Lady Adele smiled, and Loretta was pleased that Farley had remembered to be kind without her urging him to do so. “Please excuse us, Lady Adele,” she said and rose. “I need to get him back to where he belongs.”
“Which way do we go?” she asked Farley when they stepped into the hallway.
“This way,” he said and took the lead. Hawksthorn was huge, and Loretta had already discovered it wasn’t easy finding her way around the monstrous house. She wondered if Farley could lead them back. If not, she hoped they could find a servant somewhere along the way to show them the right section of the house to go to.
After they were well away from the puppy room, Loretta said, “Thank you for being kind to Lady Adele and remembering your manners.” He kept walking down the corridor and didn’t respond to her. “I appreciate you handling yourself so well, but you are not to come to this section of the house again. Mrs. Huddleston should have made that clear to you.”
He stopped walking and looked up at her with big brown eyes. “Ye angry with me?”
She stopped, too. “No, it’s not anger as much as it’s that I’m upset. It’s one thing to do something wrong when you don’t know any better. But you know you were told to stay where you were and not be wandering around this house.”
“What am I to do in that room all the time?”
“Didn’t you bring the toys Mr. Huddleston brought you back from Grimsfield?”
“What do I want with soldiers and ’orses and a wooden dog? Don’t mean nothing to me. Toys are for little boys.”
Loretta asked, “How old are you, Farley?”
He shrugged again. “I don’t know.”
“Do you know how old you were when you lost your mother?”
He stared at her unblinking for several seconds before saying, “Eight.”
“And do you know how many years have passed since she’s been gone?”
He blinked slowly as his face remained expressionless. “Four winters,” he said, then stuffed his hands in the pockets of his trousers, turned, and started down the corridor again.
So Farley was twelve or possibly thirteen, but small for his age. Probably because he hadn’t had proper food or care. Loretta watched him. He had a shuffle to his feet and a swing to his slight shoulders. He was still young enough for her to help him grow into a fine young man. Already he was nicer than when he’d first come to Mammoth House. She took pleasure in that accomplishment. And there was so much more she could do for him if she was given the time.
The only thing she had to do was find a way to make Farley want to stay and make his home with her. Then she had to get her uncle to grant her wish. That might be the hardest thing to do.
Chapter 18
A gentleman should never press a lady for an answer—no matter what the question is.
APROPERGENTLEMAN’SGUIDETOWOOINGTHEPERFECTLADY
SIRVINCENTTYBALTVALENTINE
He had a plan to be alone with Loretta.
It wasn’t especially clever or inventive, but it had the best chance of working of all the ideas he’d come up with, including his outrageous thought of just waking her in the middle of the night and kidnapping her. He never knew he had such an imagination until he was trying to think of ways to find some time alone with Loretta. None of them were easy, because none of them were proper. According to Society’s rules, there were no acceptable ways for a gentleman to be alone with an innocent young lady.
So he had to invent some possibilities and settle on the one he thought had the best chance of being successful.
He was going to spend a short time in the drawing room, and then excuse himself for the evening. The plan was to go up to the empty room beside Loretta’s bedchamber andwait until he heard her maid leave. He would then go immediately and knock on her door. Hopefully, Loretta would assume it was her maid returning and open it without questioning who was on the other side.
When he’d returned to London after seeing Loretta for the first time, it hadn’t taken him long to decide he no longer had any desire for a woman or a lady who didn’t speak her own mind truthfully to him without fear. Hawk knew he preferred a lady who was constantly challenging him, not agreeing with him.
Like Loretta. The challenge she presented to him each time he saw her was irresistible, invigorating, and consistent.
Somehow, he’d made it through dinner without resorting to some of the awkward tricks of his youth. He hadn’t tried to rub his leg against hers under the table, nor had he placed his wine on the wrong side of his plate hoping to make an accidental brush of her hand as she reached for her glass. But now the evening had gone long and he was ready to be alone with her. He wanted to talk to her with no one else around. The way they had at Mammoth House. He wanted to touch her, feel her in his arms, and taste her lips beneath his.
Hawk had finished his brandy in short order and had hurried Quick along, too. They were now on their way to the drawing room to join the ladies. He was right in his assessment of Quick. The man was perfect for Adele. And she certainly seemed happy with him. Neither of them had stopped smiling or talking since they’d met. Adele had wanted Hawk to find her a husband, and he’d wanted her to avoid the Season and the possible risk of mischief against her. From the way the two of them had taken to each other, he didn’t think he could have found anyone better suited for Adele than Loretta’s brother.
Quick was a natural pleaser, and that’s what Adele was used to. It was what she expected, wanted, and loved. If she was waited on, listened to, and pacified, all was right with her world.
