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Despite herself, Felicity laughed. Oh, she didn’t even care to admonish his speech or tell him proper young boys didn’t talk like that in front of women. He was Luke and this was who he was. “Coming from you, that is a high compliment indeed.” At least the gaiety chased some of the melancholy from her person. “In any event, you never answered my question. Why are you out of bed?”
“I wanted to see you.”
“Oh?”
A shrug lifted his slight shoulders. “The captain said you would resemble a duchess tonight and that he was anxious to see if you’d look as if you came straight out of his dreams.” When she gasped in surprise with too many questions sitting on the tip of her tongue, the boy continued. “But I wanted to see you ‘cause I have a secret to tell you.”
She cleared her throat. Confusion clouded her head, for the past few days had been the height of perplexing. “What’s that?”
“I’m glad you’re here the same as me, Miss Cowan,” he said in a whisper.
“Why?”
“I ain’t never had a nice lady in my life. You’re different from Mrs. Grayson, and you smell nicer too.” When he grinned, the gap where he’d lost a tooth showed to advantage. “’Sides, you make the captain happy.”
“I do? How can you tell?” That was certainly starting news.
“He hums. Never did that afore. And he grins for no reason. Looks like a loon sometimes, sitting there grinning.” He traced her glove-covered fingers. “Now he’s always buying fripperies hoping you’ll be pleased.” A snort escaped him. “The man’s far gone in love. Never thought I’d see that day, ‘cause it always used to be him and me.”
“Oh, Luke.” She squeezed his hand. “I’m not sure that’s true, but I certainly don’t want to come between you and him.” There were too many dynamics at play beneath this roof that one needed to tread carefully.
“You ain’t.” This time it was him who patted her hand. “See, that’s another of my dreams.”
“It is?” She couldn’t fathom what went through his mind now.
“I hope you’re here forever, Miss Cowan,” he said with a nod as his cheeks and chin turned red with a flush. “I… Sometimes I pretend you’re my mother. But don’t tell the captain,” he added in a rush.
“Of course I won’t.” Then, because they both were struggling to hold back tears, she slipped her arm about his slight body and hugged him. “I have a dream too,” she said to him in a barely audible voice. Where was the harm in sharing a confidence with him when he was the only one there? “I want to be a mother so badly I fear I’ll be too old before an opportunity comes my way.” The captain’s alleged feelings aside, men weren’t exactly lining up to pay their addresses. “I adore children and think I might make a fine mama, but so far, God hasn’t granted my request.” And since she was leaving the Grayson’s house imminently, there’d be no chance to see Luke grow or even help in the raising of him.
“I guess that’s why you have to believe in the magic you was talkin’ about.”
Out of the mouths of babes. Her eyes misted with tears again. “I suppose you’re right. Magic and faith. That’s what this night is made of.”
For long moments, the two of them sat in silence cuddled together on the stairs, fairly hidden from the crowds at Mrs. Grayson’s Christmas Eve ball. Then the clearing of a masculine throat brought her head up. She gasped as she peered between the spindles to spy Bartholomew, his expression soft and his eyes luminous.
Dear Lord, how long had he been standing there and how much had he heard?
Quickly, she shot to her feet, bringing Luke with her. “Captain Grayson! I didn’t see you.”
Beside her, the words Luke muttered under his breath sounded suspiciously like a curse. “Are you gonna punish me, Captain, for disobeying orders?”
“Of course not.” He approached them with a gentle grin and fairly glowed as if lit from within. “But you do need to get to bed.”
“I had to talk with Miss Cowan. That’s all,” he said a trifle defensively.
“That’s understandable, for I must do the same, but I can’t do so until you’re tucked into dreamland.” Then and only then did he look at her, and the intensity in his blue eyes had the power to steal her breath. “I know you’re cross with me, but will you wait for me while I escort Luke upstairs?”
The boy glanced at her with pleading in his wide eyes.
How could she resist either of them? A sigh escaped. “Very well.” Besides, she did want the chance to dance with the captain before she left permanently. It would be a Christmas gift to herself that she could dine out on during the lonely years of the rest of her life.
