What Happens in Piccadilly - Chasity Bowlin Page 0,25

between herself and her employer, was to see the children properly outfitted. It was the beginning of December, after all, and it was already too cold for what the children currently possessed.

“No!”

“William, I do not like shopping either, but there are times in a man’s life when he must do things he does not wish to. More often than not, it’s shopping,” Lord Montgomery said.

Callie gifted him with a baleful stare and he simply turned away to look out the window of the swaying coach. There was little enough room to do anything else. With the earl, Callie, three children and a maid for propriety’s sake, they were packed in rather tightly.

“We must shop, William, because you and your sisters are not equipped for an English winter. It also seems that you’ve all grown quite a bit since you last had new clothes.”

“We’ve never had new clothes,” Charlotte said and then immediately went back to playing with the doll her uncle had gifted her.

“You must have!” Callie said.

“No, Claudia is wearing dresses of Mama’s that had been cut down and I’m wearing Claudia’s old dresses that she can’t wear anymore because she’s too big!” Charlotte finished proudly.

“Well, you will all have new clothes now,” the earl said firmly. “They will be yours and yours alone and they will be made to your measurements as befits proper English gentlemen and ladies.”

William looked a little more pleased by that. “Do gentlemen climb trees, Uncle?”

The earl turned to face him, clearly biting back a grin at the boy’s concerned question. “When the occasion calls for it.”

“What occasions call for it?” William asked.

The earl looked back at Callie and she felt the full weight of his stare. For that split second of time, it was as if there were no one else in the coach with them. He looked at her and she looked at him, and the whole world simply fell away. Oh, that was not good at all. That, she would daresay, was utterly disastrous.

Finally, he spoke and the spell, momentary as it was, had been broken. “What is tomorrow, Miss St. James?”

“Tomorrow will be Wednesday, my lord,” she answered, trying to ignore the slight tremor in her voice and the fact that it suddenly felt as if her stays were too tight.

“Wednesdays are such an occasion. I daresay, barring rain and snow, every Wednesday is an occasion to climb trees,” he proclaimed.

William let out a whoop of delight. “Can we go back to the park tomorrow so I can climb that big’un, Miss St. James?”

“That big one,” she corrected. “And if you’re willing to spend at least part of the morning learning the names of the trees you wish to climb, we certainly may.”

“All right,” he agreed.

The carriage slowed and Lord Montgomery stepped out of it first. He lifted out Charlotte first, then Claudia and William jumped down on his own. He reached back for Callie’s hand and helped her down carefully. But he did not linger. As soon as her feet were firmly on the paving stones, he stepped back, putting not an insignificant amount of space between them. The maid followed, assisted by one of the footmen who’d had to cling to the back of the carriage for dear life as they made their way to the shopping district.

“I shall take William with me to the tailor and you may take the girls, along with Maisey, to the dressmaker’s, if that plan suits you, Miss St. James,” the earl offered.

“It does, my lord. After the dressmaker, we must also go to the milliner and to the cobbler. The girls will both need shoes and, I daresay, William will as well.”

“He will not go to a mere cobbler,” the earl said, as if offended by the suggestion. “That is all well and good for dancing slippers and women’s half boots. No, Miss St. James, he will go to Hoby’s and will be fitted for proper boots as any gentleman should.”

“Proper boots… to climb trees?” she asked pointedly.

The earl would not be swayed. “I’m certain Hoby has a sensible solution to making boots sturdy enough for the active life of a young boy. If there are any problems, please send for me at once.”

“We shouldn’t have any problems, my lord,” Callie replied. “I have your letter of credit. And I promise, we will not buy out the shops.”

“Buy them out if it’s needed. Make sure they have everything they require… and that not all of it is terribly functional. They should