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“Yes,” she nodded. “I have a few things in mind you might like.”

“Like what?” he asked, already titillated by the thought.

“No, no,” she shook her head, and a few strands of her hair fell over her forehead. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

He chuckled. “You will be the death of me, do you know that?”

She finally leaned in and kissed the tip of his nose. “I do,” she chuckled sweetly as she shifted in his lap, trying to move away from him.

“Stay,” he said, inhaling the intoxicating scent of her hair.

“Ah, no, no, no,” she said, pulling away as he was trying to kiss her. “You are trying to get your reward before you do your part. No deal, Your Grace.”

She was now standing at a safe distance from him, leaving his desire for her completely exposed, and he still desired her more than ever.

“Stay,” he repeated. “Just give me a taste of what I will be receiving as my prize.”

“I would but?—”

A knock on the door interrupted her.

“See?” she observed, pointing to the door. “That must be Mrs. Dawson.”

“As always at the most inopportune moment.” He grinned, adjusting himself in his chair so that, whoever it was at the door would not notice him being… indisposed.

“Yes?” he called out, and Mrs. Dawson really appeared in the doorway.

“I shall leave you two alone.” Ciara left with a smile.

Jonathan knew that he would need to be on his best behavior for that reward.

CHAPTER 31

“You know, when I was your age, I used to spend hours in my grandmother’s garden,” Ciara spoke, enchanting Margaret and Henry during their dinner at the Kirdale’s. “There was this one time we thought we found a fairy ring…”

Henry’s eyes widened, his fork pausing midway to his mouth. “A fairy ring? Really? Did you see any fairies?”

Ciara laughed softly, the sound like a melody. “Well, I didn’t see any fairies, but I believed they were there, watching us. My grandmother and I would leave little gifts for them, like flowers and pebbles, and sometimes, we’d find them moved the next day.”

Margaret clasped her hands together, having that wonderful dreamy expression on her face which Ciara remembered so well. “That sounds magical. I wish we could find a fairy ring here. Do you think there are fairies in our garden, Henry?”

Henry, not to be outdone, nodded vigorously. “Of course, there are! We just need to look harder! Your Grace, will you help us find one?”

Ciara’s eyes twinkled with delight. She could see that Rebecca was listening to their conversation intently, and it seemed that even the men had stopped chatting, listening to the story of fairies and their ring.

“I’d love to help you look, my dears. But remember, fairies are shy. We must be very quiet and very kind if we hope to see any signs of them.”

Margaret leaned closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “We’ll be the best fairy hunters ever. Right, Henry?”

Henry nodded solemnly. “We’ll even leave them some of our dessert tonight. Fairies like sweets, don’t they, Your Grace?”

Ciara chuckled, glancing at the half-eaten cake on Henry’s plate. “I’m sure they do, Henry. And you know what? They also love stories. Maybe if we tell them a wonderful story, they’ll come out to listen.”

Margaret’s eyes shone with excitement. “Oh, yes! We can tell them the story about the brave knight and the dragon that I read in one of my books. It is my favorite!”

Ciara nodded with a smile. “That sounds perfect. We’ll have to make sure we remember every detail so the fairies will be captivated.”

That was when Rebecca interjected gently. “It seems that we have a grand adventure planned for tomorrow. But for tonight, it is getting late.”