Scoundrel in My Dreams by Celeste Bradley

Author:Celeste Bradley
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781429943925
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

In the attic, Laurel sat genteelly at the table, clad in her lovely new gown, feeling like a goddess from the skin out after a breakfast, a quick washbowl bath, and donning the most luxurious underthings on earth.

With her beautiful daughter cuddled on her lap, showing off her new kitten, life could not be better at this moment. Laurel let the balm of Melody’s childish chatter soothe every missed moment, every lost hour, every empty day of the past, and wash it away in the brightness of their future.

“I want to name the kitty.”

Laurel smiled. “That’s an excellent notion. Names are very important.”

Melody nodded. “Billy-wick nameded me little Milady, and Maddie and Pru nameded me Mousie, and Wibbly-force nameded me Lady Melody.”

“That’s a great many names for such a small person.” Laurel’s tone was mild, but inside she ached to belong to this childish world. Lady Madeleine and Lady Lambert and even the staff of this madhouse all had given her child nicknames and gifts and time and affection, while Laurel had been off alone mourning something that wasn’t lost. Years wasted in grief.

Melody lifted her head and gazed up at Laurel with those blue eyes so like her own. “You can name me Mousie if you want to. Maddie won’t mind.”

Laurel’s eyes misted at Melody’s sweetness. Then she shook off the wistfulness. “Oh, that’s all right. I already named you. I named you first.” She tentatively ran her fingertips through those dark curls, encouraged when Melody didn’t seem inclined to pull away. “I named you Melody, the moment you were born.”

“Oh.” Chubby hands continued to tease the kitten with the string but after a moment stilled. Melody turned wide eyes up to meet Laurel’s gaze. “Nanny told me that my mama nameded me.”

Laurel’s heart thudded, but she managed to smile calmly at her daughter. “Nanny was quite correct.”

Melody’s tiny brows nearly met as she pondered this development. “Are you my mama? Really, really?”

Laurel couldn’t help a small, damp laugh. “I am really, really your mama. I always have been.”

Melody blinked, then turned back to playing with her kitten. After a few moments of giggling at the mad little creature’s antics, she caught him up in her arms and squeezed fervently. The kitten went quite happily limp and soon a thunderous purr filled the room. Laurel laughed out loud. The world had begun to shimmer with joy in the last moments and she refused to question the lightness bubbling up through her soul.

Melody would come around. It would take time for her to adjust to this new situation, time for her to believe, time for her to—

“Mama, I nameded the kitty!”

Laurel’s breath caught. Mama. The name was a healing balm to her scars. Passing a quick hand over her eyes before Melody could see, Laurel took the kitten in her hands and held him up ceremoniously. “Young sir, you have been named! From this point onward, thou shalt be called—” She looked down at Melody.

“Nanny!”

Laurel bit her lip, for by the look of his giant ears and paws, Nanny was destined to be a large, rangy tomcat.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.