Page 70 of The Duchess Audition

“No, you aren’t,” he protested, climbing the ladder up to the mezzanine. “You just don’t want to play with me. Same as you didn’t want to play with me yesterday or the day before.”

She frowned at him. “That is not true, William. Please, do not climb up here; it is not safe for you.”

“You see, you want to avoid me!” His little face was red with fury, his eyes flashing. “If you didn’t, you would be downstairs with me.”

Feeling like she might cry with exhaustion and frustration, she forced herself to take a steadying breath. “The books I need are up here, and they are very heavy. That is all there is to it.” She paused. “Go on, go back down the ladder and continue that list for me.”

“If I do, do you promise we can go to the woods?”

She took another deep breath. “In truth, I do not know if I can actually promise that. But I can promise that we will play tomorrow. I will make sure of it.”

It saddened her that she had somewhat neglected the poor boy, but with her uncle’s life at stake, it could not be helped. There would be ample time to play in the future, but if she did not find something to help her uncle, then there was no guarantee that he would be around for too much longer.

“You are just like her!” William suddenly snarled, his face screwed up.

He scrambled down the ladder… and the next moment, a chilling smash of something shattering filled the quiet library.

Marina shot up from her chair and ran to the railing of the mezzanine, her heart in her throat as she looked down. A ceramic jar lay in pieces, white powder streaking across the floor.

She exhaled, sending up a prayer of gratitude to the heavens: it was just finely ground salt. Nothing that could not be replaced.

“Now, why did you go and do a thing like that?” she asked as calmly as she could, while she turned and made her way down the ladder.

“Because you don’t want to be my stepmother,” he shot back, rubbing his eyes. “You want to get rid of me, just like her.”

Marina moved closer to the boy and sank down to her knees, to be at his level. “Like who?”

He sniffed. “My mother. You wish I wasn’t here. You wish you could leave me.”

“Your mother?” Marina’s brow furrowed into a deep frown. “You remember her?”

He shrugged, hiding his red face. “Not much, but… I know she didn’t like me. She ignored me, and now you’re doing it too.” His voice became a hiccup. “I don’t know what I did wrong.”

You poor, poor thing. She had had no idea that he knew anything about his mother, for he had been just three when she died. More to the point, Anthony had informed her that his son did not remember his mother.

“William…” She reached for his hands, pulling them away from his face and holding them tightly. “William, you did not do anything wrong, and I am not ignoring you. I treasure you, sweet boy. It is my fault for not explaining that I might be very busy for a week or two, but it has nothing to do with you.”

His mouth twisted, his teary eyes refusing to meet hers. “You’re just saying that so I won’t smash anything else.”

“Well, I would hope that you would not,” she replied. “After all, these things are for helping people get better when they are sick. But that is not why I am saying such things. I am saying them because I mean them, William. I neither want to be rid of you nor want to leave you, though I will be very sad if you smash anything else.”

He chewed his lower lip, muttering, “I’m sorry.”

“I forgive you,” she told him, as she pulled him toward her and wrapped him up in a tender hug. “Now, can you forgive me for being distracted with my work?”

He nodded against her shoulder, his little arms gripping her as if his life depended on it.

“I do adore you,” she said. “Please, never doubt that.”

“I adore you too,” he murmured.

“But you must be patient for a while. Do you think you can do that?”

He held her even tighter. “I can. And I won’t break anything else and make you hate me; I swear it.”

“Sweet boy, I could never hate you,” she promised. “You have done nothing wrong… aside from throwing that jar, but I understand you were frustrated. Let us make sure it does not happen again, and I assure you that we will play tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry,” he repeated thickly, burrowing his face in her shoulder.