My eyebrows lifted. “Do you think so?”
Nodding, he handed it back to me. “Whoever bought that spent a great deal of money on it.”
I looked at the locket with new eyes. I wasn’t sure what I thought of it before, but I hadn’t considered that it was solid gold. Who had purchased a solid gold locket for my mother?
“What do the initials stand for?” he asked me.
Running my finger over the engraved initials, I said, “I’m not sure. I think N is for Nellie—’twas me mam’s name.”
“And the B?”
I shook my head and shrugged.
“Not your father’s name?”
I finally looked up at Alec. The sun had started to set, and it cast a golden light into the carriage. He was wearing his hat again, causing the curls to peak out from underneath.
I was embarrassed to admit the truth—a truth I had no control over, though it stained me nonetheless. “I don’t know me father’s name.”
He nodded as if he understood. But did he?
I slipped the locket back into the box and held it tight between my hands.
We traveled in silence for a few more minutes as we left the putrid smell of Five Points behind. The only noise was theclip-cloppingof the horse’s hooves and the sounds of the city around us.
“Sometimes,” Alec finally said, “God gives us opportunities we don’t see coming.”
I looked up at him, surprised by his talk of God. Outside of church, I rarely heard people speak of Him.
“We might not think we’re up to the task, but I think that’s the point.” He studied me in the dying light, and I could see thathe was speaking from experience. “When I inherited my uncle’s business a year ago, at the age of twenty-four, I was in over my head and had no idea what I was doing. My father is a minister—Reverend Jonathan Paxton—I was not raised in a cutthroat, business-minded household. But I saw the opportunity for what it was—what it is—and I am trying my hardest to make the most of it.” He leaned forward. “If you are anything like me, you’re afraid you won’t be up to the task, either. But I think you will be surprised, Keira.”
I stared at him. “Do you think I have what it takes to attract a duke?”
His blue eyes filled with something I couldn’t quite define. “You have more than enough of what it takes.”
For some reason, my cheeks grew warm, and I had to look away.
If Alexander Paxton-Hill believed I could do this—then I would believe it, too.
The next morning, as I slowly woke up, I was first aware of the comfortable bed I slept in. Then I was aware of someone in the room with me.
Opening my eyes, I found Gallagher laying a fire in the fireplace.
What a strange thing to wake up to—a maidanda fire.
“Good morning, miss,” she said when she noticed I was awake. “I’ve set out a dress for you, but if you don’t like it, I can find another.”
I glanced at the dressing table and saw a pink gown lying next to it on the chaise lounge.
“What about the dress I wore yesterday?”
“There’s no need to wear the same gown two days in a row.” She went to the windows and opened the shutters, allowing in daylight. “Mrs. Hill has ordered breakfast in her room, but first you must dress. I have a bath drawn for you.”
“Another bath? Why?”
She frowned, as if she didn’t understand my question, and my cheeks warmed, remembering that I couldn’t let on that any of this was strange. I would take a bath whenever it was offered.
But first, I had to use steps to climb out of the king’s bed.
