Page 38 of Love and Other Disasters

“Nothing beyond the expected,” he promised, blushing at his clumsiness as he perched himself on the open window ledge across the room. He gripped the window ledge and smiled at her. She had changed from last night into the sensible, governess uniform she had always favored. Yet he could still remember how she had looked last night and the pleasures he’d found in her whispered confessions. He shook his head, feeling foolish and almost besotted by this other side of her. The friendlier side. “Sheep grazing in fields, birds taking flight from the long grasses. The estate does very well, I’m pleased to say.”

The boys left Isabelle and proceeded to pepper him with questions for so long that it quite naturally led to an offer to take them with him for a ride to see the distant fields. “Both of you could fit upon my horse together, but it is up to your governess to decide if you might enjoy such a boon.”

“We can go,” Thomas informed his uncle.

Jasper knew better than to assume Sophie didn’t have some concerns, and yet she remained silent. But her fingers were busy, twisting the ends of her shawl into neat folds.

Something had changed in the nursery lately, besides the distraction of Isabelle.

Jasper caught Thomas’ gaze and saw a flicker of rebellion in his eyes. Thomas was going to be a handful soon for the governess, unless it was stopped by someone with more authority than a servant. Thomas was too young yet to start lording his position over the palace staff, especially Sophie, who was currently acting as mother to him.

And Laura was out there. Her return, if she ever did, might create more difficulties for Sophie, too. He could not have his nephew getting too big for his britches yet. “The decision is Mrs. Radcliffe’s.”

“But she’s just a servant!” Thomas argued hotly. “If you say we can go, we will. My father—”

“Your father made a point of mentioning that Radcliffe is in charge of you both before he left the estate, and I’ll not go against his wishes, young man. You would do well to remember you answer to him as much as her,” Jasper warned.

Thomas looked down, jaw clenched, as he sulked over the fact that he was going to be treated as just a child still. Jasper had been gentler with the boy than anyone had been with him in such a situation. The first time he’d tried to assert his authority over a servant, he’d earned a hard slap across his face for the impertinence.

Jasper turned his eyes on Sophie and saw her discomfort, and his heart went out to her. There was little he could do to soothe her feelings and offer reassurances while the children stood between them.

She had value to him, and to the family. She made sure these children were better cared for than their absent parents ever had. “The polite thing to do would be to ask for Radcliffe’s permission to go. She might have made other plans for tomorrow.”

Liam ran to her and asked, begged, to go with Jasper. Thomas followed reluctantly and grudgingly asked for permission as well. “I’ve no concern other than to ask you not to take them out in the rain to become soaked, my lord.”

He smiled. “That is my hope, too.”

“Please, Radcliffe. Please! Let us go,” Liam begged. “I’ll make sure my brother and Uncle Jasper are on their best behavior.”

“Oh, will you now?” Her soft laugh lit up the room, and even Thomas joined in, eventually. The idea that Jasper needed a keeper seemed to amuse them all.

“You could come with us,” he offered. Jasper held his breath in the seconds it took for Sophie to decline to join them.

“Isabelle and I shall be content and read together while you are gone.”

“Sounds very pleasant.”

He dropped his gaze to Isabelle, who was lying on the rug in front of Radcliffe and still happily kicking her legs about. She seemed highly amused and reaching for any toy Sophie held over her head. He felt himself smiling at the warmth of the scene. Sophie really was good with children. Even his own. There was a glow about her face now when she smiled at them that had been forever absent around others in the family, and especially him until recently.

He’d never seen her cross with the children, only disappointed in Thomas’ behavior just now. Jasper’s own mother had hardly spared him a glance or even a pat upon his head. Of course, his memories of himself at this age were almost nonexistent. From what he could remember, Mama had been interested in everything but her sons. Any affection he’d received had been from servants like Sophie and an occasional pat on the head from his elder brother, Algernon.

It was the way of the aristocracy, of course. Children were seen and not heard until they were caught doing something wrong. Parents lived their own lives, separate from their children. The lower classes lived a different life, he knew, from observation over the years. Yet Sophie cuddled her brother’s children as if they were her own, and that made him wonder about her. “Where are you from, Sophie?”

She glanced his way, clearly startled by the question. “London.”

“I didn’t mean it quite that way,” he drawled. “Your parents and family? They must miss you very much.”

She frowned and did not look up. “I’m certain they could not.”

It was his turn to frown now. “Why would they not miss you?”

“I grew up in an orphanage, my lord,” she said. “I’ve no memory of any family.”

Sophie rose, and he rushed to help her stand, catching her by the elbow and pulling her close when she was on her feet. Holding her seemed the most natural thing to do. He glanced down at her face, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze and pulled her hand away.

Was she embarrassed to admit she was an orphan? He had to admit, he couldn’t imagine what her life in an orphanage might have been like, but assumed it had not been warm or loving.

“I’m sorry for that. I suppose that is where you gained your great affection for other people’s children,” he teased.