In a nearby magnolia tree, among clusters of pink blossoms, a pair of blue eyes implored not to be given away. Theodore grinned.Sorry, chap, but I can’t let you worry Mrs. S. aftershe’s taken us in with such kindness.“At ease, ladies. He’s over here.”
Removing Phileas from the low-hanging branch, Theodore returned the kit to the wicker basket. Fred, who’d appointed himself surrogate father, gave Phileas a gentle nip of chastisement while brother Todd and sister Honorine welcomed their sibling with enthusiastic sniffing. The kits’ fur was beginning to molt from brown into a reddish hue, and their snouts were more pointed. At the rate they were growing, he’d soon need a better way of toting them around.
Theodore scratched Phileas’ ears, now doubled in size. “We’re going to have to keep a sharp eye on this one, Mrs. S. He seems to have inherited your talent for tree climbing.”
“Come along, you two.” Miss Stanton smiled over her shoulder. “If we don’t dally, we might have time for another round of Clever Cumulus. Who knows, perhaps Mr. Theodore can finally manage to win a match.” Her dark brow arched, taunting and tantalizing, then she was off, sauntering around the rim of the lake with an alluring sway of her bell-shaped skirt.
The match he longed to win might as well be in the clouds, so far was it from reach.
As they walked to the next quadrant of the lake, Theodore leaned heavily on his crutch and allowed Mrs. S. to form a human barrier between him and her daughter. He wouldn’t take any chances with Miss Stanton’s honor. Not after that near disaster three days ago.“If Itold you my surname, I should want you to keep it too.”What kind of addlebrained rot was that?
The besotted kind, that’s what.
Rusted cogs, he’d gone and gotten besotted!
With a swing of his metal boot, Theodore kicked a twig into the lake. Just because Miss Stanton had finally accepted him as Drosselmeyer’s apprentice, just because she’d finally come to trust him with her family, didn’t give him the right to hope for more.
Beneath a classical gazebo with white columns, the ladies set up camp. Miss Stanton unfurled the blanket upon the base of marble. “Isn’t it a beautiful prospect?”
Following her line of sight, Theodore took in Orangerie Park anew. Here, a fount concealed within the lake created a water willow as it rained back to earth. A variety of trees clustered about the shoreline, many crowned with a prized stork nest. Like guardians, the stately birds watched over the park, reporting to one another in their bill-clattering code.
“Beautiful, yes.” Mrs. S. lowered in a billow of bright fabric and set the basket of furry ones at her side. “And quite romantic too, with the scent of orange and magnolia blossoms drifting on the breeze and the stork’s portent of fertility blessing young lovers below.” She cast an oblique glance at her daughter before lobbing a wink at Theodore.
Which somehow set his beard afire.
Tugging at his sweltering collar, Theodore turned his facetoward the sky. “Let’s play another round of Clever Cumulus. I’ll start. Erm ... that cloud looks like a flea-bitten rat. Your turn, Miss Stanton.”
Forty minutes later, Mrs. S. claimed another win at the game of her making with a cloud in the shape of a platypus—whatever that was—and Drosselmeyer’s watch began to chime. Theodore stood with the aid of his crutch as a faint trumpet resounded from the lake. He released a sigh of relief. Finally!
Miss Stanton rushed to the edge of the gazebo. “I see the cygnet! It’s swimming this way. Come, Mr. Theodore, let’s fetch it from the lake.”
“Oh-ho-ho, no. I’m not getting any closer to that water than I have to. Here.” Unfastening the fob from his waistcoat, he placed the timepiece in Miss Stanton’s gloved palm. “This will be sufficient assistance. You don’t need me.”
A teasing smile lifted the corner of Miss Stanton’s rosy lips. “If you’re afraid, Mr. Theodore, all you had to do was say so. It’s quite understandable. After all, swans are most fearsome creatures.” Twirling about in a manner most dizzying, she raced toward the water.
Suddenly self-conscious of the patch sewn on the back of his trousers, Theodore’s smoldering cheeks relit the kindling of his beard. Perhaps another dip in the lake would be wise.
Mrs. S. appeared in his peripheral. “I’d like to thank you, lad.”
“For what?”
“For making my ducky laugh again.” Mrs. Stanton turned a smile on him, warm and reassuring. “You’ve done her good, lad, and I’m grateful. The day God led you to Drosselmeyer and Son was a blessed one. We’re glad as a gaggle of geese to have you in the family. In whatever capacity you choose.”
Did he even have a beard anymore? With his face engulfed in roaring flames, any whiskers that remained mustbe composed of ash and soot. Theodore tightened his grip on his crutch and leaned against a nearby column, welcoming the marble’s coolness.Keep a level head, man.He had to be strong. Put Miss Stanton’s welfare above his own feelings.
“Please ... don’t tempt me, Mrs. S. I’ve nothing to offer your daughter but myself, and that’s simply not good enough. You need to cease this matchmaking scheme.”
“She told me everything, you know. About the other day. About you.”
Not surprising. He dug a nail into the groove of a name carved on his crutch. “So you understand, then?”
“I understand that Clara talks about you more often and more fondly than she realizes. I understand that you make her smile and have reacquainted her with the joys of life, which she had long forgotten. I understand that you take care of my girl, Theodore. You love her, and she loves you right back. Though you’re both too afraid to admit as much.”
Theodore tried to swallow her words but couldn’t. “She deserves better than the likes of me.”
“Don’t confuse the character of your heavenly Father with the voice of your earthly one.” Mrs. S. placed a hand on his rigid shoulder. “Depend on Him, and I have no doubt that my girl will be able to depend on you.”
Theodore turned the crutch in his hand. Might that be true? Might God be willing to welcome him home? Free him from a life of nightmares and anguish? Give him a life of peace?
