Page 66 of The Pleasures of Passion
His broad smile gave her pause, but she refused to dwell on it. He was going to teach her how to manage an estate. And perhaps from that she could deduce his true character. That was all that mattered.
Or so she told herself.
An hour later they were in his carriage, headed for Margrave Manor. It was just her and Aunt Agatha and Silas. Brilliana had left Nurse behind. But not because of what Niall had said about letting Aunt Agatha be occupied with looking after Silas, and thus unable to chaperonethem. Certainly not.
Liar.
“So, Lord Margrave,” Aunt Agatha said. “I understand that you’ve been suffering some financial difficulties at Margrave Manor since your return.”
“What?” Brilliana exclaimed.
When he lifted an eyebrow at her, she belatedly remembered what the gossips were supposed to be spreading around. Drat it, this subterfuge of Lord Fulkham’s grew more onerous by the day.
“That’s what I’ve heard in town,” Aunt Agatha said.
Niall flashed the woman a bland smile. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“I should hope not.” Aunt Agatha stared him down. “I wouldn’t wish to see my niece forced to deal with an estate mired in debt when she already has a struggling estate of her own.”
Brilliana choked back a laugh. Niall was clearly going to regret having invited Aunt Agatha along.
“Surely it’s not ‘of her own,’ ” Niall said. “Doesn’t it belong to young Silas?”
Hearing his name mentioned, Silas, who’d been bouncing happily up and down on the seat beside Niall, crawled onto his lap, then sat staring up at the earl with rank curiosity.
The expression on Niall’s face was priceless. It was obvious he’d never had to deal with a small child, for he shot her a helpless glance, as if to say,What the devil do I do with him?
“Silas, come here,” she said.
Silas simply cocked his head and continued to regard Niall with interest. “Jack.” He held out his hand. “Jack. Jack.”
“I’m sorry, lad,” Niall said. “But my name isn’t Jack. It’s . . . er . . . Margrave.”
Brilliana and Aunt Agatha burst into laughter, which elicited a scowl from Niall.
“That’s what he calls his jack-in-the-box,” Brilliana explained. “He remembers that you helped him with it, so he thinks you can get it for him.”
“Ah,” Niall said. “Sorry, lad, no Jacks here.”
“I told you we should have brought it along,” Aunt Agatha said. “The lad is very attached to it.”
“Literally,” Brilliana said. “And I didn’t want to deal with his catching his fingers in it all the time.”
“What about this, lad?” Niall pulled out his pocket watch. “It makes music just like your ‘Jack.’ ”
He turned it over to wind it, then pushed a button. As a familiar tune fromEine Kleine Nachtmusikbegan to play, Silas clapped his hands. His pleasure was so infectious, even Niall smiled.
When the song ran out, Silas grabbed the watch, scrambled off Niall’s lap, and brought it to Brilliana. “Jack,” he said. “Jack.”
“Give it here, lad,” Niall said.
“It’s fine—I can do it,” Brilliana said as she wound the music-box portion of the watch and pressed the button. “Looks like ‘Jack’ has become his word for ‘make it go.’ ”
She started to hand the watch back to Niall, but her aunt took it instead. “Is this one of those automaton watches?”
An odd look of alarm crossed Niall’s face, but before he could answer, Aunt Agatha had opened the watch to look at the inside panel. Then she froze.
“What is it?” Brilliana asked.
