Seeing Danger (Sinclair and Raven #2)(20)

“All right, I will show you around. However I have no wish to hear any words of criticism or condemnation from you, Lord Sinclair.”

Essie laughed with delight as Lilly finished speaking. “Oh, what a treat it is to have another female put you in your place, brother dearest.”

“I shall endeavor to behave,” Dev drawled. He then mouthed, “Deal's off” to his sister when Lilly turned away.

“Please follow me.”

Temple Street was three floors. The lower housed the kitchens, and the second was Mr. and Mrs. Davey's living accommodations. The third, where they currently stood, was for the children who came to be cared for. Everything was scrupulously clean and bright, Dev thought, looking at the green curtains in the room they had just entered.

“Hello, Sam, how are you feeling today? Is your leg still hurting you?”

The small boy was dressed in a blue nightshirt and tucked into the third bed in a row of five. Behind him were plump, colored pillows, and over his legs a blanket of red wool. Beside him lay several books and an odd-shaped soft thing that looked like a multicolored pillow; however, Dev was sure he noted a set of ears poking out the top. He was pale and thin and his eyes held more shadows than a child's should. He had existed on streets filled with sights that would make most people shudder, and his face bore the markings of that struggle.

“Sam had an accident and hurt his leg as he fell from a rooftop,” Lilliana said.

Dev had two weaknesses in his life: his family and children. Looking at Lilliana, he had a feeling deep inside that he was about to expand those to three, but as yet was unsure how he felt about that.

He couldn't cope with children in pain, and often struggled to mask his emotions when he saw a child dressed in rags on the streets, or one being mistreated. He gave money where he could, did whatever was in his capacity to do, yet knew the problem was far greater than that. The issue needed to be brought to the attention of those who woke daily in soft beds and large houses.

“It is not hurting near as much, Lilly, and Mrs. Davey says I'll be up out of bed in a while. Mr. Davey read me a story last night.”

Lilly. The name suited her, Dev thought as he watched the boy's eyes shoot first to Essie then him. He wasn't comfortable in their presence, and who could blame him? Gentry in his eyes were people who cared little for the plight of the child who lived on the street.

To his surprise, Lilliana sat on his bed and stroked the boy's hair, then examined the pillow with ears. Sam leaned into her and Dev could see trust in the gesture. They shared a genuine delight in each other’s company that should not have been there. A boy from the streets and a lady born into society. He wondered what had forced her onto this path. What secrets was she hiding? Shame washed over him again for his treatment of her. The woman before him was far from empty-headed. She had simply been hiding the real Lilliana from society.

“By any chance, Sam, is that a Bulgularas two-eared Daturmond?” Dev pointed to the squishy thing with ears. “You see, I have twin sisters and a small brother who would be delighted to own one just the same.”

Sam snuffled and then lifted the squishy thing for Dev's inspection.

“Good grief, it is,” Dev said, reaching over Lilly's head to take the offering. “What you have here, Sam, is very rare indeed.”

This time the boy giggled, sounding like every small boy should, and the sound made Dev's heart lighten.



Lilly didn't want to feel any harmony with the dark and dangerous lord, but watching Sam smile as Lord Sinclair continued to tell him a ludicrous tale about the Bulgularas two-eared Daturmond, she felt something unfamiliar stir in her chest.

Lilly did not feel things for people other than her children. Yes, she cared for her aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Davey, and Bee, then there was Wilson, but no one had ever really made her fingers and toes tingle the way looking at and touching Lord Sinclair did.

“They eat only the rarest form of Daturmond seeds, found only three nights a year on the first three days of the Bulgularas Festival.”

“Where do the seeds grow?”

“Well now, that's the real problem, Sam.”

She watched Lord Sinclair take the seat Lilly vacated.

“Dev is very good with children, Lilliana.” Essie led her to the window. “He is a master storyteller and believe me, he has had plenty of practice over the years.”

Lilly sat at the small table in one of the chairs and watched Sam laugh as Lord Sinclair continued with his tale. She didn't want to like him, yet she had to admit he was good with children.

He was disturbing, and unsettled her. Finding her in the kitchens, swinging her legs as she ate a cinnamon bun had not been an ideal start, especially as she was determined after what they had shared in that conservatory that he would see only the persona she donned for society. That idea had not worked. Lilly couldn't find it in herself to be silly here. No simpering or gushing, not at Temple Street. Here, she was simply the person she wanted to be.

“An ideal elder brother, then.”

“Oh yes, I cannot fault him, even though his faults are many.”

Lilly tried to stifle the flash of jealousy she felt as Essie threw her brother a fond look. Her brother cared nothing for her.

“I am knitting some hats with scarves as a trial for your children, and will send them over when they are finished.”