Page 58 of The Beastly Earl

“Yes, Wills?”

“May I ask a question, my lord?” Ewan hesitated for a moment, before swiveling in his chair to face the boy.

"What do you wish to ask me."

“I heard my Uncle Sebastian say you served with the Black Watch.”

“Yes.”

“Is that how you lost your arm?” The boy’s blunt question took Ewan aback for a moment before he smiled slightly. Where Charlie had his mother’s courage to stand up to someone, Wills had her blunt manner.

“Yes. I lost it at the Battle of Omdurman in the Sudan.”

“May I see it, my lord?”

Ewan jerked at the question as the boy met his gaze steadily. Uncertain as to why he was even considering to agree to the boy’s request, he studied the black glove covering the metal, skeleton fingers. Ever since Louisa had acquired the habit of storming his study, he’d worn the glove simply to avoid her pity. Last night had reinforced how indifferent she was to his lack of a limb.

Ewan's heart twisted violently in his chest at the memory of the pleasure and peace he'd found in her arms. He studied the child for a long moment. Wills and his avid curiosity would be gone from Argaty Keep by tomorrow. There was little harm in giving way to the child's inquisitive nature. With a decisive nod, Ewan slowly pulled the glove off his artificial hand. Wills stepped forward and peered closely at the metal fingers.

“How do they work?”

Enthralled, the boy reached out and gently touched Ewan's steel hand. Like his mother, the lad accepted Ewan's amputation as something perfectly natural. Knowing it was unlikely he would ever see the child again, he decided to satisfy the boy’s curiosity.

Ewan slipped his good arm out of his jacket then slowly pulled his artificial limb free as well. Wills took the coat in a solicitous manner, and laid it on the chair close to the desk as Ewan removed his shirt as well so his artificial arm was fully exposed.

Wills laid the shirt with the jacket then hurried back to examine the fully exposed infernal device attached to the stub of what remained of Ewan's arm. The boy's look of fascination reflected a curiosity and studious contemplation that surprised him. There was a thoroughness about Wills's examination of the artificial limb that encouraged Ewan `to indulge the child's inquisitive nature. With a small movement of his shoulder muscle, Ewan made the metal fingers close. A gasp of excitement escaped the child.

“How did you do that?”

“When I flex my shoulder muscle, it makes the fingers move.”

“Where? Here?” Wills quickly circled Evan’s chair and moved out of visual range. A small finger pressed into his shoulder, and Ewan jumped slightly. “I’m terribly sorry, my lord.”

“No apology. I was surprised nothing more.” Ewan shook his head as he turned his head to look at the boy. The rapt amazement on the boy's face made him smile slightly. “Watch.”

Ewan flexed a different muscle in his shoulder and made the fingers relaxed. Wills made another sound of delighted astonishment. A second later, the boy’s small hand lightly traced the narrow leather strap down to where it connected with another strap designed to control the fingers.

“I want to be a doctor,” Wills said quietly as he studied the artificial limb raptly. “Charlie wants to be a scientist, but Mama says he can’t. He has respon…respon—”

“Responsibilities?”

“Yes, that’s it. Responsibilities,” Wills said with a bob of his head as he continued to examine Ewan's artificial arm. “Mama says now that Papa is gone, Charlie can’t be a scientist because he has responsibilities as Viscount Westbrook.”

For a moment, Ewan wasn’t sure he’d heard the child correctly. Stunned, he froze in his chair and stared down at the top of the boy’s head. As Wills continued his intense study of the prosthesis, Ewan took in the information Louisa's son had innocently revealed.

Louisa was a viscountess, not a poor widow in desperate need of a position. Why the devil had she lied to him? He frowned slightly as he was forced to admit that she'd not lied to him outright, but she'd not clarified her status as a noblewoman. Anger whipped through him with lightning speed at the thought.

Twice in one day he'd learned of a woman's deceit. Jaw clenched, he deliberately flexed his shoulder muscle to keep the child enthralled while he sought to learn more about Louisa, her social standing, and her family.

“And your Uncle Sebastian, is he a viscount too?”

“Oh no, he’s the Earl of Melton. But he's not reckless like the rest of my aunts and uncle Percy. It's why they're called the Reckless Rockwoods.” Still examining the artificial apparatus, Wills didn’t look up at him as he continued to share more about his family. “Everyone says Mama is the most reckless, but I don't think that's true. Mama says Aunt Constance is worse. Great-aunt Matilda isn’t a Rockwood though. She’s a Stewart. She lives at Callendar Abbey. Mama was on her way there when her wagon wheel broke.”

Now stiff with outrage, Ewan gritted his teeth as he allowed the boy to continue examining the metal and leather device that loosely served as his arm and hand. A knock on the door made him turn his head as he ordered the visitor to enter. The instant Louisa stepped into his study, a bolt of lightning zigzagged through him at the sight of her.

Wills's preoccupation with the metal device enabled Ewan to focus his attention on Louisa. Her mouth had formed the shape of an ‘O’ as her gaze locked with his before it dropped downward to his bare chest. A look of desire crossed her face as she lifted her gaze to look at him again.

The moment their eyes met, she blushed slightly and her mouth curved in a warm smile. It disarmed him completely as his anger was pushed aside, and he allowed himself to bask in her smile if only for a few more precious moments before he did what needed to be done. Did she have any idea how beautiful she was or how much happiness she'd brought into his life and heart.