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“My lord . . .” She began slowly. “I did not think it would be possible to find such a place as this.”
“There is more.” Leo was excited as he stepped forward. Placing the papers down on a table, he shuffled them round so a floorplan of the building was placed on top. “Behind here you have a small kitchen, and on the floor above, there are two small rooms. Here and here.” He laid a finger to the plan, showing the rooms. She moved closer toward him, so near that he could practically feel her arm brushing his own. “I thought they could be used as rooms for your sewing, when needed.”
“It is a wonderful idea!” Rather than taking a closer look at the floorplan, she hurried across the shop, grasping her skirt in one hand. She ran so quickly across the floor and through a door at the back that led to a set of steps that her footsteps echoed through the building.
“I do not think I have seen you run like that since we were children,” Leo called after her with humor.
“When was that?” Chloe called back. The echoing of her voice showed she had reached the staircase. “Were Maeve and I up to mischief?”
“Tell me a time you were not?”
“Ha! You know me very well, my lord.” She had evidently reached the floor above. It allowed Leo to answer, but only for his own ears to hear.
“Indeed, I do,” he said softly with a smile and turned his focus back to the floorplan.
When Chloe returned to the main part of the shop, her smile was wider than it had been in a long time.
“Now, the other two shops we have seen would be perfectly good.” He was eager to talk business and turned toward the glass windows, gesturing out to the street. “Yet this one, I cannot help feeling would be better suited to your needs. It is the most fashionable area of London, ideal for you. Not to mention, look at this footfall? Even now I can see a multitude of ladies with their maids behind them, carrying boxes. They would no doubt come in here once your shop is open. What do you think, Miss Green?” he turned back, abruptly aware that she was no longer speaking.
Leo fell still. The smile had vanished from Miss Green’s face, and she stood unmoving in the center of the shop. She kept blinking to keep the wetness in her eyes at bay.
“Chloe?” Leo panicked. In his fear, he used her Christian name. He crossed the room quickly toward her. When he nearly walked directly into the table, barely managing to avoid it, neither of them said anything. He crossed to her and took her hand, without thinking of what the gesture meant. “Something is wrong? Pray, tell me what has upset you.”
“Wrong? No, indeed, nothing is wrong.” She smiled and breathed deeply as if trying to stop herself from crying. “Forgive me, my lord. I am being emotional, that is all.”
“These are happy tears?”
“An odd idea; is it not?” she said with a giggle and turned her head on the side, as if laughing at herself. “I always think it mad when ladies cry from happiness, yet here I am doing the same thing.” She shook her head, still trying to ward off those tears.
“You are happy then?” Leo asked, his voice quiet. He grew aware that he was still holding onto her hand, but she didn’t pull back from him. Her gloved fingers rested gently within his own.
“I am. May I share a secret with you, my lord?”
The idea of being her confidante was too much to refuse, so he nodded, keen for her to go on.
“This.” She looked around the shop in emphasis. “It is all I have ever dreamed of for as long as I can remember. When I was a little girl, my father gifted me one of those toy theaters, with the little paper characters. You know the kind I mean?”
“I do. Maeve had one.”
“I used to pretend my toy theater was a shop, and the characters were my customers.” She laughed at herself and blinked a few more times, clearly trying to stop even a single tear from falling. “I guess I feel as if I am finally living my dream. Is that mad?”
“Not at all.” Leo smiled with his words. “It is a wonderful thing, to be able to have a dream come true.”
When a tear did escape down her cheek, Chloe waved a hand at herself.
“Oh, I am being foolish.”
“You are not.” Leo was implacable as he released her hand and delved into his topcoat, searching for a handkerchief. “It is truly touching to see it matters to you this much. Not to mention admirable.” He found a handkerchief and presented it to her.
“Admirable?” she repeated in surprise, her hand reaching out to take the handkerchief. They both stood there for a second, staring at one another, each with a hand on the handkerchief.
“One should be passionate about what they want to do in life. I find that very admirable indeed.”
“You are kind.” She took the handkerchief from his grasp and dried the tear on her cheek. “You called me Chloe.”
“What?” Leo shook himself, realizing the slip he had made much earlier in their conversation.
“You called me Chloe,” she reiterated. “It fell quite easily from your mouth.”
