When a Duke Loves a Governess (Unlikely Duchesses #3) - Olivia Drake Page 0,31
the girl, but Guy caught her arm and shook his head. “Leave her be,” he murmured. “She won’t catch him.”
“Him? Surely such pretty feathers belong to a female parrot.”
“Actually, that one isn’t a parrot at all. The locals call it a cock-of-the-rock. The males have fancy plumage in order to attract the females, whose feathers are a brownish gray. Ah, there’s his mate now, on that branch above.”
“Why, they’re just like strutting roosters and drab hens.”
“Exactly.” He glanced at her simple blue gown with its clinging hint of curves. “We males know how to spot beauty beneath plain feathers.”
Miss James had been eyeing the birds when her gaze flashed to his. A blush tinted her cheeks and added charm to the delicate oval of her face. It wasn’t like him to play the flirt, Guy thought. He had put those youthful days behind him. Still, as they stared at each other, he experienced a powerful tug of fascination. Did she feel it, too?
A loud flapping of wings broke the spell. The cock-of-the-rock flew up to roost on a high branch near its mate. Sophy had managed to sneak to within a few feet of her quarry. Now the girl glowered up at the birds and stamped her little shoe. “Hmph!”
“They’re very fast,” Guy said, chuckling. “That’s why we must always keep the doors tightly closed so none of the birds escape.”
She stuck out her lower lip. “I only wanted to pet him.”
“Perhaps you could look for any feathers lying on the ground,” Miss James suggested, glancing at Guy. “So long as your papa doesn’t mind.”
“Go ahead.” Guy remembered himself at that age, hunting for treasure among the vegetation. He wanted Sophy to have similar happy memories. Even more, he wanted her to love him as her father.
As Sophy wandered off, the hammering came again from the other side of the conservatory, accompanied by another flight of squawking parrots. Miss James frowned. “Is that the window being fixed?”
“Jiggs is boarding it up until the glaziers can come to replace the pane.”
“Lolly mentioned that name, Jiggs.” Miss James looked puzzled. “Isn’t he your valet?”
“He’s a jack-of-all-trades. Come, I’ll introduce you.”
As Guy escorted her down the path and through a jungle of plants, Sophy scampered after them. She seemed loath to let Miss James out of her sight. He didn’t fool himself for a moment that his daughter was following due to any change of heart toward him. Her wariness was evident in her watchful glances and in her avoidance of venturing within a yard of him.
But at least she wasn’t running away.
They emerged into a small clearing across the conservatory, where a leprechaun had just finished pounding a board over the hole in the window. Spotting them, the small man laid down his hammer as a snaggle-toothed grin broke across his leathery face. The black patch over one eye completed his disreputable picture. “Well, well,” Jiggs cackled. “If it ain’t the two little ladies His Grace’s been spyin’ on.”
“Spying?” Miss James asked.
As she cast an inquiring look his way, Guy felt heat creep up his neck. He shouldn’t feel embarrassed to be caught observing his own child. Devil take it, he could hardly avoid seeing the governess, too. But at least now Miss James would realize she’d been wrong earlier to accuse him of taking no interest in Sophy. He’d needed to assure himself that he’d been right to keep Miss James in his employ.
“What he means is that I often work here in the morning, so naturally I noticed the two of you out in the garden. Might I add, you play a lively game of hopscotch.” Guy succeeded in making her blush again, thus taking the attention off himself. “Miss James, may I present Jiggs, an old relic who joined me in my travels after my proper valet quit.”
“The popinjay was too seasick to make it past Gibraltar,” Jiggs scoffed. “He scuttled straight back to England on the next packet.”
She sketched a curtsy. “I’m happy to meet you, Mr. Jiggs.”
“Now, don’t you go mistering me. ’Tis plain ole Jiggs. And this littl’un must be the princess.”
“I’m not a princess, I’m a lady,” Sophy said as she looked him up and down. “Why do you have that bit of cloth stuck on your face?”
“Pray don’t ask rude questions,” Miss James chided.
“Ain’t no harm done,” Jiggs said. “I poked out me eye whilst playing with a stick when I was a naughty little tyke like milady.”