Page 18 of A Deal for the Duke’s Virgin

Tightening her jaw, Thalia shouldered open the old wooden kitchen door, the one that swelled and stuck in the summer and shrank in the cold weather, letting in drafts. She stepped out into the sunshiny courtyard, where a flock of children of all ages ran and scrambled around, talking and laughing.

Hopscotch squares were roughly chalked across the uneven paving stones. A pair of raggedy jumping ropes had been commandeered by a group of girls. In the corner, a wide old tree grew, its branches perfect for climbing.

In fact, there was a trio of children around the tree at that moment. Two of them perched in the upper branches: a lanky blond boy of about nine by the name of Nicholas, and a feisty seven-year-old girl named Sophia. She had only recently been brought to the orphanage, her parents having been wiped out by a fever. Thalia didn’t know Nicholas’s story or that of the other boy sitting at the base of the tree.

He was the one who looked up first, tearing his gaze away from his book. He broke into a grin when he saw her, waving madly.

“Lady Thalia!” he cried delightedly, carefully marking his place before scrambling over to her.

The other two, up in the tree, perked up at her name and began clambering down.

“Careful, you two!” Thalia cried, pointing at them. “Don’t you dare fall!”

The little boy reached her first. At ten years old, Alex was the oldest of the three, but he had always been the quietest. He stood a little way off, beaming at her.

The other children in the courtyard spotted her and loped over, all speaking over each other.

“Lady Thalia, I began to read that book you lent me and…”

“… new marble! Here, look at it!”

“Matron says that I might have a job in the kitchen one day. She…”

“… jumping rope! Please do join us, Lady Thalia.”

“Settle down, all of you,” Thalia laughed, pausing to pat a cheek and ruffle a mop of untidy hair here and there. “Now, I believe you’ll be going inside soon to resume your lessons. Surely, you don’t want to waste all your play time with me, eh? Here are some peppermints. Take one each, and off you go. One, mind!”

She dug into her reticule and pulled out a paper bag of peppermint sticks broken up into neat, inch-long pieces. It was a little cheaper than buying whole peppermint sticks or something more expensive like toffee. Her allowance was running low this month. She had been unfriendly to Mr. Pembroke one too many times, and Jonathan saw fit to garnish her allowance.

The children cheered, crowding around her and the paper bag. They took one each, beaming at her, and gradually dispersed. After a few moments, only Alex, Nicholas, and Sophia remained with her.

“Aren’t you having a piece, Lady Thalia?” Sophia asked.

Thalia winced. “You never miss a thing, do you, my dear? I don’t want a peppermint today.”

Sophia’s eyes grew round. “You don’t want one? Why not?”

Thalia nibbled on her lower lip, trying to think of how she might explain herself to a child.

“I’m not feeling myself today,” she said.

That seemed the simplest way to refer to the looming worries of Jonathan, Mr. Pembroke, and the Duke’s strange invitation.

And, of course, the one-month deadline.

Nicholas frowned. “Are you sick?”

“No, not sick. Anxious, perhaps.”

The three children glanced at each other.

“I shall give you a hug!” Sophia exclaimed, shoving her peppermint into her mouth and rushing forward. She wrapped small arms around Thalia’s waist, hugging her determinedly. “A hug always makes me feel better.”

Nicholas, who copied just about everything Sophia did, followed suit at once.

Alex did not hug often, but he inched closer until his shoulder leaned against Thalia’s side and beamed up at her. She smiled fondly at him, ruffling his hair.

“Do you feel better yet?” Sophia asked, voice muffled.