Page 36 of When a Duke Loves a Woman
“He will be,” she insisted, trying not to be disappointed by her words.
Still sitting at the table, Thorne paid a bit more attention to his surroundings. In addition to numerous smaller square tables, there were several long ones with benches where he assumed groups of people found it easier to gather. Some of the men smoked pipes, the smoke filling the room with a heady aroma. Here and there oil paintings depicting a mermaid or a unicorn or both hung on the walls. At the far end of the taproom, an open doorway led into another room, a dining hall. Stairs ascended to a loft with a railing and he could imagine someone standing up there, addressing the crowd below. The place had a much-used feel to it and yet it was also obvious it was very well cared for.
He wasn’t surprised. It was clear Gillie poured all that she was into any task set before her, whether it was managing a tavern or caring for an injured man. Or helping that man find the woman he was to marry. Anxious to get back to that last task, he was tapping his walking stick repeatedly on the floor, wondering what was keeping Gillie, when the urchin—who couldn’t have been any older than eight—suddenly appeared before him.
“Caw, blimey, wot’s that?” The boy’s clothes weren’t fancy, nor were they a perfect fit, but they and the lad appeared to be clean.
Thorne looked to where he was pointing. “A walking stick.”
“I know that.” He rolled his eyes. “That. The gold part.”
“Ah.” Thorne tossed the stick up, caught it midway between either end, and swung it toward the lad so he could see the tip more clearly. “A lion.”
“Is it real or like a unicorn?”
He couldn’t help but believe that this might be the boy Gillie had sent to fetch the physician. What was his name? He couldn’t recall. But he suspected she’d told the lad all about unicorns. “It’s real. Have you never been to the zoological gardens?”
“Wot’s that?”
“It’s a place where they house animals for people to look at.”
“Wot? Like dogs ’n’ rats?”
“No, like lions and tigers and elephants. Animals from all around the world. And a giraffe. A giraffe is so tall that his head would break through the ceiling here.”
The boy’s eyes grew round. “Yer lyin’.”
“Why would I do that?”
The scamp seemed to ponder that for a bit and then he narrowed his eyes. “Ye owe me, ye know.”
Thorne began twirling the stick, over, under, around his hand. “Do I? Why is that?”
“I fetched the doctor. If I hadn’t, ye’d be dead. I used the money Gillie gave me for a hansom, like I was supposed to so I’d be quick. I could have just kept it.” The boy seemed to be very deliberate in pronouncing thehwhen he spoke a word that began with one. He wondered how much Gillie might be responsible for that particular mannerism.
“What would you have done with it then?”
“I’m saving it, for something for Gillie.”
“What precisely?”
“I ain’t tellin’. But you owe me,” he repeated with a bit more confidence, as though he’d latched onto the idea and favored it now that he’d put it into words.
“How much?” Thorne asked.
The imp scrunched up his face, then blurted, “A shilling?”
“I daresay, I shall hope my life is worth a good deal more than that.”
“A half crown?”
Odd to realize what he considered pittance, could be treasure to another. “I should think at least a full crown, surely.”
The lad’s face split into a wide grin as he held out a hand.
Reaching into his jacket, Thorne pulled out his purse. “Who is it that I’m paying?”
“Robin.”
