Page 13 of Regency Whispers: Scandalous Matches

‘That is a long time,’ Lady Mountjoy murmured. ‘But perhaps we can help. Miss Ashworth is wonderful with children, and she is always complaining that I drag her to too many society events. Perhaps a couple of times a week she could come and spend some time with your nephew.’

Jane looked at Lady Mountjoy, completely stunned. She had anticipated some subtle manoeuvring, gentle suggestions that might place Mr Stewart and her together on a few occasions, but not to be volunteered for a job as part-time nanny to a boy she didn’t know.

‘I could not ask that,’ Mr Stewart said quickly, and Jane would have been offended by the alarm in his eyes if hers had not reflected the same sentiment.

‘Nonsense. Miss Ashworth loves children, and I am sure she would rather that than I line up a parade of suitors for her.’

Jane thought of her relative freedom in the Mountjoy household, the way she was able to take time to write in the afternoons, and her trips across London to visit various publishers in a bid for one of them to read her work. The last thing she wanted was to be under Lady Mountjoy’s constant scrutiny, to be the one on whom the countess focussed her match-making eye.

‘It is such a pleasant afternoon,’ Jane said quickly. ‘Perhaps we could go for a walk, Mr Stewart, and discuss the idea. Your nephew could come too, of course.’

Mr Stewart looked surprised, and after ten seconds hadn’t answered when Lady Mountjoy clapped her hands. ‘What a wonderful idea. I would accompany you, but did I mention my hip is paining me?’

‘It is raining,’ Mr Stewart said.

‘Mere drizzle.’

‘And the wind is whipping up.’

‘A little gust of wind never hurt anyone.’

‘And there is talk of snow.’

‘I am sure your nephew would be delighted to see snow.’

‘Fine,’ Mr Stewart said. ‘As you are so enthused. Shall I see Miss Ashworth home after?’

‘That is most kind of you, Mr Stewart,’ Lady Mountjoy said. ‘Perhaps you have a maid who could act as chaperon?’

Twenty minutes later they stepped through the gates of Hyde Park, their heads bowed against the wind.

‘Is it always so cold here?’ Edward asked, his voice quiet as it was whipped away by the wind.

‘Not always, and certainly not normally in March,’ Jane said, trying to inject a note of cheerfulness into her voice. ‘I expect you are used to much warmer weather in Italy.’

He nodded and shivered. Jane crouched down in front of him and adjusted the boy’s coat. It was thin, not made for an English winter, and already looked to be getting too small for him. To combat this, he had two scarves wrapped around his neck and a pair of over-sized gloves on his hands that kept slipping off. Pulled down over his ears was a warm woolly hat, also a few sizes too big.

‘Mama said England was beautiful.’ He screwed up his nose and looked at the bare trees and muddy grass. ‘It doesn’t look beautiful.’

‘Not now,’ Jane said, squeezing his hand. ‘But just wait until it is covered in a thick layer of snow, everything white and fresh. Then it will look beautiful.’

‘Will we have snow? Really?’ His face lit up.

‘Yes, without a doubt. If not this year then certainly next winter. And you will be able to throw snowballs and go ice-skating, and perhaps even go sledging.’

‘I will be the best at throwing snowballs,’ Edward said, becoming animated. ‘I always play catch with Roberto and Michel.’ Suddenly his face dropped.

‘It is hard leaving people behind, isn’t it?’

He nodded and Jane felt her heart squeeze for the little boy. Children were resilient. He would settle in his new home, and in a few years there would be no outward signs of missing what he’d once had, just an inner longing, a feeling of not being quite complete.

‘Lady Mountjoy was right—you are good with children,’ Edward said as Jane straightened up to continue their walk.

‘It is not hard. You merely talk to them as another human. So many people think they do not understand enough to hold a conversation, but they are wrong. Children see everything and hear everything, even if they might sometimes need help interpreting what they have taken in.’

Mr Stewart was silent for a few minutes, his eyes locked on his nephew as they strolled through the park.

‘I had an ulterior motive for agreeing with Lady Mountjoy that we should take a walk together,’ Jane said as they rounded a corner and came out into a wide-open grassy area. There was no one else about so she could be sure they wouldn’t be overheard.