Page 18 of Lady Diana's Lost Lord

Hannah heaved a sigh that was startlingly heavy for a girl of her years, falling into step beside Diana as they started toward town—a pleasant, largely downhill journey that would doubtless be somewhat less than enjoyable on their way back. With her free hand, she ticked off her offenses upon her fingers. “Miss Wright,” she said sullenly. “Mrs. Mead. Miss Hughes. Mrs. Miller. That’s”—she held up four fingers—“this many.”

“Four,” Diana said. “That’s four.”

Hannah rolled her shoulders in a little shrug.

“You can’t count?”

With an aggressive little jerk of her hand, Hannah declared, “I knowallthe numbers.”

But not, Diana decided, the order in which to place them. “Do you want to know how to count them properly? How to add them and subtract them and multiply and divide them?”

Those small fingers wiggled in her own. Hannah turned her chin up, her brow furrowing in concentration as she considered the question. “No,” she decided at last.

Well, shehadtried. “Not even to help your papa?” The little blond head jerked toward her own. “If you could do all of those things,” she said, “you could help your papa tally the household funds”—not that there were so very many of them—“or buy things at market. But you would have to know how to do it. Say it’s tuppence for a loaf of bread. How many loaves could you buy with a sixpence piece?”

“Dunno.” Hannah’s eyes slid away, and she gave a tiny roll of her shoulders.

“But youcould,” Diana said. “I think you’re quite a clever little girl, Hannah. I imagine there is very little you could not do, if you set your mind to it.” The rooftops stretched out before them on the road below—mostly little thatched-roof buildings. Quaint, she thought. A charming village. Notlarge, but probably large enough to acquire a good number of things, had she the need of them. Probably there was a baker and a butcher. Perhaps a market of sorts, where they might acquire fresh fruits and vegetables, though she doubted it would be anything quite so grand or exotic as she might have had in London.

Eggs and toast, she thought. Such a simple breakfast. And only twelve shillings within their coffers. She had absently tossed at least twice that into her reticule from the purse of coin tucked away in her trunk just on the anticipation of a trip into the village, and still it would likely be far more than this trip would require.

“Suppose, ifyou’re very good,” Diana said, “we buy a bit more than only hair ribbons.”

Hannah peered up at her, her feet scurrying to keep up the pace. “Like what?”

“What do you like to eat?”

“Toffee candies,” Hannah said immediately. “And raspberries. Strawberries, lemon biscuits, cheese, mince pie—”

Diana choked on a little flutter of laughter. “All right,”she said. “Supposing we can find all of that in the village,andsupposing you’ve properly made your apologies, we’ll buy a bit of all of it. On one condition.”

“What’s a condition?” Hannah asked, a new spring in her step.

“It means I want something else from you in exchange,” Diana said. “You will help me count everything.”

The sprightly step died. Hannah scowled. “Everything?”

“Everything. You’ll help me count the items, work out the cost, and pay.”

A surly frown. “Do Ihaveto?”

“Well,” Diana said. “I suppose it depends on how badly you want that mince pie.”

∞∞∞

The house was aglow with light once again, and Ben fought against a surge of annoyance that so many candles had once more been wasted. But this time, at least, the door had not been latched, and he strode into the kitchen, startling both Diana and Hannah, who were seated at the kitchen table, their heads bent over something laid out upon the table.

“Papa!” Hannah bounced out of her chair in delight. She scampered toward him, her nightdress billowing about her, and when he swung her up in his arms, he caught sight of the pretty new lilac ribbons tied in bows around the tails of her plaits. She turned her cheek up to his face for a kiss, and his mouth came away sticky with the noisy smack of it. And sweet.

“Is that toffee?” he asked, rubbing the cuff of his shirt across her cheeks to rid her face of the sticky residue left behind.

“Yes! I got five candies because that’s how high I counted.” She wiggled the fingers of her left hand in his face.

Ben wasn’t certain what that was meant to signify, but Hannah seemed rather proud of herself, and he supposed that was all that mattered. “And new ribbons,” he added. “I take it you behaved appropriately?” This was more directed to Diana than to Hannah.

“Well enough to have earned the ribbons,” Diana said, though the lingering dryness in her voice suggested that it had been a near thing indeed.

“I had strawberries and cheese for dinner!” Hannah said. Lowering her voice to not quite a whisper, she said, “Diana can’t cook.”