Tessa smiled.“Of course we won’t, not with those beautiful clothes you’ve given her.So thank you, we’d be delighted for you to become our daughter’s godmother, Aunt Maude.Now, I must go and see how she’s settling in.You can make the arrangements with Marcus.”She hurried out.
There was a short silence after she left.Then Aunt Maude said, “I’m surprised the child hasn’t been christened before this.”
“We’re not sure she hasn’t been, but from what we saw there was a distinct lack of priests in the area.”
Lady Gosford turned an appalled lorgnette on him.“Priests?That child isCatholic?”
He shrugged.“We assume her mother was—she was born in a Catholic country, after all.Though religion was frowned upon by the revolution.”
The old lady snorted.“What nonsense!We’ll have her decently christened in the family chapel at Alverleigh, like the rest of the Renfrew family, with a proper Anglican vicar presiding!”
“Strictly speaking Flora is a Blaxland,” Marcus said mildly.
Lady Gosforth turned her lorgnette on him.“We’ll hear no more of that!She will be christened as a Renfrew in the family chapel at Alverleigh!”She frowned momentarily.“Or would it be better done in St George’s, Hanover Square?”She shook her head.“No, we don’t want curious busybodies wondering why she wasn’t christened before now.It must be the family chapel at Alverleigh, where Renfrews are always christened.”
“Very well, Aunt Maude,” he murmured, well pleased with the outcome.Little Flora would now have her own personal champion in his aunt.“Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll see how everything is going upstairs.”
She inclined her head graciously.“You are excused.Tea will be served in half an hour.Don’t be late.”
#
MARCUS HAD JUST PUThis foot on the first step when there was a discreet-but significant cough behind him.He was well acquainted with the sound.“Yes, Peverill, what is it?”
His butler glided forward.“It’s about the boy, m’lord.Young Joey.”
“Has he been behaving himself?”Marcus asked, expecting to hear that he hadn’t.Not surprising, expecting a boy raised on the streets to adapt easily to a gentleman’s house.
“Very much so,” Peverill assured him.“In fact ...”
“In fact?”Marcus prompted him.
“He’s spirited, I’ll grant you and sometimes mischievous as boys are ...”
“But?”
“But he’s also very intelligent, m’lord.Unusually so.”
“Indeed?”
“Yes, m’lord.It took him barely a week to learn his alphabet and start deciphering words.And as for arithmetic—he took to that like a duck to water.You should see how quickly he can add up a column of numbers.In his head!”
“Really?”
“I was wondering ...”The butler hesitated.
“Go on.”
“What are your intentions for the lad, m’lord?Only I doubt he has the makings of a footman, or indeed anyone in service.He ...he’s a good boy, but not really ...a respecter of rules if you take my meaning.He’s what you might call an independent thinker.”
That didn’t surprise Marcus.Joey had bent and broken rules from the beginning of their acquaintance.What did surprise him was Peverill taking such an interest in him.He’d taken the boy on with the utmost reluctance.His current enthusiasm for the boy’s abilities was unexpected, but Marcus had known Peverill for many years and had great respect for his insight.
“What do you think I should do with him then?”
“It’s not for me to say, m’lord”— Peverill took a deep breath—“but if the lad were my grandson, I would ...I’d send him to school.”He swallowed.
Marcus considered the suggestion then nodded.“Very well, we’ll take him down to Alverleigh with us when we return, and he can attend the village school.Life in the country will give him a chance to catch up on his education and explore his options,.If he proves to have the potential you see in him, we’ll send him to a good school.Train him up to some profession.What do you think?”
Peverill’s normally impassive face broke into a smile.“Thank you m’lord.That’s very generous of you.I assure you, the boy won’t disappoint you.He’ll be as good as gold, I promise you.”
