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He then proceeded to browse the store and purchased five books. He also encouraged his friends to patronize the store. Yes, he was her favorite customer.
Mr. Morton picked up his books. “Well, you have a nice day, Miss Mallory.” He whistled as he left the store, leaving Addie in a cheerful mood, also.
The day passed quickly, with a steady stream of customers. More misplaced books were brought to her attention. She really needed to slow down when she placed new books on the bookshelves. Most times her mistakes were because she either wasn’t paying attention to what she was doing or was rushed.
Fortunately, she had finished her ledger books the day before. She hated that part of the job because math also confused her. When things didn’t balance, she oftentimes had to go back and check the numbers again. She looked forward to when she could have someone else do her books since she could very well be cheating herself.
Later that day, she was just turning her ‘closed for lunch sign’ back over to ‘open’ after waving goodbye to Lottie and Pamela, when she saw Lord Berkshire crossing the street in front of the store, heading her way. His steps were brisk, his face full of determination.
Addie backed up so he wouldn’t walk right into her when he entered the store. “My goodness you seem to be in a hurry.”
His hair was mussed from the wind, and she was once again taken by his handsome face with its aristocratic features, deep brown eyes with long, dark eyelashes, and full lips that were right now turned up at the ends in a slight smile.
When there were no customers in the store to keep her occupied, she foolishly spent time thinking about Berkshire in a way that was really not smart for a woman like her. She was no beauty, and her ineptness had disgraced her more than once. Did she forget how unacceptable she’d been during her Seasons? In fact, Lord Berkshire himself had looked right through her whenever she’d seen him at London events. Addie was definitely not the type of woman to whom a man like Lord Berkshire paid attention.
But since the dinner she shared with him, Michael, and Lord Featherington, she’d begun to view Berkshire in a different way. He had definitely been, if not jealous, at least a bit annoyed that Lord Featherington was taking her to dinner. It was nice to know how other girls felt when two men were vying for her attention.
Of course, Featherington had been sent by her mother, most likely with the offer of some sort of boon if he managed to pry her away from Bath, and Lord Berkshire was interested in her obtaining a book. She sighed. At least for a while, she could pretend.
Her thoughts were interrupted when his lordship came to an abrupt halt only a few feet in front of her. He reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew an envelope. “I have wonderful news!” His face glowed, which led her to believe the news was about Michael. How she would love to be the one who put that look on his face.
“What is that?” She gestured toward the envelope. “You seem very excited.”
“Yes, indeed.” He took a deep breath and slid the paper from the envelope and handed it to her. “I just heard from the headmaster at Institution Nationale des Sourds-Muets à Paris.”
She skimmed the paper as he continued, her usual way of reading something, especially when someone was watching her. “They offered to take Michael as a student, but, in the event I do not want to do that given his age, they gave me the name of an organization in London for members who communicate with sign language.”
“That is good news.” A sudden sinking in her stomach told her it wasn’t all good news. “Um, will you be moving to London, then?”
Berkshire shook his head. “No. I do not want to live in London. It is my hope to travel there and speak to the members of this organization to see if I can persuade one of them to move to my house here and work with Michael.”
He took the letter from her hand and slid it back into the envelope. “The city is not a good place for my son. The air is much too heavy with smoke and fog. My home a few miles outside of Bath has places for him to roam, where he can climb trees and do all the other things that young boys do. He is so restricted with his deafness I would never take that away from him.”
She stared at his impassioned expression, so full of excitement and love for his child. “You are a remarkable father.”
To her amusement, it was his turn to blush. She let out a breath of relief that he was not moving to London, which was absolutely foolish since she had no claim on him. In fact, he would probably laugh if he knew what she was thinking. She’d been laughed at enough, thank you very much, and didn’t need to mar their budding friendship by allowing him to see her foolishness. “I am very happy for you. When will you go to London?”
“It depends.” He looked at her, then looked away. He seemed to be doing a great deal of thinking. He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it. Just as she was about to ask him whatever was the matter, he said, “I don’t suppose you could find someone to tend to your store for a week or so?”
Very few people had the power to stun Addie into silence, but Lord Berkshire had just done that very thing. Certain she misunderstood his question, she asked, “Why do you wish to know that?”
“I know it’s a great deal to ask of you, and we haven’t really known each other that long, but I would love to have you travel with me and Michael to London to speak with the people in this organization. Mrs. Banfield will go, of course, as Michael’s tutor, and can act as chaperone. Unless, of course, you wish to bring your own chaperone. I believe you would be quite helpful in finding the right person.”
When she didn’t answer because, quite frankly, her tongue was still unconscious, he added, “Mrs. Banfield is a woman in her fifties who is very conscious of proper behavior. I assume you will stay at your parents’ house, not my London townhouse, of course. It will all be above board, as I would never jeopardize your reputation, I can assure you of that.”
Her head was spinning with his request, while at the same time considering who she could ask to run her store for a week. The most obvious solution was to ask Pamela and Lottie to take turns. With the two of them, it would not be a huge burden for either.
“I don’t know anything about sign language. Are you sure you want my opinion?” Good gracious, no one had ever solicited her opinion before, and to think Lord Berkshire wanted her to help him select a tutor for his beloved son almost brought tears to her eyes.
“Yes, I do. You are intelligent, helpful, and kind, and more importantly Michael adores you.” He grinned at the red flush that covered her face.
“He does?” Oh, if only there was a way to stop this infernal blushing. She was certainly old enough not to fall to pieces every time someone complimented her.
“Indeed.” He nodded. “Even though he cannot speak, he has his own way of letting me know when he likes someone. After our dinner the other night, his excitement as he tried to let me know how much he liked you was quite amusing.” He stopped for a minute, his smile fading. “And sad.”
“I understand.” She’d been thinking since their dinner how hard it would be to have a child you loved beyond measure and have something seriously wrong with them. An affliction that some people thought required shutting the child away.
His smile returned, a slight lifting of the right side of his mouth. “Will you go?” His eyes were warm with something she didn’t want to dwell on, while his smile reminded her of Michael. Except she was certain Berkshire was much more dangerous than Michael. She was sure he used that smile to entice many a woman into his bed.
