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“Perhaps ‘amen,’ ” Ella said, trying to sound interested. She gave him back the scrap of paper and peered at Josephina again. “Normally she would have leapt on the hazelnut immediately.”

“I expect she’ll eat it once we are on the other side of the room. She’s protecting her babies. Ella, have you ever seen a will?”

Ella made an incredulous sound in the back of her throat. “You must be joking!”

“This looks like the opening of a will. See how the top edge is smooth, and then the writing begins just to the left?”

“Josephina chewed up my father’s will?”

“I think so.”

She let out a choked giggle. “Luckily, it doesn’t matter, does it? After all, my uncle gambled away this house, and I’m afraid the Northern estate has fallen to ruin.”

“I think Josephina chewed off pieces around the side and top,” Fiennes said. “I don’t see any parchment covered with writing.”

“Are you saying that we might still find the will?” Ella’s voice was thick, even to her own ears.

“Perhaps.” He tentatively reached out a finger. Josephina didn’t flinch as he rubbed the top of her head in the way she liked. “Perhaps not. Maybe she ate it up, in some odd squirrel mating ritual. Would you feel terrible if this house turns out to have been yours all along, but your uncle had gambled it away before you had possession? We might be able to buy it from Clod Tyrwhitt.”

“I don’t want you to pay for my father’s house,” Ella said.

Fiennes moved to sit on the floor, lifting her onto his lap. “Please notice that I am pulling your skirts closed rather than running my hand up your leg,” he whispered in her ear.

Ella leaned her head against his chest. “I don’t feel terrible,” she said, a little surprised. “I do love the house, and my parents were happy here, but I’d rather forget the last few weeks.”

Fiennes held up the scrap of paper. “You said your father wrote out the will himself?”

She nodded.

He gave her the scrap and closed her fingers around it. “Your uncle was talking shite when he said that your father didn’t plan for your future. Josephina has given you proof.”

Ella swallowed hard and rubbed her cheek against him. “My father would have loved you.”

Together they watched as the new mother checked all her babies, giving each one a motherly lick before curling up with them again.

“Do you want children?” Fiennes asked.

Ella’s heart beat faster. Children, like love, was something she’d never allowed herself to imagine. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I do.”

His arms tightened. “I never felt any particular desire for them, to be honest. I knew I had to have an heir.”

“I suppose …” Ella began uncertainly.

“I want your children,” Fiennes said hoarsely. He buried his face in her curls. “God help me, Ella, I want as many babies of yours as there are squirrels in that nest.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

DISCOVERIES, OF MORE THAN ONE KIND

Since her uncle was not home, and her aunt had remained in her chamber, Ella and Fiennes dined alone in the small dining room.

As Jarvis was preparing the sweet course, Ella eyed Fiennes. He had to go home. It was ridiculous to think that she needed protection, sweet though his impulse was.

But when she brought it up, Fiennes flatly refused.

Ella raised an eyebrow. “Presumably you wish to bathe and change clothing before we marry?”

“A salient point,” Fiennes said thoughtfully.