An Unlikely Father by Lynn Collum

Author:Lynn Collum [Collum, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Oliver would take a strip off the old man’s back later for his negligence, but he knew Bates was as unfamiliar with children as he was. For now he needed to get the boy down. He removed his coat and tossed it heedlessly over a stall rail. Beside him Miss Collins called, “Don’t move, Jamie. Your uncle will be up to help you down.” The earl took the stairs two at a time and entered the hayloft. It took only a moment to determine how his nephew had managed to climb to his precarious location. Oliver scaled the wooden slats, scraping his Hessians in the narrow space never meant for climbing, to where the lad sat frozen in fear. “Take my hand, Jamie.” His lordship’s ward seemed to find confidence in his uncle’s calm voice. After one fearful glance at the distant floor, he stretched out his dust-coated hand and grasped his rescuer’s.

Below, Emily held her breath. She watched the earl pull the boy to him, drawing him tight against his chest. Within a matter of minutes, the two were safely back down on the loft floor.

His lordship hugged the lad for a second longer. “Are you all right, Jamie?”

The boy merely nodded his head. Honoria dashed up the stairs and hugged them both. “Thank you for saving him, Uncle.”

Emily felt her heart warm as his lordship gazed down at the pair and ruffled their dark locks. “I told you I would take care of you. Now promise me you will never do anything so foolish again.”

“We promise, Uncle Oliver,” the pair chimed in unison.

When the trio were once again standing on the cobblestone aisle, Miss Collins thanked him. There was a warm glow in her amber eyes that surprised the earl and gave his spirits a lift. But there was no time for private conversation as the children drew the lady to Matilda’s pen. After some moments of admiring the goat, she announced that they’d all had enough excitement for one day. With that, she swept the children back towards the castle.

The earl shrugged on his coat as he watched his young relatives and Miss Collins disappear round the corner. Oliver wasn’t certain when it had happened, but he’d actually begun to like those two mischievous imps. Was that what Miss Collins had been trying to bring about? There had been a look of pure delight in her amber eyes as she’d watched the three of them hugging in the loft.

Clearly the children were going to be a handful, but with Miss Collins’s guidance, he was certain he would manage. But would the lady be at Hawk’s Lair much longer? The thought that she would be returning to her own life and affairs left him feeling unaccountably dissatisfied. Could he cope with the children without her guiding wisdom?

Then he remembered there was to be a female in his life—Lady Cora. For almost the entire week, he’d managed not to think about the woman his grandmother had him practically betrothed to.

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