Page 39 of A Mother for the Blind Duke’s Orphans

“But you know what to do,” she said crossly.

“Yes, but I have had practice.” Poppy tucked a loose fold of skirt beneath her. “There is a difference between being unkind and being solemn. An unkind person wishes to hurt you. A solemn person is a kind person who may have simply forgotten how not to look scary on the outside.”

Aurora’s mouth twitched, and Poppy counted the twitch as a victory.

“He makes me n…nervous,” Aurora whispered.

“I know, he makes me nervous too,” she whispered back.

“If I am nervous, I—” she stopped. Her small fingers twisted together. “You know.”

Aurora looked up quickly. Even in the poor light, Poppy sensed the fear in the movement. “You must promise not to tell him.”

Poppy went still. His Grace had noticed the stutter immediately, but Aurora was staring at her as if the answer could alter the shape of the world.

“I will not betray your confidence,” she said.

“But he might not like broken talking.”

“Your talking is not broken, Aurora.” Poppy reached for her and held her hand.

Aurora looked doubtful. “Uncle Hector might think it is.”

“Then Uncle Hector would have to answer to me.”

That seemed to impress her.

Poppy softened her voice. “You need not be ashamed. When you are nervous, your words take longer to arrive. That is all. We shall wait for them.”

Aurora’s eyes lowered again. “Will you always be here?”

“As long as you need me.”

“That will be forever.”

“Then forever it shall be.” Poppy brushed her thumb over the girl’s knuckles. “We are family now, Aurora.”

“Are you my mother now?” Aurora looked up with a troubled expression.

Poppy felt the hesitation but did not press. The word mother had hovered over her, and Aurora had lost too much to be grateful on command for a replacement, no matter how lovingly offered.

“You do not have to call me anything you are not ready to call me,” Poppy said honestly and gently. “I can simply be Poppy.”

The child’s relief was immediate, though she tried to hide it. “I like Poppy.”

“So do I.”

Aurora giggled, a small sound quickly covered by both hands when the closet door suddenly opened, and someone yelled.

“I found them, Your Grace!”

Poppy had no time to compose herself before His Grace appeared behind the maid. He filled the doorway without stepping fully into it. His pale gray eyes were directed toward the closet, and he frowned.

Poppy looked up at him and said, “Your Grace, you really must feel the muscles in your forehead one day. They are achieving what most men require a stable master and two grooms to accomplish.”

The maid made a strangled sound, and the duke’s frown deepened.

Aurora shrank against Poppy. “I d-did not mean to be b-bad.”