He’d listened after that and was nearly sure that escorting of his sisters to the park a few days ago was the first time he’d touched them in nearly a decade.
“Justin?”
He looked up and realized she was watching him intently. “Lady Emma will be over to see to her lessons,” he told her. He put down his cup and reached for his paper. “I’m sure she’ll be ready by the ball.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” She grabbed her food and sat with the assistance of a footman. She reached for the butter once settled. “Are you going to marry her?”
Justin heard the crinkling of the paper and relaxed his hand around it. “Lucy Ann—”
His sister murmured something that made Justin go still.
“What?” he asked.
She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. “You heard me.” She looked away. “I should have known better…” Her hands came to rest on the table as she continued to look straight ahead. “I was... “
Justin didn’t speak because he didn’t want to stop whatever was happening with his sister.
She’d apologized. That was what he’d heard whispered.
I’m sorry.
He’d never heard her say those words before. He didn’t know that Lucy Ann ever truly believed she did anything wrong or worth giving an apology for.
“When I saw you touching her, I…” She glared at him. “Why her? Why not me?”
He narrowed his eyes and moved uncomfortably in his chair. “What are you asking me?” He had to maneuver as bread flew past his head.
“I don’t mean I want you to touch me like that, you fool,” she hissed, her eyes wild. “If you ever did, I would gut you like a trout and that goes for any man whose touch I don’t welcome.”
It was clear that Lucy Ann would likely never need guards.
Thoughts of his mother returned, and he wondered what twisted things the woman had told them about him. Had she warned them about getting too close to their filthy brother, dirty not because of anything he’d done but simply because he was a boy. “Lucy Ann, I would never touch you and Selina that way.”
A look of disgust covered her face. “Of course, you wouldn’t, you idiot!” She looked at him with such contempt. “I already know that. Selina knows it as well. We never listened to a word that sick woman said.”
Justin’s eyes widened as he got his answer. His mother had warned them away from him. He’d always thought it, and in the past it had made it easy for him to avoid them, easy for him to send them away after his father’s death so that they wouldn’t get any ideas and seek his shoulders out to be cried on. He’d had no shoulders to give them at the time.
“Don’t you think I wanted to make you better?” Lucy Ann asked before looking away. “You never even held my hand.” She lifted her hand with that strangled word, each one coming out at a much deeper octave than the previous.
Justin braced himself for yet another thing he’d never seen Lucy Ann do.
Cry.
He swallowed as he stared at her, unsure of what was happening or of what to say. This conversation seemed to have been long overdue for them.
Lucy Ann pulled in a long and deep breath before settling within herself. He watched, fascinated, as she once again took control of herself. No tears fell, and when she looked at him, it was as though the storm that had been brewing a moment ago never happened. “You were never dirty in the way she implied. Of course, you’d come inside sometimes covered in earth, but Selina and I knew better than to listen to her.”
Justin knew he should say something, but for the life of him, he was beyond words. “I…”
She began to viciously spread butter on her toast, beating the poor slice into submission. “I didn’t want to like her, but it seems she’s fixed you, so I can’t very well hate her, can I?”
Justin thought her words very accurate. He’d been broken, and though he was not looking forward to all the hands he’d have to kiss and the dancing he’d have to participate in at the ball, he no longer felt the urge to run for his life.
“I hope you both have a pleasant evening,” Lucy Ann finished.
“I’m sure you and Selina will enjoy it as well, since I plan to escort you as well.”
Lucy Ann stared at him with wide eyes and then slowly smiled. “Really? You plan to take me and Selina to a ball?”
“And share a dance,” he told her, enjoying the way her face bloomed with vivid warmth.
Her smiled brightened and then she turned back to her food.
Justin added, “Of course, I’ll expect you and Selina not to hold Alex’s station against her and influence the ton not to accept her.”
Lucy Ann cut her eyes to him and her expression became hard. “Oh, they’ll accept her or I’ll break them.” Then she took a bite of her toast and that was that.
Justin used the paper to wipe the moisture from his hands, only slightly ashamed at how much Lucy Ann scared him.
He stood, walked over to her chair, and pulled it out.
“What are you—” Her words were cut off when Justin wrapped her in a tight embrace. His hands rested on her back and his head on hers.
He felt as though he’d grabbed hold of a pleasantly scented brick before her body relaxed and her arms went around him, holding him just as tightly as he held her.
He reached up and rubbed her hair. “Don’t gut me like a trout.”
He heard a sniff, but when he went to move, she wouldn’t let him.
Moments passed before Lucy Ann straightened and grinned, her eyes twinkling like blue crystals. “I’ll make sure those wealthy treasured souls of our distinguished class welcome Alexandra with open arms.”
“Excellent—”
“Or I’ll bury them.” She then smiled again before taking her seat once more.
Justin retreated to his seat but was laughing as he went.
* * *
24
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
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“This isn’t right,” Ellen Boyd whispered from behind the great door that led into the music hall.
The air in Lady Charles’ house was cool, which Alex usually would have been grateful for, but tonight was different.
There was an eerie quietness in the music room where the sponsors had taken their seats in the darkened rows of chairs. Usually, laughter and noise could be heard from the women and men who came to see the boys and girls they’d given their funds to, but not tonight.
Tonight, Alex could feel the tension and how unsettled the people were. She and some of the older children who were helping in the kitchens came up when no music could be heard floating down below. In the past, since the music room was not far from the kitchen and dining area, one could hear either a pianist or the children’s voices lifted in song.
“I knew this would happen.” Alicia huddled a group of singers into a space farther down the hall. She instructed one of the older girls to take charge before pulling Ellen, Rose, Alex, and a few of the other helpers to a corner. “The donors are thinking of leaving.”
Alex’s stomach fell. “What do you mean?”
“Cutting out?” Phillip Bones said with a frown. He’d grown up at Best Homes like the rest of them and was now one of the teachers at Best Homes while saving his money to go to school. “Do you mean they’re thinking of leaving before the music starts?”
“It’s not just that.” Alicia’s expression became worried. “One or two have hinted at taking their donations elsewhere, to other homes.”
Alex knew that was what Alicia had meant, yet still the comment surprised her. Without the donors, Best Homes would not survive. “It’s because of me, isn’t it?” She’d thought about not coming. The scandal surrounding her was still the only thing everyone spoke of. It had been a week since she’d moved into Justin’s home, and in that time she’d barely left the house. Though h
er story was no longer on the front page, it was still printed somewhere. Daily.
This was the first time Alex had left Justin’s property, taking two guards with her after they’d had a slight falling out.
He’d not wanted her to leave, believing it to be unsafe, but she’d been charged with the food and could not let the Home down. So he’d come along with the guards but had made his displeasure known the entire time.
Reuben, who’d had the audacity to take Justin’s side, had come as well. So had Nash, which was not unusual since Lord Iverstone was one of the donors and also attended the musical. Chris never came and was not present. Alex thought he was dealing with the store tonight, since her lack of help would have obviously put a strain on his time.
Everyone was upset, it seemed.
“I’ve ruined everything,” she whispered.
Alicia grabbed her shoulder. “You didn’t print that article, Alex. You cannot be blamed for what others have done.”
Still, she was beginning to feel that everyone would have been in a better position had she gone to Scotland. Lady Charles had given Alex a hesitant look when she’d arrived early to see that all the supplies for the meal had been delivered. After an awkward conversation, the lady had all but told Alex to keep herself hidden.
That alone should have warned Alex of what was to come, but never had she thought it would come to this.
“Oliver will play first,” Ellen said as she stared over Alex’s shoulder.
Alex didn’t turn around. She knew the woman was looking at Oliver and knew that Justin was also in that direction. He’d decided to remain in the hall with her even after Lady Charles had invited him to sit in the music room. Alex wished he had, but instead he’d become like Reuben, a shadow, as though she didn’t already have one of her own.
She’d made little progress where her concerns for him rested. He avoided any talk of his mother, clinging to his secret with iron hands. They’d spoken, however, about her own life as he showed her the gardens at his home. They’d been breathtaking, and Alex had imagined setting a table for two and preparing an elaborate meal that could be enjoyed amongst the beds of irises and lilies.
She planned to do just that if she didn’t strangle him first.
She glanced over at him and was surprised to find that he was not looking at her. Neither was he glaring. Instead, he was hunched over, talking to Oliver and wearing a smile on his face. Oliver was grinning as well, but his chin was tucked and his cheeks were red, obviously nervous about speaking to an earl. It was the closest many of the children would ever get to royalty, but definitely for a crippled lad like Oliver.
There was no way one could fail to miss the unusual bend in Oliver’s right leg. It had been purposefully done by his mother as a way to gain more money while begging. Best Home was made up of three homes to help with space and access. Oliver lived in the home in St. Giles, which was one of the worst places anyone could. The children in St. Giles were also very different than the ones usually delivered to the Paddington home, where Alex had grown up. St. Giles was a rough neighborhood and children often disappeared, leaving and returning at their parents’ whim, and there were those who were like Oliver—deformed.
The children from St. Giles did not participate in the musical. Though a few in Society lent their hands the impoverished, most were not ready to see children like Oliver. He was not even the worst of them. Oliver had only come because he’d wanted to hear the music. Since life already made it impossible for him to do what other children did, Alicia had allowed it.
But to have him play before Lady Charles and her friends?
And to go first?
Alex looked at Ellen, but it was Alicia who spoke. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Ellen’s pale blue eyes left Oliver and settled on Alicia; her face was set in determination. “Let them see just who they’d be affecting the most.” Ellen Boyd had grown up in St. Giles, so Alex hadn’t met her until she had nearly grown out of the house. Ellen had come to perform for a musical— which again, rarely happened— but when Alex had heard Ellen sing, she’d been swept away. It was like listening to an angel lift the burdens of life from her shoulders, bathing you in light, and welcoming you to paradise. Since then, Ellen had led the musical. She was married to the captain of a merchant ship and, by all accounts, they were happy.
Alicia looked at Oliver again then nodded with a shrug. “Very well. The sponsors are already in a fuss. What harm can it do?”
Alex returned to her charges as Ellen went over to speak to Oliver.
The boy’s face lit up but then worry pulled at his brow. Whatever Ellen said must have worked, though, because a moment later the lad jutted out his chin and nodded.
Usually, Ellen would introduce the children and give details as to what the crowd could expect that night. Tonight, however, she’d decided to hold off on the introduction as well. It seemed Oliver’s performance would be the prelude for the night.
He grabbed his wooden crutch from the wall with one hand and pointed with the other. Justin moved, bending over to give the boy his violin. Justin said something that made the boy laugh. Then Oliver turned and started for the door with a determination that Alex had never seen before.
The door was opened, and Oliver was engulfed by the music room’s darkness.
From the hallway, Alex heard the gasp, even over the high whispers of the children around her.
Alicia hushed them and then there was the faint sound of a chair being dragged, followed by silence.
The next sound to disturb the silence was a breathtaking collection of notes that covered Alex in gooseflesh. The melody was ethereal, ghostly but without fear. It was airy and seemed to brush the scenes with a calm that could only come from a celestial being. The delicate music made Alex think of life at its barest elements. Air, earth, and abundant light.
She didn’t recognize the melody, but she never wanted it to end.
When it did, Alex was wiping tears from her eyes, as were a few of the other teachers in the hall. Phillip had looked pensive and sad, as though the music had made him think of something he’d forgotten. Justin was… he was staring at her.
And he was at her side.
His hands came up with a handkerchief and wiped her tears, which was indecent, but so had many of Justin’s touches been of late. When they were together, he was touching her unless he was upset.
He was never upset for long.
“That boy plays at a master’s level,” he said.
Alex sniffed and took the handkerchief from him so they’d stop making a scene. “What song was that? I’ve never heard it before.” He dabbed under her eyes.
“He wrote it. We’d been discussing music. I told him to play it. I told him it may be his only chance for it and not to be offended if the crowd didn’t appreciate it. Aristocrats are known to be dull.” His pale green eyes glittered savagely.
She smiled and laughed. “You’re an aristocrat. Am I to believe you to be dull?”
He moved closer and whispered, “You tell me.”
She looked away just as Oliver came back into the hall, followed by the sounds of cheering.
His eyes seemed to be searching for someone and then they found Justin and smiled.
“I’ll be right back,” Justin said before going over to the lad, not waiting for Alex’s word of agreement.
Had someone told her a man like Justin existed, she’d not have believed them. No lord whose beauty one could say had been crafted from the tales of magical princes wished to court a girl without a drop of blue blood or cared to make a young orphan boy smile. He was beautiful in spite of what had always been told to him. In Alex’s eyes, he was untarnished, boy and heart.
She choked as more tears came to her eyes.
“Mary Francis was right,” Alicia whispered at her side. “Justin is a fine catch.”
“I didn’t catch him,” Alex whispered. He’d not proposed again, not since that day they’d been interr
upted. She wondered why.
Alicia giggled and said, “Oh, he’s very much caught on your hook, Alexandra, and without a doubt you are on his.”
The last of her words were true. She was well and truly caught, and it hadn’t taken her long to fall for him. Never had there been a man easier to love. Despite what stood between them, there was no going back for her heart.
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25
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
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To say that the musical was a success would have been an understatement.
Justin watched the people mingle around him and only realized that he’d somehow found himself part of a Society party when the music ended and everyone besides the children were shown into a sitting room. The food was spread out and various members of the upper class spoke with Alicia and a few others from her staff about their plans for the money they’d be receiving that year.
Everyone who’d sat and listened to the children sing and play had pledged to sponsor for another year, because of Oliver.
He was the only child who’d been allowed to stay, and with the aid of his crutch, he found himself following Lady Charles around the room so that she could parade him around as though she’d taught him the skill herself. She’d already voiced plans for the boy. She wanted him to perform at other events, though she’d made it clear that she planned to hide his leg.
Justin watched them now as the lady spoke to Lord Iverstone, shouting as though his height made it impossible for him to hear her at a normal tone. Oliver had to be tired, but the boy kept his chin up and smiled genuinely. And why not? He was the star of the night. Lady Charles had requested he play two more numbers before the musical was over, and those pieces had been just as moving at the first.
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