Page 71 of Yours Truly, the Duke
Charles and Elise hung back a few moments more before finally stepping forward.
Charles shook his head viciously, sending his tousled blond hair flying from side to side. “D-don’t tell him that. We’ll b-be punished.”
“No one will be chastised. Where is Miss Litchfield?”
“She’s napping,” Bella answered while Elise remained quiet and simply watched Wyatt with the cautious and uncertain glare she usually gave him.
“And we were very quiet so we wouldn’t wake her before we made it belowstairs.”
So they weren’t silent because of his club. They didn’t want to disturb the governess and get corralled again. Clever.
The children had been snickering and peeking around the doorway for over an hour. There was no need to bother the woman now that the gentlemen were gone. He’d take care of her charges until she came looking for them.
“Tell me, have you ever made a pillow fort?” Wyatt asked, looking around the room.
“What is it?” Bella asked, her eyes widening with wonder.
“I’ll show you. Charles, grab the pillows off the settees along the wall and pile them in the middle of the floor.”
Bella started bouncing on her toes. “What can I do, Uncle?”
“Go help him, little one,” Wyatt answered, takingoff his coat and throwing it on top of one of the tables, knocking over a glass or two and spilling the contents when it landed. “Elise, don’t just stand there. You are the oldest. Help me move the chairs out of the way. Line them up against the other furniture like this.” He picked up a chair in each hand and took them over to the wall. “Leave two tables in the center of the room. That will be the roof for our fort. We’ll close it in with the pillows once we get inside.”
Bella and Charles were already stuffing their arms. Elise didn’t move. Wyatt paused.
From boarding school, he knew some boys had more issues and demons to overcome than others. It must be the same for girls. He hadn’t known how to comfort the boys all those years ago, but Fredericka’s children were teaching him that now he had to try.
“Come on,” he said to Elise in a light manner. “There’s no slacking in this effort. Every soldier has to work. Start moving chairs.”
“Or g-go nap with Miss Litchfield,” Charles said, and finished with a hearty laugh.
“Yes, Elise,” Bella added with confidence. “If you don’t help make the fort, you can’t play in it with us.”
That prompted her to pick up a chair.
Wyatt and the children scurried around getting the room ready for the fortress.
“Excuse me, Your Grace,” Burns said, hurrying to pick up pillows the children dropped onto the floor. “I’ll get someone in here immediately.”
“No, Burns. Leave the pillows where they are. We’re fine. You can clean up after we’ve finished.”
After a slight hesitation, the butler nodded and turned away. Wyatt continued working, seeing that Elise helped him with all the building. They moved the glasses, cards,and trays of ash off two of the tables and shoved them together. After that was finished, he lined three sides of the tables with pillows to make an enclosure and laid one of the linen cloths over the sides, careful to leave an opening.
“Crawl under, soldiers,” he ordered, holding up the cloth. “It’s time to plan our battle strategies.”
Bella and Charles squealed and scrambled underneath the cloth.
“I don’t want to, Uncle,” Elise said timidly, holding her hands together and twisting her fingers nervously. “I don’t like this game.”
“I do,” Charles piped up from the safety of the fort.
“Me too,” Bella echoed in her loud little-girl voice as she stuck her head out from under the tablecloth.
Wyatt bent down and looked at them. “Good job. Give me a minute. Don’t talk or squeal. You’ll alert the enemy.” He straightened and faced Elise, nodding toward the fort as he struggled to remember what they said to boys at Eton. He rubbed the back of his neck. Well, no, he couldn’t do that. Calling her a greenhorn or a scared little baby wouldn’t work. Girls needed something gentle.
“It’s safe in the fort, Elise. You’ll be with your comrades and you can trust them. Or you can be the night watchman and stand guard out here. Alert us if anyone wants to sneak into our camp.”
The wariness eased from her face. Without saying a word, she ducked her head and crawled under the linen. Wyatt followed.
