brought Lily to London in the spring they no longer thought of how she had become their daughter.
Everyone commented on the baby’s striking resemblance to Christina and it quickly became a notion that neither the earl nor countess saw fit to correct. Even with their closest family members.
Perhaps that might have changed over time, but Christina became ill and the focus shifted away from the joy and excitement of the new baby. The illness lingered, worsened. As Christina’s health steadily declined, it was the presence of Lily that kept them all sane, that brought the only joy and laughter in the household. And when Christina died—Cameron closed his eyes, as if shutting them could miraculously release him from the persistent pain of those three-year-old memories.
If not for Lily, he very well might have gone mad with grief. His little girl was the sole reason he had forced himself to move forward each day. To rise from his bed, to dress, to shave, to make the effort to resume a normal routine.
His love for the child was all encompassing and unconditional. She was his daughter, in all things that mattered, and as he told Tremaine, he would protect her at all costs.
A chilling gust of early December wind hit as Cameron slowed his mount and expertly negotiated the heavily clogged streets. He turned into Grosvenor Square and trotted through the gates of his London residence. Sliding out of the saddle, the earl flipped the reins to a waiting groom.
The front door opened before he reached it.
“Where is Lady Lily?” Cameron asked as he handed over his riding crop, hat, gloves and capped greatcoat to the waiting butler.
The servant opened his mouth to answer, but his reply was drowned out by a squeal of delight echoing from the top step of the winding staircase.
“Papa! You are home at long last!”
The earl smiled at the greeting, silently acknowledging it was a bit dramatic, since he had seen Lily earlier in the morning when they had eaten breakfast together. Nevertheless, he enjoyed the child’s obvious enthusiasm as she bounded down the stairs.
“Lily!” The voice of his sister, Charlotte, standing on the upper landing, invaded the space. “Be careful. The staircase can be slippery.”
Ignoring her aunt’s reprimand, Lily jumped from the final step to the patterned marble floor of the foyer. Recovering her balance, the little girl straightened, curtsied to him, then skipped over for a kiss.
“Oh, Papa, your beard is scratchy,” she complained, but she snuggled closer for a second kiss.
Cameron tightened his hug. “Hey, Puss. How was your day?”
She pulled back and gave him a puzzled frown. “You sound funny, Papa. Is your throat feeling sore?”
Cameron swallowed and shook his head. His voice had become hoarse with emotion as he held her tight. The overwhelming impulse to bar the front doors and have his pistols brought at once nearly destroyed his common sense, so great was the need he felt to protect her.
“It must be the cold that makes me sound so odd,” he replied lightly. “The wind is blowing fiercely.”
She accepted his explanation trustingly, her blond curls bobbing. “You must wear a scarf around your neck when it is so cold. That’s what Aunt Charlotte tells me.”
“Aunt Charlotte is wise in such important matters.”
His eyes traveled to the staircase where his sister Charlotte was slowly descending, limping awkwardly down each step. She had been born with a malformed hip socket making one leg slightly shorter than the other and her gait always seemed more pronounced on cold or damp days.
“Mrs. James is suffering from a migraine,” Charlotte informed him when she finally arrived at the bottom of the staircase. “I volunteered to look after Lily this afternoon.”
“We had a tea party in the nursery, with lemonade and my favorite cream cakes,” Lily announced. “But it was dull without any male companions.”
“Male companions?” the earl repeated, with a raised brow. “Where on earth did you hear such a term?”
“From my best friend, Jane Grolier. She is nearly eight years old and knows so many important things. Her governess is Mrs. James’s sister. We play in the park together.”
“She is the daughter of Viscount Harding,” Charlotte supplied.
“She sounds like a very bold little girl.”
“Oh, she is bold!” Lily replied happily. “Jane has three sisters and two brothers. I want you to meet her. She told me if she is presented to an earl her eldest sister must come along. And once her sister sees you then she will want to marry you. Did you know you are a brilliant catch, Papa? That’s what Jane says.”
Good God. Cameron sent an annoyed glance at his sister. Charlotte shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “Jane is the youngest of the children,” Charlotte said, as if that explained everything.
“I am not certain that she is fit company for Lily,” the earl whispered back.
“Jane is a tad precocious, but still a polite and well-mannered child. We shall be leaving for Windmere manor next week to begin our Christmas holiday celebrations, so the girls will be apart for at least a month or more. I suppose we can put a stop to the meetings before that, if you wish,” Charlotte said skeptically. “But I do believe it will greatly upset Lily.”
The earl glanced down at his daughter. She was out of earshot, playing a game in the foyer, hopping on her left foot from one black marble square to the next. “We might as well wait. Though I expect you to keep a close eye on this budding friendship for me, Charlotte.”
“Of course, Cameron. You know I want only the best for Lily.”
“I know.” The earl leaned forward and gave his sister a gentle kiss on the forehead. He had overreacted, thanks to his unsettling meeting at White’s and it was hardly fair to take out his bad humor on Charlotte.
His sister was a timid woman, protected and cosseted since birth. Her bodily imperfection had curtailed not only her physical activity, but her social interaction and she usually had difficulty speaking her mind. Even with him.
“Do you have to work now, Papa?”
“For a few hours, but I shall join you for dinner.”
“Will you dress?”
“If you’d like.” The earl grinned. Lily had recently become very interested in fashion and adored the idea of dressing formally for dinner.
“Oh, yes, please. I have a brand-new yellow gown with three ruffles of lace on the bottom that I shall wear.”
“I am sure you will look very fetching.”
“I do hope so.” Her mind preoccupied with her dinner outfit, Lily skipped from the room.
The earl expected his sister would follow her, but as she turned to leave he caught a slight frown on Charlotte’s face.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
Charlotte
