WoA2.23Smashwords by Amber Newberry Read Free Book Online

and left, before I had the chance to tell him how mad that gesture made me.
    * * *
    The time at Aven Cottage passed quietly and comfortably. Within a couple of days, my wound healed enough for me to begin taking short constitutionals to sit in the garden with the assistance of Creeda’s walking stick. Aunt Emmaline had many people to visit around the small village, so I was often alone except for Creeda. She would sometimes sit in my room during meals or in the garden with me and talk of "Jule’s" and "Leo's" antics as children. She made good company. Creeda had a way of telling a story so that it felt as though it was happening at that very moment.
    "That Jules were always a handful! He may have been the older boy, but he were the most trouble. Leo, on the other hand, such a dear boy, I called him me lion heart because he were such a angel.” I found it hard to imagine either of them well behaved.
    ”That one always listened..." she trailed off.
    "Such a tragedy, it were, when Lady Hilbourne got her word that Leo were hurt fightin' o'er there in France against that short fellow. It's not the kind of thing ye expect, that he'd lost his hearin.' Me Lard it tears me up just thinkin' of it.” She was not in tears though she held a handkerchief to her eyes.
    “Though, I s'pose some'd say our Leo were one of the lucky ones. An' he came back a hero, too, decorated with all sorts of medals and such. An’ he done well with that affliction, ye’d hardly know since him learned himself to read lips. I ne’er seen such a thing."
    Lost his hearing. That explained why he did not answer me when I questioned who he was. He could not hear me asking. I also understood now, why he sounded so different when we spoke, and I respected him all the more for his learning to talk without the aid of his ears. I wonder that my Aunt and Uncle had not told me of this, and I guessed that it was because they had taken pain not to discuss the war in great detail around me. The Napoleonic Wars went on for most of my life.
    It was on my last day at Aven Cottage that I was sitting on a swing in the garden and felt a hand cover my eyes. I knew that I must guess the owner of the hand, and I was certain that it must be Julian.
    "In only one guess? I must learn to disguise myself better. What gave me away?" he asked.
    "I am acquainted with no one more childish." He gave me a half-smile that said he did not like being referred to as an acquaintance .
    "We were just readying to leave for Hilbourne, and I thought I might come to see you while the final preparations are made. How is your wound?" I stood up to show him that I was able to walk on it, though not for long, and he caught my arm when I stumbled back toward my seat.
    "Doctor Haskins says it will be a month, at least, before I can stand on it without pain. He says there may always be a little pain, but we do hope for the best," I said. He nodded and we sat silently for a bit, enjoying the peace of the gentle wind and singing birds.
    I told him that Creeda was regaling me with all sorts of horrible stories that I planned to use against him one day. This got a laugh from him and he said that he would not be blackmailed by just anyone. We talked for a while with only a little banter, and he began to tell me about India again. It sounded like a fascinating place, and I longed to see it someday. He promised he would make sure that I did, as long as I vowed not to ride any horses there, and I jokingly told him that I would ride only elephants. I once saw a drawing of a king sitting on one, and I hoped that I would see one myself someday.
    Julian told me the land his family owned in India was called Punam Estate, meaning Full Moon Estate. I spoke the house name after he said it, and he laughed at my pronunciation. He went on to say that many British people stayed to build their own plantations, though the East India Company was well known for what was once a monopoly. He also told me of the scent of the fresh