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His skin had a pleasant aniers, still chilly from the stream, warmed comfortably as I ordered the soft strands of silky chestnut hair It was very thick, and slightly wavy On the crown of his head was a cowlick, a delicate whorl that gave o to see; Jamie had the same cowlick, in the sauely round, as though one ht ht; I’ll lend you one" I finished plaiting his hair and tied it with a scrap of yellow ribbon, feeling as I did so an odd sense of protectiveness

I had learned of his existence only a few years earlier, and if I had thought of him in the meantime at all, had felt no ed with resent--be it his resemblance to my own child, his resemblance to Jamie, or simply the fact that I had taken care of hi of almost proprietary concern for him

I could hear the ruh, and my annoyance at John Grey came back with a rush How dare he risk both Jamie and William--and for what? Why was the bloody man here, in a wilderness as blatantly unsuited to someone of his sort as a--

The door opened, and Jaht?" he asked His eyes rested on the boy, an expression of polite concern on his face, but I saw his hand, curled tight as it rested on the door fra and shoulder He was strung like a harp; if I had touched hi noise

"Quite all right," I said pleasantly "Would Lord John care for some refreshment, do you think?"

I put the kettle on to boil for tea, and--with an inner sigh--took out the last loaf of bread, which I had meant to use forthat the eht out the last bottle of brandy as well Then I put the ja that the butter was unfortunately in the custody of the pig at theconfused

"In the pantry," I said, with a nod at the closed door

"Why do you keep--" he started, then sat up sharply and closed hisobviously been kicked under the table by his stepfather, as s pleasantly over his cup

"It is very kind of you to receive us, Mrs Fraser," Lord John interjected, giving his stepson a warning eye "I do apologize for our unexpected arrival; I hope we do not disco just where ere going to put theo to the shed with Ian, I supposed; it was no worse than sleeping rough, as he had been doing But the thought of sharing a bed with Jath away…

Ian, with his usual instinct for s, and was introduced all round, with such a confusion of explanations and reciprocal bowing in cra this minor disaster as an excuse, I sent Ian off to show William the attractions of wood and stream, with a packet of jam sandwiches and a bottle of cider to share between the presences, I filled the cups with brandy, sat down again, and fixed John Grey with a narrow eye

"What are you doing here?" I said, without preaht blue eyes very wide, then lowered his very long lashes and batted them deliberately atyour husband, I assure you," he said

"John!" Jamie’s fist struck the table with a force that rattled the teacups His cheekbones were flushed dark red, and he was scowling with eone white, though he remained otherwise visibly unruffled It occurred to ht possibly be as unnerved as Jaies, ma’aivable I would point out, however, that you have been looking atin the gutter outside soht flush burned over his face now, too

"Sorry," I breathed "Give me a bit more notice next time, and I’ll take care to adjust my features"

He stood up suddenly and went to the here he stood with his back to the rooly aard silence I didn’t want to look at Jareat interest in a bottle of fennel seeds that stood on the table

"My wife has died," he said abruptly "On the ship between England and Ja to join me there"

"I am sorry to hear of it," Jamie said quietly "The lad will have been with her?"

"Yes" Lord John turned back, leaning against the sill, so that the spring sunlight silhouetted his neat head and gave hi halo "Willie was--very close to Isobel She was the only mother he’d known since his birth"

Willie’s truebirth to him; his presumed father, the Earl of Ellesmere, had died the same day, in an accident So much, Jamie had already told me Likewise, that Geneva’s sister, Isobel, had taken care of the orphaned boy, and that John Grey had married Isobel when Willie was six or so--at the time Jamie had left the Dunsanys’ employ

"I’m very sorry," I said, sincerely, and didn’t ave overnor was nearly at an end; I had intended perhaps to take up residence on the island, should the clirief-stricken by the loss of his mother; it seemed advisable to seek to distract his mind by whatever means I could An opportunity presented itself ale property in Virginia, which she had bequeathed to William Upon her death, I received inquiries fro for instruction"

Heslowly back toward the table where we sat

"I could not well decide what to do with the property without seeing it, and evaluating the conditions that obtain here So I determined that we should sail to Charleston, and froinia I trusted to the novelty of the experience to divert Williarief--which I am pleased to observe, it seems to have done He has been much more cheerful these past weeks"

I opened e seeht better of it

He appeared to guess what I was thinking, for he gaveabout hts was one thing, and not at all unpleasant, on the whole Having total strangers walk in and out ofelse