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His eyes brightened. “But surely you must have been happy, too.”
“Of course.” I could not bear to dim his smile now, not when he was so guileless. “Tell me, Archibald—”
“You can call me Archie. Everyone does.”
A smile tugged at my lips. “Very well, Archie. Tell me . . . does your mother live in Bath?”
“No, I’m only here for school. Mama lives in London. But she fetches me for every holiday and sometimes pops over for a visit.”
I could not imagine anyonepoppingover to Bath from London, not with the distance and time spent in a carriage, but I wondered if that meant his mother did not make visiting him sound like a difficulty. I begrudgingly respected that about her, if it was the case.
“Do you have any other brothers or sisters, Archie?”
“No, only you.”
My heart swelled with unexpected affection for his gap-toothed smile. There was a wash of freckles over his nose, darker than mine, and a nervous energy in his fidgeting fingers. “Will you tell me about yourself?”
He straightened in his seat. “I am nine years old, I attend the Goddard school, and my greatest dream is to one day have my own horse.”
“I love horses, too,” I said.
Archie leaned forward a little to impart his secret, reverently whispering. “I’ve never ridden one. But Mama says we can afford one now.”
“That is wonderful news. You will have to write to me and tell me all about what kind of horse you choose.”
His dark little eyebrows drew together. “You do not plan to stay here?”
“I am traveling to London for the Season, but I would like to visit you again when I leave Town, if that is agreeable to you. Perhaps we can even become regular correspondents.”
Archie grimaced. “I am not very good at writing letters, but I can try to be better.”
“Do you want to know a secret?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not very good at corresponding, either. But I think I will be good at writing letters to you.”
He tilted his head to the side. “Why would I be any different?”
“Because I will actuallywantto read letters from you, Archie, which will give me more motivation to write them as well.”
He smiled, an impish grin stealing over his handsome little face. “Mr. Rothschild, my teacher, told me you might not be happy to see me. But I think he was wrong. You look really happy to me.”
My heart swelled again with love for this little boy, and I realized he was correct. Before learning of Archie, I hadn’t had any family left on earth, not really. I did not consider my unclefamilybecause of the way he had dismissed and ignored me. But I did have family to claim. Now I had a brother, and a little bit of the hole that had been left behind when my parents made me an orphan was filled. A few of the cracks their deaths had caused were now mended.
The Bradwells did their best to be my family, and I loved them for it. They were brothers and a mother to me. But this was different, and it lifted my spirits and warmed my soul.
“Will you leave Bath very soon?” he asked.
“I am at the mercy of my friends, Archie. I cannot stay forever, for they are expecting to continue on to London. But I do think we can spare a day or two, and if your headmaster approves, I would very much like to take you out.”
His blue eyes widened, and I wondered if I looked just as eager as him when I was excited about something. “Can we walk down Great Pulteney Street? All the best horses pass there.”
I suppressed my chuckle. “Yes, but you will have to wear all of your warmest things or you might catch a chill.”
He presented me with the most serious of expressions. “I have a very strong constitution, so you needn’t worry about me catching my death.”
“How very glad I am to hear that.”
