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“Apologies, Lord,” Toby sounded around another spoonful of pie.

“No need to apologize, lad,” Percy replied, waving a dismissive hand through the air. “This will not be your last meal. There is plenty more where that one came from. Take your time, or you will suffer stomach discomfort later.”

“More?” The boy’s eyes widened once more.

“Yes, there is more,” Percy reassured him.

The boy slowed down a little bit more at Percy’s reassurance but not by much. It was clear that it had been a long time since his last meal. Once the boy had finished two pies, his cup of light ale, and two glasses of honeyed milk, he sat back with a satisfied sigh and rubbed his extended stomach.

As the boy ate, a comfortable silence fell between them. Percy’s mind wondered back to his mother then to his father then finally to Francis. All precious,goodpeople, who no longer had the privilege of walking the earth.

A yearning for them filled his heart then. Francis had not been the one for him. Their marriage would have been bearably comfortable at best and distant at worse—but she did not have to die. But she had. Because of him. Because of his curse.

“That was good,” Toby praised, shoving his second empty plate away from him.

He patted his now-bloated stomach, and a slight belch escaped his lips. A smile so large it nearly ate up his face was now on his face.

Toby’s apparent happiness pulled Percy out of his morbid reverie, and he nodded his head and gave him a proud smile.

Percy then chuckled, pleased. “I am glad that you liked it.”

“It was the best thing that I have ever eaten,” the boy answered, his voice dreamy at the thought of it. “Thank you, Sir. Truly.”

Percy studied the boy a moment more before he said, “Mr. Matthews, I have a proposal for you.”

“A proposal, My Lord?” Toby questioned, his brow furrowed in confusion.

Percy nodded.

“It means offer,” he explained, making a mental note to have one of the more educated servants teach him to read. “What would you think about coming to work for me at my estate? I could use another stable hand. My man, Gregor, is getting on in years and has been asking for me to choose a man for him to train up to replace him someday. I believe that you might be just such a man.”

The boy’s eyes grew wider than they had when he had seen the steak and kidney pie. “You want me to come to work for you, My Lord?”

“I do,” Percy nodded, then added, “in exchange for fair wages and a bed of your own.”

Percy could tell the offer was tempting to the boy, but he was far too jaded to simply accept.

“What would I need to do?” Toby asked slowly.

“You would help Gregor with training the horses, cleaning stalls, keeping the horses fed and watered. Gregor would train you, and when you are grown, you could take his place,” Percy explained.

“With honest wages, I could buy food,” Toby muttered, his eyes widening at the thought. “Real,good food.”

“We would feed you as well, lad,” Percy replied, trying to not let the sympathy he felt touch his voice. A boy like Toby would not react well to that and might even run off, taking offense.

“But, if what I provide at my manor is not to your liking, then yes, you may buy whatever you like with your wages.”

Toby narrowed at Percy suspiciously.

“Why me?” the boy asked, clearly believing that it was all too good to be true.

“Why not you?” Percy asked simply in return, offering a shrug.

The boy smiled at this.

“What do you say, Mr. Matthews? Would you take the job? Spare my man Gregor the time from finding another? He will need help, either way.”

“I would, My Lord,” Toby replied decidedly. The boy’s brow then furrowed in question. “My Lord?”