The LadyAt first, I didn’t get up. “Bring him here. I’ll see him.”
“He won’t come to the gate, mum. It seems to frighten him.”
“Can’t you go ask him nicely? I’d be afraid too, if I had all you men round me.”
Honor gave me a surprised glance.
But the man simply shrugged. “I’ll go ask him again.” He squatted down before the boy, who backed off. After some time, the man returned. “He says he’s gonna leave if you don’t want to talk to him.”
I sighed. “Oh, very well.”
A carriage passed by on the other side of the street as Honor, Amelia, and I went down the path. One of the men opened the gate.
The boy stood directly across the sidewalk, in the gutter, peering at me warily. “You the Lady? Miz Jacqui?”
I stepped onto the sidewalk, bent over to speak to him. “I am. What's your name?”
The
