Page 117 of The Belle of Belgrave Square

“I nearly drowned. And then, after swallowing most of the lake, I managed to save myself.” A rueful smile quirked his mouth. “Sorry. That’s rather a poor tale to start your first day in the water.”

That wasn’t the reason she was frowning at him. “I thought you didn’t want to talk about your past.”

“I don’t.” His brows notched. “That is, I ought not. But sometimes, when we’re together . . . I have the urge to tell you things I shouldn’t.”

“Why shouldn’t you if you want to? No harm can come from confiding our secrets to each other.”

His smile broadened. “Do you have secrets, sweetheart?”

“Some,” she replied, on her dignity. “Every lady does. Though not as many as you have, I’d wager.”

“Not all my secrets are mine to tell.” At that, he shouted to Daisy, “Don’t go into the water in your boots!”

“I’m not!” Daisy stepped away from the water’s edge. “They’re only a little wet.”

“Come and change,” Jasper said. “Show your stepmama there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Daisy ran back to them. “Are you afraid?”

“Not so long as I have you and your papa nearby,” Julia said.

“There’s nothing at all to be afraid of here,” Jasper said. “The pond is quite safe.”

“I saw a snake in there once.” Daisy expanded her arms. “He was this big.”

Julia blanched. “There aren’t snakes in the water, are there?”

“There are not.” Jasper gave Daisy a stern look. “No more tall tales.”

“But I did see one,” Daisy insisted as Jasper helped her out of her pinafore and dress. She rested a hand on his shoulder as he crouched to remove her tiny boots. “And a frog, and a lizard. And once a great big crocodile.”

“A crocodile? In North Yorkshire?” Julia’s brows lifted. “My goodness. I wonder how he made it here all the way from the Egyptian Nile?”

“By steamer ship, of course,” Jasper said. “Then by rail.”

“By rail!” Daisy echoed gleefully.

Julia’s mouth tugged into a smile. The little girl’s laughter was contagious.

If that wasn’t enough to warm her heart, there was the way Jasper interacted with his daughter. He was steady and patient. Stern at times, but ultimately kind. The same way he was with all his children. A man they could rely on.

A good man.

Julia had daily evidence of that fact. She never failed to notice it.

Jasper stood. “All right,” he said, gazing down at Daisy. “No more foolery. Swimming is a serious business. You know the rules. Stay close to your brothers and venture no further than the blackened oak. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Papa.”

He pivoted her small body toward the pond. “Go on.”

She burst into a run the second he released her, leaping into the water with as much exuberance as the boys had. They greeted her as she paddled out to them, splashing and cheering her in equal measure.

Jasper raised his voice. “Charlie, Alfred, look after your sister!”

The boys answered in unison: “Yes, sir!”

Julia observed the interaction as she unfastened the hidden hooks at the front o f her bodice.