Page 39
“Mama, when will we see Dominic again?”
“Hmm?” Gisela murmured, a length of thread between her lips.
Perched on the wooden stool in her shop, his legs swinging to and fro, Ewan set his chin in his hand. Candlelight played over his features. “Mama, you are not listening to me.”
A weary smile tugged at her mouth. Withdrawing the thread, she set it down along with her bone needle on the almost finished gown on the table. Ewan had been very good all day. She’d closed up her premises a short while ago, which meant she was due to give him some attention—and fetch him some food.
“I do not know when Dominic will visit again,” she said, crossing to Ewan’s side. “He is a busy man.”
“Doing what?”
Looking for thieves, a search that might lead him here to the hidden silks. Ignoring her nagging conscience, she said, “He had tasks to attend in the town.”
“What tasks?” Her son’s curious gaze urged her to blurt out all she knew.
“If Dominic wishes you to know, he will tell you.”
Ewan pouted. “Do you know?”
She could not resist a smile. “Aye.”
The little boy slid down from the stool and set his hands on his hips. “Why did he not tell me? I am a fellow warrior. I would not tell.”
“Of course, you would not.” She winked at him. “You are very good at keeping secrets. I am proud that, as you promised, you have not told anyone my true name. You are indeed a champion of keeping secrets.”
Ewan squirmed. His face reddened. “Well…”
“Well, what?”
“Some secrets.”
“You have not revealed to anyone where we put your special baby blanket. You remember, the one with the embroidered hen and chick on the front.”
His gaze shifted to the other side of the room. “Um…”
“Did you?”
“I showed Ada. She said sometimes she is cold at night. I thought she might like to borrow it.”
“Oh, Button. That was sweet of you.”
His little shoulders thrust back. “I will be a knight one day. ’Tis my duty to be kind to maidens.”
Ada, who had birthed six children and survived two husbands, was far from a “maiden.” Gisela fought to suppress a giggle.
Ewan’s mouth tightened. “I also showed her…”
“Aye?”
“Your necklace.”
Gisela gasped. Shock and anger swirled inside her like a flurry of fallen petals. “Ewan!”
“I was careful, Mama.”
“I asked you not to touch it, Button,” she said, unable to keep the frustration from her voice. How foolish to cherish something as common as a daisy chain necklace… But, she did.
“Mama, I am grown up now. I know how to be careful.”
