The girl frowned uncertainly. “A-Are you sure, Your Grace? Will you not need assistance at some point this evening? Or even to prepare for bed –”
“I will carry on as I previously have. At least, for today. You can resume your duties tomorrow morning.”
The girl looked relieved, which reassured Jane she had made the right choice. Adele curtsied gracefully, rising up with a smile.
“Thank you, Your Grace,” she said, leaving moments later.
Jane exhaled deeply, feeling rather tired. After all the effort she had put in to overseeing the affairs of the estate, as well as planning for its redecoration, she was quite exhausted and in need of some rest before dinner.
But she had not seen Reuben since morning and the urge to be with him was still deep within her bones.
With sigh, she made her way to his room, her heart a conflicted tangle of pride and wary when she discovered that she had begun to find her way around the house much more easily than before.
When she arrived at the boy’s room, she found his nanny watching after him while he played with multi-coloured little blocks. Miss Becker spotted her almost instantly, but Jane held a finger to her lips so the woman wouldn’t give her away, and she continued to watch him play.
Now that she knew about the tragedy that had befallen the duke’s family, she felt a deeper sense of urgency to help him grow close to his son. After all, they were all the other had, and it was important that they be a real family. Whatever it would take, Jane was ready and willing to provide.
After a few minutes of observing the child, Jane stepped into the room and asked softly,
“You look like you are having a grand old’ time. Might I join you?”
Reuben looked up at her and smiled, but he did not speak. He held out a few blocks up to her, cradled in the palm of his hands, and she settled on her knees next to him on the carpet, accepting his generous offering.
The boy immediately returned his attention to his creation and she followed his lead, occasionally sneaking glances at him. He looked more and more like Thomas every time she studied his features. He was just as focused with his current task as his father had been the night before as he painted her.
Jane bit down on her lower lip to keep memories from that meeting from surfacing, willing herself to focus on Reuben completely.
“This is rather difficult,” she murmured to him with a grin. “Perhaps I do not have steady fingers like you do. Do you have any advice for me? What can I do to build towers as lovely as yours?”
Reuben stared at her for a moment, then he looked down at what she had made, shuffling closer towards her own haphazard structure. Gently, he took it apart and reassembled it, his moves purposely slow.
“Ah,” Jane nodded in understanding. “The trick is to assemble them carefully and precisely. I will do as you have shown me.”
He beamed and held out more blocks to her, clearly nudging her to try again. Jane accepted them as graciously as she had the first time. She got to work, moving as deliberately as he had shown her, smiling a little when she felt his gaze on her the whole time.
At the end of it, she had a semi decent work to show for all her effort, and his nod of approval was worth it.
They continued to play, with Jane making small talk alongside him, while he remained focused on his own creation, occasionally turning his face to her to nod or shake his head. Reuben’s silence wasn’t something that made her concerned or nervous anymore, even as her hope to hear him speak someday soon remained.
After a while, Jane thought it was time to retire for the rest of the evening, and Reuben as well needed to go to bed.
“Well, little lord, I think it is time we part ways. For today at least. I will have Miss Becker tuck you in now and we can play again tomorrow,” Jane said, rising up to her feet.
She reached out and gently stroked his dark hair, marvelling at the way his soft curls clung to her fingers for a moment, beaming at him softly as his eyes rose up to meet hers.
“Sleep well, my lord. I will see you in the morning,” she whispered, fondly tapping his nose with the tip of her finger.
Jane turned around and started to walk towards the door when she felt a slight tug at her skirts. She looked down to find Reuben’s little fist clutching at the fabric of her dress, looking up her with wide eyes.
Her heart melted at his precious expression and she open her mouth to coo at him, intending to somehow convince him that it was in their best interest to retire for the evening.
Then his lips parted, and he told her, “No.”
Jane felt her heart slip past the confines of her ribs in surprise, hardly believing what her ears had just heard. She’d begun to move towards him but the sound of the door creaking on its hinges caught her attention and she turned to find Thomas standing in the doorway.
The mix of shock and relief was clear to see across his face, and Jane felt entranced to see him look so emotional. It was certainly unlike any expression she had seem him carry so vividly and she could not ignore how vulnerable appeared in that moment.
Jane blinked, willing her mind to come back to the main issue at hand and she faced Reuben properly, unable to keep herself from smiling brightly at him.
