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“She is quite a determined little girl.” He returned to the table in the corner and poured her a glass of sherry.
“She has an excellent verbal aptitude for a three-year-old, Harry.”
Of course, she did. She only spoke with adults. Another reason Louisa would tell him to take Charlotte to London. He pushed away the guilt, rationalizing that remaining here kept her safe from the prying eyes of the ton. “Yes, but she is nearly four. Still, Nurse says she is very advanced. She is already learning her letters and numbers.”
“I’m not surprised, given her father,” Louisa said with a smile.
“Nurse says Charlotte will be reading in no time.”
“Is there time for this?” she asked, taking the glass of sherry from his outstretched hand.
“Yes.”
“It looked as if you were enjoying yourself outside today.”
He returned to sipping his brandy, feeling a bit abashed for not inviting her to join them. “Yes.”
“It’s been a long time since I was out in the snow like that.” She gave him a wistful smile. “Almost six years ago.”
“The frost fair,” they said together.
Harry turned away from her as memories flooded him of that day. He’d come upon her and her sister, Emma on the ice, skating. Emma took a tumble and hurt her ankle, so he carried her home.
Louisa commented as if recalling the same event, “Emma called you her hero.”
All he’d wanted to be that day was Louisa’s hero. Not that it mattered any longer. He had his responsibilities. And the guilt his father left him.
Chapter 5
THE SOUND OF CHARLOTTE’S giggles filled the vast snowy field like music. Another few inches had fallen overnight, blanketing the area with white. Louisa couldn’t help but giggle too as Harry attempted to roll a snowball to form the base for a snowman. The ball was now half as tall as Harry. She trudged through the snow to where he and Charlotte played.
“Do you need some assistance?”
“Miss Drake!” Charlotte shrieked and then raced over to her. “Yay!”
Louisa glanced over and noticed the way Harry only gave her a brief nod.
“Charlotte, come back and help me roll this middle section,” he said, ignoring Louisa.
Charlotte clasped her hand with Louisa’s and pulled her toward Harry. Charlotte’s giggles lightened her mood slightly. After last night’s stilted conversation at supper and then over chess, Louisa assumed today wouldn’t be much better. And so far, it hadn’t been.
But his daughter’s laughter was contagious. When she was near the stiffness disappeared, and Harry seemed like his former self.
“You will never get a middle and head on him,” Louisa said to him.
“I will. Find some sticks for the arms and something for eyes and a mouth.” Harry stopped with the bottom section and then started rolling more snow for the middle section. Charlotte found two sticks for arms while Louisa looked around for something to use as eyes.
“We need to find some small round stones for the eyes,” she said to Charlotte. “Or maybe some pieces of coal.”
“There’re stones near the pond!”
Before Louisa could stop her, Charlotte ran off toward the large pond in front of the home. Louisa chased after the youngster to ensure her safety. “Charlotte, do be careful. We might not find the stones because of the snow.”
“Yes, Miss Drake,” Charlotte called out. She stopped by the edge of the pond, which had a thin film of ice over the surface.
“Do not go near that water,” Louisa commanded.
“But there are two stones right there,” Charlotte replied, pointing at the water. “I can reach them.”
