Duchess 02 - Surprising Lord Jack by Sally Mackenzie Page B

go on. If he follows you inside, then that’s what he does.”
    “I don’t know. I—” She glanced down, startled. A small hand had snuck into hers.
    “Come on, Mr. Francis,” Eliza said, tugging her toward the house. “We don’t want to miss nuncheon.”
    Frances gave up and allowed Eliza to pull her along. She would just have to do her best to maintain her charade. Perhaps she could blend into the wainscoting.
    Odd. It felt rather pleasant to have Eliza’s hand in hers. The little girl was not like other children. She was very well behaved, almost preternaturally mature. And even though Frances knew it was extremely silly, she felt a sort of kinship with her just because Eliza had red hair and freckles like she did.
    “Did Milord Jack find you on the street, too?” Eliza asked, looking up at Frances. “That’s where he found me.”
    Dear God, the poor child. “Ah no. I was at an inn on my way to London.”
    Eliza nodded. “Lots of the big boys and girls go to London to be ’prenticed to someone. Were you on your way to be ’prenticed?”
    “No, I was going to visit my brother.”
    “Oh.” She gave a little hop. “Jenny wants to be ’prenticed to a dressmaker. I don’t know what I want yet. I’m only four.” She skipped a few steps. “’Course, I don’t know how old I am for sure. Milord Jack guesses I’m four.” She looked up at Frances. “How old are you?”
    “Ah . . .” She did not want to lie to the little girl, but she couldn’t tell the truth. Eliza might let it slip when she saw Jack. “Older than four.”
    Eliza accepted that, moving on to a new topic. “We get to pick a birthday. I picked July first because I like summer. When’s your birthday?”
    “April fourth.” She’d never considered someone might not know his birth date, but of course the baby they’d found today would never know it.
    And there was no need for him to know. A birthday was just like any other day. No one had ever made a fuss about Frances’s and Frederick’s birthday. Still, it seemed somehow wrong not to know such a basic fact about oneself.
    When they reached the house, Eliza pulled her through the door and across the entrance hall. It was a surprisingly large, airy place, much pleasanter than Frances had expected.
    She heard the scrabbling of nails behind her and glanced over her shoulder. Shakespeare was still following them. Well, if Mr. Understadt wasn’t concerned about the dog’s presence in the house, she wouldn’t be either. Lord Jack could certainly evict the animal if he wanted to.
    Eliza brought her to a big, noisy room. There were four large round tables with about ten children and a teacher at each—two tables of girls and two of boys. Eliza ran off to join the little girls sitting with Miss Weatherby, leaving Frances to stand awkwardly in the middle of the floor. The baby was nowhere in sight—Miss Weatherby must have successfully handed him off to Mrs. Understadt. Where was Jack?
    “Francis!” Jack called. “Over here!”
    He was sitting with the older boys and their tutor, a man about her age. Oh damn. The boys were still children—the oldest looked to be at most twelve—but they had sharp eyes, and their tutor was obviously an expert in dealing with young males. If she wasn’t very, very careful, her masquerade would come to a very public, very embarrassing end.
    She would keep her eyes on her plate. At least Lord Jack had saved her the place next to him.
    “Look! He’s got a dog!” one of the boys called.
    All the children turned to stare, and some stood up to get a better look, until their teachers bade them take their seats again. But at least they ignored her. She slipped into her seat.
    “I’m sorry, my lord,” she said. “Shakespeare followed me, and Mr. Understadt said it would be all right if he came inside.”
    “Well, I’m afraid he’s causing a bit of a commotion. Sit, Shakespeare, and behave.”
    Shakespeare sat down and looked from Jack to Frances