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“Ethan?”
“Good morning, Papa. I have been waiting for you to wake up. Emma says it is polite to let people wake up on their own rather than startle them from their sleep.”
“Uh … good morning.”
“I have been waiting for a while. We get up early on the farm, but Emma says people in the city go to sleep late.”
Richard let the remarks about the mysterious Emma pass. “How did you find me?”
“I followed yourvah-let.But when you were not in your room, I tried the other doors. Papa, what is avah-let ?”
Richard rubbed his eyes, attempting to gather his thoughts. He was still groggy.
“A valet is a servant who helps a gentleman to dress and look his best.”
Ethan’s round face scrunched while he thought about this.
“Am I a gentleman?”
Richard froze. It was a difficult question. He wanted to be honest with the boy. Many members of polite society would raise considerable dissent at the idea that Ethan was a gentleman because he bore the burden of unmarried parents. On the other hand, the truest gentleman of his acquaintance was his cousin and friend, the Duke of Halmesbury. Thinking about Halmesbury, he found an answer he was comfortable with.
“A gentleman is a man who is well-mannered and considerate of the people around him. So I would say that you are a gentleman.”
Ethan’s face split into a wide grin. “I like that. Does that mean I will get avah-let ?”
Richard smiled in return. “When you are older, you will get one.” He reached out a hand to ruffle the boy’s curly hair that looked just like his own. “But only if you do not run off from your nursemaid on your own.”
Ethan looked perplexed. “She is to be with me all the time?”
“Yes. She is to keep you safe and ensure you eat.”
“Mama said I was welcome to visit any part of the house. Did I make a mistake coming to find you?”
Richard had been sitting up, looking around for something to wear, when he stilled at Ethan’s question. “Mama?”
Ethan nodded and pointed to the flowing red-blonde locks spread over the discarded pillow. “I asked Sophia if she was my mama, and she said if that was what I wanted. I never had a mama before, so I thought about it in bed last night. She seems nice, so I would like her to be my mama.” The boy’s eyes widened with anxiety. “Will she mind if I call her Mama?”
Richard’s heart squeezed in a tight grip of emotion. “I cannot say for certain, but knowing Sophia, I think she would like it.”
Ethan looked happy with this. Richard suspected he was fortunate to have a four-year-old son who was turning out to be clever and well-behaved with such a calmness of manner. He wondered if the Emma the boy kept referring to had a hand in how well his son had turned out in his parental absence. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Richard came to the realization that he was trapped under the covers without a stitch of clothing at hand. He could not climb from the bed until the boy left the room.
“Ethan, could you find your way back to the nursery?”
His child nodded. He moved closer and flung his arms around Richard, who, after a moment’s surprise, drew in the slight frame with his free arm to give him an affectionate squeeze. The boy was so sweet and innocent. Although Richard was still growing accustomed to his new role as father, he was experiencing an urge to protect the boy.
After a moment, he let the boy go, and Ethan trotted from the room and closed the door behind him.
Richard rose in a hurry and hunted for his linen shirt, which was lying near the foot of the bed. Pulling it on, he then picked up the shift he had removed from Sophia’s luscious body. A rush of heat accompanied the memory, and for a moment, he contemplated returning to bed to awaken her. Brushing this aside, he straightened the covers and laid the shift on top for her to find when she awoke.
Grabbing his trousers from the floor, he loped back to his room where he found a sour-looking Shaw preparing his clothing. “Is there a problem, Shaw?”
The servant sniffed, his thin lips pursed in disapproval. The man’s affectations were annoying, but he was the best damned valet in London, so Richard tolerated it. “I am merely concerned that the coat could be irretrievably damaged.”
“What? Not with the most skillful valet who ever graced the city of London. If anyone can sort it out, it is you, Shaw.”
The man’s thin face looked mollified at the praise.
“Milord, I found this in your coat last night.” The valet held out a folded paper. Richard frowned, not recognizing it, and he wondered how it had found its way onto his person. Shaw always checked his pockets before taking discarded clothing away, so it must have been from sometime during the day before. He had spent the day with Sophia and Ethan, and not done any work or taken any meetings. He had also not handled any papers, so it did not make sense. And the only time he had left Balfour Terrace was to attend the musicale. Where ... where … a vague memory took shape.Where I was jostled while collecting refreshment for Sophia and myself! Did someone bump against me to slip a note into my pocket?Richard attempted to recall the people who were in his vicinity, but the truth was, the room had been crowded and he had not paid much attention to anyone other than Sophia. He grimaced at the recollection of his former paramours and the men associated with them. Not to mention the unknown man in the row behind who had been scowling at him.
