“Usually, yes,” Clara smiled widely, “But it just happens that I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with Modiste Redmonde and you shall accompany me.”
“Do you truly think she’ll find something for me at such short notice?” Ariadne asked doubtfully.
Grinning, Clara took up the folded nightgown, “I guarantee that she will take one look at you and devote her week to recreating you.”
If Cedric does have a lover somewhere… why does he look at me as if he wants to devour me? Could this all be a cruel jest, or is it a brazen mockery?
“Ms. Aria?” Emily poked her head into Ariadne’s drawing room that night.
Startled, Ariadne shot a look at the clock on her mantle and gaped at the time, then turned to the young girl. The girl entered the room, her dark curls had been combed and twisted into rag-rolls, concealed beneath a lace cap, her wide amber eyes were beneath a mountain of frills, lace, and embroidered bedclothes.
“Yes, Emily?”
She had three books in hand, and the heft and height of them had Ariadne scrambling from her desk to take them from her.
“Goodness,” Ariadne said as she rested the books on her table. “What are you doing with these at this hour?”
Emily’s face fell. “Papa usually reads to me before bed, but he is not here anymore, and I can’t sleep without being read to.”
Sympathy warmed Ariadne’s heart, “Do you want me to read to you, sweetheart?”
“Would you?” Emily perked up. “Please.”
“I’d love to,” Ariadne replied before closing her ledger, then looked at the stack of books Emily had brought in. “Which of these books do you want?”
“Gulliver’s Travels.” Emily hopped off her chair and turned to the door. “We’re on chapter two.”
Plucking the book up, Ariadne realized the spine was broken in, and the pages had finger marks. Clearly, this book was loved.
She followed Emily through the lit corridor and to the nursery wing; the hallway lamps had been lit with light flooding the room. After resting the book on the bedside table, she pulled the blankets and sheets aside for Emily to get in.
Tucking the child in, she fixed the cap on Emily’s head. “Comfortable?”
“Yes,” Ariadne reached for the book, opened it to the page, and began to read.
“When I found myself on my feet, I looked about me, and must confess I never beheld a more entertaining prospect. The country around appeared like a continued garden, and the enclosed fields, which were generally forty feet square, resembled so many beds of flowers.”
As she settled into the story, it took her back to the nights when she would read to Marigold, her favorite book,The Three Princesses,over and over again.
“He is taller by almost the breadth of my nail than any of his court, which alone is enough to strike an awe into the beholders. His features are strong and masculine, with an Austrian lip and arched nose, his complexion olive, his countenance erect, his body and limbs well proportioned, all his motions graceful, and his deportment majestic.” Ariadne said.
“I hope this does not make you obsessed with books and fictional men like my sister Marigold,” Ariadne muttered.
“I’d prefer if she did, at least I wouldn’t be tempted to walk around with a shotgun,” Cedric’s humored voice came from the doorway, making her heart leap into her throat.
She looked over her shoulder and thanked goodness that it was dark so he would not see her admiring him in his disheveled evening clothes. His hair looked raked through, his cravat loose around his throat as he leaned into the doorjamb with a glass of sherry in hand.
“Oh, am I interrupting?” he asked, softly.
Emily flung back the covers and leaped out of bed, running to her father. “Father, you’re home.”
Cedric lifted the small girl to his arms. “I apologize, pumpkin. The other lords at Westminster are very frustrating, and it took me a long time to make them see sense. It’s over now, and I will not be missing story time again.”
“I missed you,” Emily said while liberally yawning.
Cedric crossed the room and gently deposited Emily back on the bed. He kissed her forehead, then said, “Now, let Ariadne finish your story and go to bed.”
As he stepped away, he said, “When you are finished, find me in my study.”
