“I can’t find it,” Alice said, frustration and disappointment heavy in her voice.
“Go help her, Caroline,” Charlie said.
“But you’ll escape and find the horse.” Poor Alice looked near to tears.
Artemis didn’t wish for Charlie to be forced to reveal that he’d been playing a role the entire time. “I’ll stop him,” she declared and rushed over, making a show of blocking his path.
Charlie laughed and pretended to try to get around her.
“I’m holding him back, girls.” She could hear giggles behind her. “Look quickly before he escapes.”
She glanced back at them. Caroline took Alice’s hand and pulled her toward the apparent hiding spot.
“They are darling little friends, aren’t they?” Charlie spoke quietly. “Caroline was the only grandchild for quite a while. She was often lonely.”
“It is so hard to be a lonely child,” Artemis said.
“Yes, it is.”
She looked at him once more. “Were you lonely, too, Charlie?”
The laughter that had been in his expression only a moment earlier disappeared. Heaviness pulled at his brows. Sadness hung in his eyes. “All my brothers were away at school. My father had died. My mother was in deepest mourning. I often felt entirely alone.”
“I wish you’d lived closer,” she said. “We could have been friends, and neither of us would have been so alone.”
He set an arm around her waist. “We could have launched paper boats in the Trent and played on the old stone bridge.” He set his other arm around her. “We would have climbed trees and caused endless mischief.”
Artemis set her hands on his chest, watching as a smile played across his lips. “I would have liked that.”
Charlie rested his forehead against hers. “We could still do all those things, you know.”
“Even the ‘endless mischief’?” she whispered.
His voice as quiet as hers, he said, “Especially the mischief.”
“What sort of mischief do you have in mind?” Her heart pounded so loudly she could hardly hear her own words.
“I have a few ideas.”
“She found it! She found it!” Caroline’s voice called out.
Charlie pulled back. In the blink of an eye, he transformed from unexpectedly enjoyable husband to fun uncle. He rushed over to his nieces, taking the game up once more.
Artemis took a moment to breathe and regain her equilibrium. He was proving a surprise. A wonderful, confusing, delightful surprise.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Father’s friends had declared Matera genius. Charlie was beginning to suspect they fell somewhere near that themselves. Their advice regarding his difficulties with Artemis had proven remarkably efficacious. The time he’d spent with her playing games with their nieces and nephews the day before had been encouraging. They’d recaptured much of the friendliness they’d enjoyed while her family had visited Brier Hill and some of the ease they’d had at the final inn on their journey to Lampton Park.
She’d looked happy. There’d been no arguments or resentment. And she’d let him hold her. He’d thought about kissing her. Heaven knew he’d thought about it. If not for Caroline interrupting the moment, he might have tried. It was likely for the best he hadn’t. He was aiming for friendship. He was working toward a future in which they could have some happiness. Pushing beyond that too quickly would likely have proven disastrous.
The family gathered on the back terrace after breakfast the next morning. Stanley and Marjie had arrived late the night before, and everyone was anxious to see and visit with them. Their little boy was enjoying crawling about with his cousins.
Charlie took a seat beside Mater, something that hadn’t often been possible since the arrival of Father’s friends. They clearly enjoyed her company, and she was seldom seen without at least one of them.
She watched him fondly. “How are you faring?”
“Better,” he said. “I don’t think Artemis hates me any longer.”
