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‘They won’t,’ Belinda chimed in eagerly. ‘I don’t know anyone.’
‘Anyone?’
‘Hardly anyone.’
‘There you go.’ Nancy folded her arms with a look of satisfaction. ‘Problem solved.’
‘Can I really have a job?’ Belinda’s expression was pleading.
Henrietta opened her mouth, closed it again, considered and then gave an exasperated laugh. ‘Oh, very well, the more the merrier. Welcome to Belles.’
Chapter Twelve
‘And that’s how Nelson escaped the polar bear!’ Sebastian concluded his story with a bow in the middle of the street.
‘That can’t be true.’ Michael turned to Henrietta for support. ‘He just made that story up, didn’t he?’
‘Upon my honour as a sailor, it’s all true.’ He put a hand on his heart. ‘Or at least that’s what I’ve heard.’
‘So his musket misfired and he fought it with the other end like a club?’
‘Exactly! I’m not saying it was one of his better ideas, but he was only fourteen so we ought to make allowances.’
‘It seems very convenient that the ice broke up and he was able to escape.’ Henrietta looked somewhat sceptical, too. ‘Are you certain Nelson didn’t make that story up himself?’
‘Embellished, maybe. Who knows, but he was certainly brave enough for it. Ask anyone who served with him at the Battle of the Nile. Or Copenhagen. Or Trafalgar. He was wounded in combat three times.’
‘Did he really lose an eye?’ Michael’s expression turned slightly bloodthirsty.
‘No, just the sight in it, but he did lose most of one arm. That’s enough, don’t you think?’
‘I want to be just like him,’ Peter announced, somewhat incongruously. ‘But I have to hurry. He was a captain before he was twenty-one.’
‘You have ten years.’ Henrietta laughed. ‘That sounds like plenty of time to me.’
‘But we’ll accelerate your training anyway. This afternoon’s subject: map-reading!’ Sebastian winked and then grinned at the boy’s happy expression. A week and a day into his new routine, he was surprised to discover that despite his friend status, he was actually enjoying himself. Being a nursemaid wasn’t a career he’d ever contemplated before, but it felt good to be doing something useful again.
In the mornings he picked up the boys from Belles, escorted them across the city to school, then collected them again for excursions in the afternoons, usually accompanied by Henrietta. In his spare time, he visited old acquaintances, helped James in his store and continued to make enquiries about David, so far without any success. Although he hadn’t yet told Henrietta, it seemed increasingly likely that her brother had left Bath altogether.
‘Will you teach us to row?’ Peter asked as they approached the school yard.
‘Yes, as soon as you’ve learned how to swim. Unfortunately, November’s a little cold for that.’
‘Then will you teach us in the spring?’
‘Mr Fortini has other places he needs to visit.’ Henrietta leaned forward. She’d joined them that morning to do some shopping and was walking on Sebastian’s other side with Oliver holding on to each of their hands and swinging between.
‘But he said he’d stay as long as you needed him!’
‘He did?’
‘I did,’ Sebastian confirmed, trying to sound casual despite her obvious surprise.
‘Oh...well...here we are.’ She gestured towards the front door of the school. ‘Have a good morning.’
‘Yes, Aunt.’
‘Goodbye!’
