Page 37 of A Virgin for the Duke of Depravity
Margaret truly had a way with children, he realized. Her talent would go to waste at the convent.
“You’re not a very good singer,” Kitty interrupted.
Margaret stopped singing and looked at Kitty with wide eyes, her mouth hanging open in shock. Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline, as if this were the first time anyone had ever told her that her singing was terrible. She looked at Annie for confirmation, and Annie nodded.
“You should take singing lessons,” Kitty added.
“Why, you are so mean to me!” Margaret cried with a laugh. “I shall have to take revenge on you!”
She reached out and grabbed Kitty by the arm. Leo was shocked by the sudden movement, but then she tickled the girl’s sides until she shook free from Margaret’s grasp. Kitty took off running to the opposite side of the room, so Margaret made Annie her new target.
Margaret chased the girls around the room, never once expressing boredom with their game. She dove over the bed in her nice gown to get to the girls as they giggled and shimmied their way away from her.
“I’ll remember what you girls said,” she sniffed when the girls collapsed, exhausted from the game. “This is far from over.”
“You have had your fun,” Leo said. “It is time forallof us to go to bed. Can I trust that you girls are going to stay in bed tonight after your new friend took mercy on you?”
The girls nodded and sat up in bed.
“Let me help you into bed,” Margaret offered, turning down the duvet and patting the mattress.
Annie and Kitty frowned but did not protest.
Before the girls could climb beneath the covers, Leo found a reason to excuse himself. He stood by the door, waiting for Margaret to finish with the girls.
In truth, he was listening to what the girls said to her.
“Thank you,” Kitty said quietly. “Our uncle would have been so angry with us if you were not here.”
“Why do you hide from your uncle? Your lives would be so much easier if you went where you said you would. He would not get frustrated trying to find you.”
He did not hear the response, even as he strained his ears to hear Annie give a reason.
“I shall talk to him,” Margaret answered, her voice loud and clear. “Now, you girls settle in and stay there.”
He heard the rustle of the duvet being folded down and then the sound of Margaret kissing each of the girls goodnight.
She had such a way with the children. Not for the first time, Leo wished she would stay here for longer than one week.
He wished he had someone to help him with Annie and Kitty. Joan did not seem to be up to the task these days.
“Goodnight, Margaret,” Kitty mumbled. “You’re going to be a great mum.”
Margaret said nothing for a moment, but then Leo heard her inch her way to the door.
“But I won’t,” she muttered, just before she opened the door and found him standing outside.
He took in her pained expression at the fact that she would not have children of her own, but he was too annoyed by the way this scene had played out.
He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her down the hall. “Tell me how you did it.”
“Tell you how I did what?” Margaret asked, furrowing her brow. “I found the girls because I myself have hidden many times. But that is not news to you.”
“Not just that you were able to find them, but that you were able to make them laugh. To make themtalkto you. They have hardly said twenty words to me since I moved back to Devishire Mansion.”
Margaret turned to face him, crossing her arms over her chest. Her chin jutted out defiantly as she narrowed her eyes and glared at him. He had clearly overstepped a boundary here, but he was unsure what he said or did to upset her.
“Well, have you tried being open with them?”
