The stammer sharpened with surprise, and Emmeline felt the instinctive ache in her chest.
She softened her voice and let the door close gently behind her. “Good morning, Aaron.”
His gaze flicked past her, as if checking whether someone else had entered too. “G-good morning.”
“I hope I’m not intruding.”
He looked down at the book, then at the horse, then back at her. “N-no.”
“May I sit?”
He hesitated for only a moment before nodding.
Emmeline crossed to the chair opposite his and sat, arranging her skirts with deliberate care so he had time to grow used to her presence. She felt, strangely, more nervous with him than she had with half the household staff, because servants would obey a duchess whether they liked her or not.
Aaron’s trust had to come willingly. And trust, she was beginning to understand, was the rarer thing in this house.
“What are you reading?” she asked.
Aaron glanced at the page. “A b-book.”
The solemnity of the answer tugged a smile from her. “I’d gathered as much.”
A tiny smile appeared on his mouth, uncertain but real.
He looked back at the page. “It is about a ship.”
“A ship?”
“A ship and a s-storm,” he said, then paused, his brows pinching as the word caught. “And p-p-pirates.”
Emmeline leaned forward. “Pirates. That sounds dangerous.”
“It is,” he said, and his voice brightened before fear could stop it. “But the c-captain is brave. He has a sword.”
“Does he use it well?”
Aaron nodded quickly. “Very well.”
“And would your horse approve of pirates?”
The boy looked at the wooden horse, then back at her. “He would not l-like the sea.”
“No?”
“Horses c-cannot s-sail.”
Emmeline pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. “No, I suppose they cannot.”
Aaron smiled again, larger this time, and something inside her eased. She had done nothing grand or clever. She had simply asked him questions that did not demand performance. And each time she did, his words came a little more easily.
“He is brave,” Aaron said softly, fingers tightening around the horse. “He does not fear anything.”
Emmeline felt the softness lodge in her chest. “That must be useful. I think every household needs someone fearless.”
Aaron ran his thumb along the horse’s carved mane. “Father says fear does not h-help.”
Emmeline stilled, just slightly. “Does he?”
