With a half step back, he bowed in place. “Mrs. Wilky. You’re a queen, a queen that should be honored and admired. What is it that you want?”
I looked into his eyes, eyes that could almost be Adam’s. “A friend, not a suitor, no lusty anything. I need a friend.”
His gaze was intense. His mouth pressed to a line, then a grin, then a brilliant smile. Who knew bears could smile like that?
“Then you shall have a friend, Mrs. Wilky.”
The baron retreated and sat on my father’s desk.
I didn’t believe him. I saidnoand a man listened? I crossed my arms. “It’s that simple? I ask one thing and you behave?”
“Yes, Mrs. Wilky. It’s that simple.”
I adjusted my spectacles and studied this unpredictable man, bear fur and all. “I should go get your cape. I have it upstairs.”
“Keep it for now. Show me this house, instead. It’s an unexpected jewel.”
“Yes, people in Mayfair don’t think people like us can have such nice residences.”
“Well, this isn’t Mayfair. It’s not even Cheapside, but it’s quite nice.”
I felt my brow creasing, not sure if this was condescension of a peer or the poor expectation that some Blackamoors lived this well. “My parents worked very hard.”
Wycliff moved to Papa’s other bookcase, poking about. “A few books by Shakespeare. You should have a few more classics. The old poets. Homer is a treasure.”
He turned around. High collar, crisply pressed cravat, indigo waistcoat with gold threading on the buttonholes with an ebony tailcoat to finish his polished look. Very nice, very formal.
I looked at him inspecting the bookcase, and I decided he was handsome, despite the bruises, despite the fur. A closer glance and I saw what I didn’t want to. Wycliff could be Adam’s twin. “Adam should have told me he had a cousin that looked so much like him.”
“Do we favor? Lucky me. Do you mind my looking so much like your husband, handsome and strong?”
My mouth might’ve dropped open. If I didn’t need the baron to convince everyone of Adam’s existence, I’d have sent him away. It wasn’t good having a reminder of the joy I’d once possessed.
“Mrs. Wilky, from what I’ve seen, this is quite grand. The pond with the birdbath has my interest.”
To know of Mama’s pond, he must’ve been here for a while. “How long have you been at Nineteen Fournier?”
“Longer than a few minutes. Long enough to watch your barrister leave and hear women make snide remarks. Maybe too long.”
A little stunned at his honesty, I rubbed my temples. “Sounds long enough to me.”
“I’ve waited patiently for a moment of your time, but if my enthusiasm and admiration make you upset, I’ll leave right now. You have power over me, Mrs. Wilky. What will you do with me?”
I should have told him to leave, to allow me a moment to regain my composure, but something inside was too afraid I’d never see him again, the one person in the world who believed me. “Don’t go.”
He came to me. I watched his swagger with his silent steps. He held out his arm. “Show me this world of yours, Mrs. Wilky. Your friend wants to meet your parents and see where you live.”
His thick arm, well-muscled, pinned my arm to his side. We fell in step, a perfect rhythm, with him guiding me until we reached the doorway to the garden.
I couldn’t go out there again. I’d had enough the last time.
“Take off your glasses, Mrs. Wilky. Maybe people won’t upset you if you don’t see them.”
“That would mean trusting you completely. I don’t know about that.”
“Trust me, Mrs. Wilky. I’m a good fellow. I’m your friend. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Slipping my spectacles from my ears, I handed them to him.
