Page 20 of A Baby to Seal the Duke’s Fate

“Not,” Barnaby murmured, “the tone of a man prepared for this.”

Leopold gave him a flat look and opened the nursery door.

The room was warm. The fire had been banked higher than usual, and the scent of soap and linen and milk hung in the air. Cecily lay in the cradle with her blanket half kicked away, one tiny fist moving fitfully in her sleep. When she heard the door, she stirred and let out a small, dissatisfied sound.

Leopold had expected Miss Redmond to remain composed. Instead, the moment she saw the baby, every guarded line of her face faltered. Her expression changed before she could stop it, raw and vulnerable. She did not speak. She did not move. Leopold looked at her sharply, then back at the child. But he said nothing.

She lifted Cecily with practiced care. The baby settled against her shoulder and stopped crying immediately. Barnaby remained in the corridor, where he could no doubt hear everything and still be far enough away to not be accused of eavesdropping.

Miss Redmond stood with Cecily resting against her, one hand at her back, the other beneath her bottom, the baby settling, eyelids drooping, mouth slack against the woman’s collar.

Leopold spoke first. “She does not seem to take to strangers.”

Miss Redmond’s throat moved once, but she did not look at him. “No, Your Grace.”

He had not expected that answer. She sounded sure, as if she could not be more certain.

“Have you cared for fussy children like her?”

Miss Redmond seemed to remember herself, as if she had almost said or done something she had not intended to be heard or seen. She gave him a quick smile, but she hid it immediately against the baby’s face.

“Yes. I am familiar enough that I know how to console almost any bad temperament.”

Leopold saw Barnaby’s face in his mind and knew his friend would be watching with great interest. He caught Leopold’s eye and gave him a satisfied smirk, as if he himself had told Leopold that Miss Redmond would be the very person to comfort the restless infant.

He realized, in that instant, that there was no point pretending otherwise.

“You may have the position,” he said. “If you have not decided that you do not—”

“Thank you,” she said before he could finish speaking.

Leopold nodded, noting her quick reply. “You will speak with Mrs. Pritchard about the room and the schedule.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

He held her gaze a second longer than necessary and found that he could not, for the life of him, determine what it was she was trying so hard not to show.

Her experience with children was rather evident in the way she had instantly handled Cecily, so he did not believe she was lying. Still, the moment would not leave him. Miss Redmond had looked at Cecily as though the sight of her mattered more than any position ever could.

Chapter 4

Honora had not intended to stay. That was the truth of it. She had meant to come, take Cecily, and leave before anyone had time to ask questions she could not answer. That had been the plan since the night she heard the name Belgrave at the inn.

She might have tried simply asking for the child, using her rightful claim as Cecily’s aunt. But with no proof of her relation, she knew she was as likely to be arrested as she was to get Cecily back. The only way she believed she could get Cecily and leave was by sneaking away with her.

Then, Mrs. Pritchard had opened the door and called her Miss Redmond. She had seen an opportunity that seemed safer than trying to steal Cecily and run, and she had said yes.

Two days later, she stood in the entrance hall with her gloves folded in one hand and tried very hard not to look as though she had made a mistake large enough to swallow her whole.

Mrs. Pritchard had given her the tour herself. She was not a woman to be crossed. Honora gathered that within the first minute. Mrs. Pritchard was neat without being fussy and brisk without being rude, with a practicality that suggested she understood that a smooth household depended on quiet authority rather than noise.

“This is the morning room,” Mrs. Pritchard said as they passed through the first set of doors. “You need not concern yourself with it unless Her Grace asks for tea there, which she often does not.”

Honora nodded, keeping her expression pleasantly neutral. “I understand.”

Mrs. Pritchard glanced back. “You need not answer every point, Miss Redmond. A nod will do unless you have a question.”

“Then I shall try to be economical.”