. Duckworth, the housekeeper, hovering at the door that led to the kitchens. “This little one insists that he knows you.”
Tucked behind the housekeeper’s skirts, wearing perfectly fitted short pants, a shining pair of boots, and a pristine white shirt beneath a fitted jacket, hid a small boy who looked suspiciously familiar.
“Ollie!” Lydia gasped, her worry quickly dissipating at the sight of him. Absent his usual dirt and grime, her little orphanwas barely recognizable. Lydia rushed forward and took both his hands in hers and then lifted them out to his sides in admiration. “Just look at you!”
“Ahem.” Jeremy stepped forward with a scowl, and Ollie’s relieved smile fell.
“Tell me, Oliver, did or did Mrs. Crump not ask you to bring up some coal?” Jeremy pointedly swept his gaze around the gilded foyer. “You are a long way from my coal cellar. Did you get lost?”
Lydia bit her lip and watched silently. This was a matter to be settled between the two of them.
Ollie squirmed. “I don’t like no baths. That old woman dumped hot water over my head—tried to drown me.” And then he threw his arms around Lydia’s legs. “Don’t make me go back!”
Lydia pinched her mouth into a straight line and stared at Jeremy expectantly, all but biting her tongue so as not to interfere.
Hands behind his back, Jeremy stood firm, looking quite imposing but also… like a disappointed parent.
“You promised me you would assist in the kitchen, and in exchange, what did I promise you in return?
“Hot food. And sweet biscuits, and a bed that ain’t outside,” Ollie admitted grudgingly.
“And what did you have when we arrived at Charles Street?”
“Stew. With meat. And a piece of pie.”
“And what did Mrs. Crump show you to afterward?”
“A bed with three blankets!”
Jeremy allowed silence to fall between them as Ollie considered his circumstances.
“You would give all that up because of a bath?” Lydia could not help herself. The child looked so determined... but also a little bit lost. “I can’t have you visit me for tea if you don’t bathe.All proper gentlemen know it’s important to smell properly clean when they visit a lady.”
At this, she thought she saw Jeremy roll his eyes heavenward.
“But I ain’t no proper gentleman,” Ollie said.
“Not yet, but with help from Lord Tempest, perhaps someday you will be one. You could learn to speak and read and write…”
Jeremy appeared as skeptical as Ollie.
But then Ollie loosened his hold on her legs, looking rather torn.
“Go outside and wait for me in the carriage.” Jeremy met Ollie’s gaze meaningfully. “If you aren’t inside of it when I come out, I’ll know you’ve made your choice. You won’t be given the same opportunity again.”
Ollie fidgeted with a button on the new jacket he was wearing.
“Choose wisely, Ollie,” Lydia said.
He glanced up at her, melting her heart with those violet eyes. “You mean it? You really think I could be a gentleman?”
