Page 9 of Snowdrops and Winterberry
“No one is ever happy to be withme.”
“Nurse Robbie loves to be with you,” Lady Jonquil said. “And so do I.”
The confusion in his mind pushed his brows and lips down. Sometimes people didn’t make any sense. “Because I’m a duke?”
“Because you areyou.” She squeezed his hands, but not tight, not so they hurt.
He shook his head. “You say strange things.”
“Someday, Adam, you will believe me.” She released his hands and, taking light hold of his arms, turned him about.
Nurse Robbie stood right beside him, holding his coat. “I’ve asked Lord Jonquil about your jaunt today. He says you’ll be safe during your adventure.”
“Dukes don’t have ‘adventures.’” Adam was quite certain of that.
“Dukes can have all the adventures they wish for.” She slipped one sleeve over his arm. “That is one of the advantages.” She slipped on the other one.
“Do dukes have to go to school?” he asked.
She nodded. “When they are children, aye.”
He didn’t like that answer, but it wasn’t a surprise.
“You could go up the mountain with us,” he said. Nurse Robbie always looked after him.
But she shook her head. “This is a journey you need to take without me.”
“I don’t like taking journeys without you.” He pushed down the lump in his throat. He’d cried when he’d left Falstone Castle to live near Harrow. Nurse Robbie hadn’t come with him. He didn’t like when she wasn’t with him.
She buttoned the front of his coat. It was black, like all his clothes. He used to wear other colors, but a person had to wear black after someone in their family died. He wasn’t certain why, but he had thought about it. He suspected it was important for people to know when someone was sad about people dying.
“You’ll not be gone long, wee boy. And you’ll be looked after.”
He wasn’t certain of that. “What if he forgets me and leaves me on that mountain?”
She gave him a doubtful look.
He returned it. “Mother forgets me all the time.”
“Do you think, for even a moment, wee’un, that Lady Jonquil would let you be left up there?”
He looked around Nurse Robbie at the lady in question. She smiled. Her eyes were soft and kind.
Lord Jonquil hunched down next to Adam. “I’ve never, ever left anyone on any mountain. It is one of my unbreakable rules. Another is that I always bring food.” He held up a knapsack and wiggled his eyebrows.
The silliness of his expression made a smile bubble inside Adam’s ribs. He kept it tucked there; dukes weren’t supposed to be silly.
“Another of my rules,” Lord Jonquil said, “is that I never force anyone to do anything or go anywhere if he or she does not wishto. The decision is entirely yours, Adam.”
Nurse Robbie didn’t think he was in danger going onto the mountain. Lady Jonquil wanted him to go. And Lord Jonquil was very funny. Maybe a walk on the mountain wouldn’t be terrible.
He could at least try. That would be a very brave thing. Dukes ought to be brave. He gave a nod to Lord Jonquil.
“Excellent.” Lord Jonquil stood once more. He offered a formal bow to Nurse Robbie and to his wife. “We will now embark on our journey. Our apologies in advance for the overwhelming boredom you will experience without us.”
Even Nurse Robbie laughed. She didn’t do that often. The question of why weighed on Adam’s mind as he and Lord Jonquil stepped from the house. Lord Jonquil whistled for his dog, Pooka, who rushed over immediately. Adam kept a safe distance. The dog wasn’t large, but Adam had learned during his years at Falstone Castle that even small dogs could be ferocious.
He and Lord Jonquil rode in a pony cart away from Brier Hill and out to the mountain they meant to walk up. Adam only half noted the things they passed as the cart journeyed along. His mind was pulled between uncertainty over the dog and his worries about Nurse Robbie not laughing very often. Was she unhappy? People at Falstone Castle often were. He didn’t want her to be unhappy. And he worried also about the fact that she didn’t want to go on the mountain with him. Nurse Robbie had always liked being with him before. Had that changed?
