He waited, his fingers wrapped loosely around the kitten’s torso, one breath, two…then all at once Hecate let out low, guttural yowl, her body stiffened, and she gave one final, mighty push. “Good girl, Hecate!”
He rocked the small body side to side and watched, fascinated as the remainder of the kitten’s torso gave way to the shoulders, then two little curled pink paws, and finally a head, with tiny ears no bigger than his fingernail pressed flat against her head. “I’ve got her, Helena! She’s out!”
“Oh, my goodness, Adrian, I’ve never seen anything like that before!”
“And I’ve neverfeltanything like it. Well done, Hecate!”
“You’re going to make a wonderful mother, Hecate,” Helena murmured, pressing a kiss on the top of Hecate’s head.
Now that the largest kitten was out—she was indeed a girl, just as he’d predicted—Hecate perked up, and began nosing at the kittens and licking them vigorously. He watched quietly for a time, then leaned down to wipe his hands on the tails of his coat, as it was ruined anyway. When he felt Helena’s eyes on him, he looked up with a smile. “That was not how I imagined this evening would end.”
She laughed. “No. It’s not quite the Sir Roger De Coverley, is it?”
“No. It was far messier, but now it’s over, I can’t think of any better way to usher in Christmas Day, can you?”
She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again with a shake of her head. “There’s something I need to tell you, my lord, and I’ve put it off for far too long—”
“Oh? Is it that your sister is the Countess of Cross? Or is it that you’re one of the infamous matchmaking Templeton sisters that everyone in London is gossiping about?”
She let out a sigh. “I see you’ve met Juliet.”
“Yes.” He gazed at her in the dim light of the stables, studying the curve of her cheekbones, the slight upturn of her nose, the adorably stubborn angle of her chin. How had her face become so inexpressibly dear to him in only a few short weeks? “So many secrets, Helena.”
“I didn’t think you…I never meant to…” She buried her face in her hands. “Oh, dear. I’ve made a dreadful mess of everything, haven’t I?”
“Yes, but no more than I have. It seems neither of us are very good at this.” He caught her wrists and lowered her hands from her face. “Don’t hide from me, Helena. I don’t understand why you didn’t simply tell me, sweetheart.”
She blinked at the endearment, a blush rushing into her cheeks. “At first I didn’t say anything because I thought you’d dismiss me if you knew who I was.”
“Dismiss you? Nonsense. Wherever could you have gotten the idea I’d dismiss you?”
That drew a small smile to her lips. “I can’t imagine. But I wouldn’t have blamed you if you had dismissed me. There aren’t many fathers who want a scandalous governess teaching their sons.”
“They weren’t your scandals, Helena, and even if they had been, it wouldn’t have made any difference. Do you think I don’t know how much you’ve done for Ryan and Etienne? There’s not a father alive who’d dream of letting you go.”
Not amanalive, either.
“I still should have told you the truth at once, but I couldn’t bear the idea of leaving Ryan and Etienne, so I said nothing, and hoped you wouldn’t find out. It was silly of me. Everyone always finds out everything, don’t they?”
“In my experience, yes. But there’s still something you haven’t told me, isn’t there, Helena?” He got to his feet, hopped out of the pen and dropped down into the clean hay beside her, because he needed to be closer to her, to be touching her when he told her he…told her—
“There is, yes. I…this is difficult to say.” She drew in a deep breath, and met his eyes. “I have to leave Hawke’s Run, Adrian. I took the governess position out of financial necessity, but since then two of my sisters have become countesses, and my eldest sister, Euphemia, is lonely with so many of us gone.”
“Helena, I—”
“I want you to know that it’s not my choice to leave.” Her voice broke then, and she dragged an arm across her eyes. “Indeed, I’d much rather stay. I adore the boys, and I’m…very fond of everyone else here, as well.”
“Fond?” He eased closer, and caught her chin between his fingers. “Just fond, Helena?”
She blinked up at him, a few tears caught in her dark lashes. “Well, I’m fond of Abby, and Mrs. Norris, yes.”
“Hmm.” He tipped her chin up, his mouth inching closer to hers. “Anyone else?”
She swallowed. “Hecate, of course, and Hestia and Poseidon.”
“Yes?” He brushed his lips over hers, just the lightest caress, then drew back again so he could see into her eyes. “And Artemis, Apollo, Demeter, and Hephaestus? I assume you’re fond of all of them, as well?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
