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“She asked for him at the end,” Ben said. He returned to the sofa and sat next to Rebecca. “I thought she was asking for me to stay with her and comfort her, but she was asking for Hugh. It wasn’t until I saw him dancing with you last evening and recalled his close friendship with Gemma that I finally put it all together.” He stopped speaking and gazed at the fireplace before them, though no fire was lit. “It is my fervent hope that we never see the blackguard again.”
They were silent for a while.
“What about Rose?” Rebecca asked him at length. “What of her?”
“She ismy daughter, and I defy anyone to say otherwise,” he said. “I believe that is something I learned after spending time in Lower Alderwood with the utterly delightful Jennings family.”
“Truly?” Rebecca said.
“Yes. If your family can be so diverse and loving of each other, then who am I to turn away from the innocent child who is legally, though not naturally, mine?”
“May I meet her?” she said.
“It was my hope that you would wish to do precisely that.” He crossed to the door and opened it slightly. “Please have Lady Rose brought to me,” he said.
He returned and sat next to Rebecca. “She arrived tired and hungry after such a long journey and so has had a hearty lunch and a nap. I have barely seen her myself. I scarcely know what to do. I’m a virtual stranger to her. I don’t anticipate this meeting going smoothly, just so you are warned.”
“I have nieces and nephews, you will recall,” Rebecca said. “I doubt anything Lady Rose attempts will be any more dramatic than what I have observed from Annabel or Samuel or baby Penny or any of the others, for that matter, over the years.”
“You are the expert that I am not,” Ben said. “That comes as something of a relief to me.”
The door opened, and Lady Rose’s nurse entered the room, holding the infant’s hand in order to help her walk steadily. The nurse managed a one-handed curtsy. “Curtsy to your papa, Lady Rose,” she whispered, letting go of Rose’s hand.
The tiny girl’s eyes grew huge, then her face screwed up, and Ben held his breath, waiting for the wail that was sure to follow . . .
She stuck two fingers in her mouth and whimpered.
Ben took a deep breath. He shouldn’t have suddenly become so frantic, but then, he’d never dealt with a wailing infant before. Was this the beginning of his life to be?
“Curtsy, Lady Rose,” the nurse whispered again. “We’ve been working on our curtsies ever since Lord Winton’s letter arrived, haven’t we? She can curtsy, can’t you, Lady Rose?”
The nurse was as anxious as everyone else in the room, and Ben’s heart ached. He should know what to do under such circumstances, but he had absolutely no idea at all.
Before he could figure out how to respond, Rebecca went to Lady Rose and crouched so they were face-to-face. “Hello, Lady Rose,” she said, smiling cheerily and speaking in a low, unthreatening tone. “What a lovely little girl you are,” Rebecca added. “Shall we curtsy?” Rebecca seemed undaunted by the tableau before them all. She tickled Rose under the chin, which made the sweet baby smile just a bit around her two fingers. “There now, that’s better,” Rebecca said with a smile of her own.
Rose began to bend her little knees . . . and then she plopped onto the floor.
“Oh dear,” the nurse whispered.
“Well done,” Rebecca whispered to Rose, whose face had screwed up again. “Here, come to Auntie Rebecca,” she said. “You’re all right, sweeting. What a good job you did! You almost curtsied all by yourself.”
“Ba,” Rose said around the two fingers still in her mouth as Rebecca lifted her into her arms and stood.
“We have been working on our words too, haven’t we, Lady Rose?” the nurse said, apparently encouraged when Rose didn’t begin wailing but came out with a different sound instead. “Lady Rose can saypapaand—”
“Ba,” Rose said. She seemed content in Rebecca’s arms, which was a relief on many levels.
“Papa,” the nurse said encouragingly.
“Ba. Ba. Ma.” The fingers came out of her mouth, and she patted Rebecca’s face.
“Oh dear,” the nurse muttered again, turning bright red this time.
Ben could understand the awkwardness of little Rose’s choice of words, all things considered. But Rebecca only smiled, apparently not caring if a little moisture accompanied those fingers. “Well done, sweeting!” she said. “What a clever girl you are!” And then she kissed Rose on the cheek.
She kissed Rose, and Ben wanted to weep. It seemed he’d been wanting to weep too frequently for too long, but—blast it all—it was a sweet scene.
Suddenly, Rose lit up and smiled. Then she patted Rebecca’s cheeks with both hands. “Ba. Ma.” Any threat of tears appeared to have entirely disappeared, at least as far as Rose was concerned, that was.
