“So… with travel, we’ll only be away for ten weeks or so?”Donald finished, stepping forward to reach out to Nancy.He whispered something in Italian, and she was suddenly shy.
“You have yourself a deal, young man,” Will replied.He paused and asked, “What did you say to her?”
“I told her I was going to be her new brother, but she seems a bit dubious,” he said, feigning offense.
“That’s because you did it all wrong, brother,” David announced, stepping into the nursery from where he had been standing outside in the corridor.The small room was suddenly crowded, but he was soon kneeling in front of Nancy.“Mia donnaNancy, may I have the honor of becoming your big brother?”he asked in Italian.
Nancy giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck.“Sì,” she said, grinning.
David chuckled as he patted her back.“I’ll teach you how to play whist,” he said.“And I promise to fend off all those suitors who are going to be breaking down the doors at Devonville House to court you.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Will warned gently.“She might not be ours to simply… take.”
The words had everyone sobering until Antony reached for Nancy’s hand and announced they were going to play a game of Morra.
“I think that’s our cue to take our leave,” Will said.
Barbara sighed but leaned over and kissed the girl’s cheek as well as Antony’s.“Enjoy your game,” she murmured.
Antony bowed as Nancy curtsied, and the two went into the adjacent room.
Will’s gaze fell on the nurse, who was still watching them from the adjacent doorway.Her eyes were bright with unshed tears, and he realized right away she was frightened for her future.“You will stay on as her nurse, will you not?Come to England with us if we’re allowed to take her?”
After a quick round of translations between the girl and Nicoletta, the nurse nodded enthusiastically.
“She has no family in Roma,” Nicoletta said.“Because like Nancy, she is an orphan,” she added.
“Then let us hope this works out, or I fear my countess will be heartbroken,” he replied, his words loud enough for only Nicoletta to hear.
Still out in the corridor, Vittoria pressed her back to the wall and wiped a tear from the top of one cheek.She had surreptitiously followed the rest of the family up the stairs when she realized something had happened, but until she had overheard David’s query to the young girl, she hadn’t sorted what that might be.
PoorDonnaNancy.Although Vittoria had lost her mother when she wasn’t yet seventeen—and still missed her terribly—she was now old enough to become a mother herself.Nancy was far too young to lose both of her parents.
That David would be the one to put the girl at ease—to ask her if he might be her brother—was so unexpected.So gallant.
I promise to fend off all those suitors who are going to be breaking down the doors at Devonville House to court you.
Had she misjudged him?Assumed the worst because she had been so stubborn when Nicoletta insisted she would like him?Maybe even enough to consider courtship should he wish it?
Tomorrow was another day.The viscount would no doubt show his true colors with her—if he hadn’t already.
