took up the middle of the room. Ashley suspected that an old, much scarred pine chest against one wall held the family’s entire wardrobe. The wall across from it was dominated by a stone fireplace with cooking pots upon its brick hearth. A roughly woven curtain had been drawn around the corner opposite the boy’s pallet to hide his parents’ bed. The child’s blue eyes, still dull from his illness, lighted with joy at the sight of Caro. She had brought him a top, striped with green and yellow and red, to play with and a basket of delicacies from Bellhaven’s kitchen to tease his nonexistent appetite. She coaxed him into letting her feed him while she enthralled him with lively tales about knights. and dragons.
Ashley, who sat down on one of the benches at the rough trestle table, enjoyed Caro’s imaginative bent for storytelling as much as the boy did.
“A miracle it is, the way he eats for her,” the child’s appreciative mother told Ashley. “She has a way with little ones. A dear, kindhearted girl, she is.” The woman’s face darkened. “But there be those who would take advantage of her kindness.”
Ashley remembered what Levisham had said about Caro being the prey of frauds.
“Innocent little thing can never resist tears, and there be some who would cry to her, not from trouble but for gain!”
When Caro rose from the boy’s bedside to leave, he clutched at her hand until she promised that she would come back another day and tell him more stories.
Later, after Caro and Ashley were back in his curricle, she asked, “May I handle the ribbons?”
He turned them over to her, and she proved to be a natural and daring driver. Watching her, Ashley nodded approvingly. Another one of her unconventional, but very real, accomplishments.
Only once did she get into trouble, and that was not her fault. As they rounded a curve on a narrow stretch of road at a fast pace, they met a cart, piled high with corn, hogging the roadway.
Ashley grabbed the reins. It required all his skill to miss the vehicle and keep his own upright. He was forced to drive partially off the road, and Caro was thrown against him. Reflexively his arm shot around her to hold her protectively against him. When he again had the curricle under control, he looked down at her frightened face, which seemed all big gray eyes and provocatively opened lips.
Their gazes met for an electric moment, and Ashley was nearly overcome by a temptation, as strong as it was surprising, to kiss her. But, remembering the revulsion that she had expressed to him the day they had met, he reluctantly quelled his urge and removed his arm from about her. It would not do to frighten her.
Until today Ashley had thought of Caro only as an entertaining child, but accompanying her on calls had given him a very different view of her. No longer did he doubt her father’s prediction that she would eventually make a man an excellent wife. If she wished to marry him. What irony that she wanted to wed no more than Ashley himself did. If he accepted her father’s proposal, would she even agree to marry him?
As the curricle came into sight of Bellhaven, Ashley said thoughtfully, “You are so good with children that I do not understand why you do not wish to wed and have your own.”
Pain flashed in the gray eyes for an instant before her delicate chin rose defiantly. “I am determined to remain a spinster and devote myself to Papa as Abigail Foster did. Not that her father was worthy of her! Indeed, I do not understand how she could have been so devoted to such a demanding, ungrateful curmudgeon!”
“I apprehend, elfin, that you did not like him.”
Caro’s gray eyes flashed angrily. “No, I did not! Instead of rewarding her for her devotion to him, he tipped her the double.”
Ashley’s brows rose questioningly. “How?”
“Abigail turned down several handsome offers to devote herself to him, and he promised to provide her with an independent income on his
Ashley, who sat down on one of the benches at the rough trestle table, enjoyed Caro’s imaginative bent for storytelling as much as the boy did.
“A miracle it is, the way he eats for her,” the child’s appreciative mother told Ashley. “She has a way with little ones. A dear, kindhearted girl, she is.” The woman’s face darkened. “But there be those who would take advantage of her kindness.”
Ashley remembered what Levisham had said about Caro being the prey of frauds.
“Innocent little thing can never resist tears, and there be some who would cry to her, not from trouble but for gain!”
When Caro rose from the boy’s bedside to leave, he clutched at her hand until she promised that she would come back another day and tell him more stories.
Later, after Caro and Ashley were back in his curricle, she asked, “May I handle the ribbons?”
He turned them over to her, and she proved to be a natural and daring driver. Watching her, Ashley nodded approvingly. Another one of her unconventional, but very real, accomplishments.
Only once did she get into trouble, and that was not her fault. As they rounded a curve on a narrow stretch of road at a fast pace, they met a cart, piled high with corn, hogging the roadway.
Ashley grabbed the reins. It required all his skill to miss the vehicle and keep his own upright. He was forced to drive partially off the road, and Caro was thrown against him. Reflexively his arm shot around her to hold her protectively against him. When he again had the curricle under control, he looked down at her frightened face, which seemed all big gray eyes and provocatively opened lips.
Their gazes met for an electric moment, and Ashley was nearly overcome by a temptation, as strong as it was surprising, to kiss her. But, remembering the revulsion that she had expressed to him the day they had met, he reluctantly quelled his urge and removed his arm from about her. It would not do to frighten her.
Until today Ashley had thought of Caro only as an entertaining child, but accompanying her on calls had given him a very different view of her. No longer did he doubt her father’s prediction that she would eventually make a man an excellent wife. If she wished to marry him. What irony that she wanted to wed no more than Ashley himself did. If he accepted her father’s proposal, would she even agree to marry him?
As the curricle came into sight of Bellhaven, Ashley said thoughtfully, “You are so good with children that I do not understand why you do not wish to wed and have your own.”
Pain flashed in the gray eyes for an instant before her delicate chin rose defiantly. “I am determined to remain a spinster and devote myself to Papa as Abigail Foster did. Not that her father was worthy of her! Indeed, I do not understand how she could have been so devoted to such a demanding, ungrateful curmudgeon!”
“I apprehend, elfin, that you did not like him.”
Caro’s gray eyes flashed angrily. “No, I did not! Instead of rewarding her for her devotion to him, he tipped her the double.”
Ashley’s brows rose questioningly. “How?”
“Abigail turned down several handsome offers to devote herself to him, and he promised to provide her with an independent income on his
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