Free Moonlight Wishes In Time by Bess McBride Page B

alone.”
    “No, Mother, that will not do . I intend to be present when you meet her. She is frightened enough and is depending on me.”
    He was aware that Sylvie jumped up and watched the battle of wills between them with rounded eyes .
    “As you wish,” his mother murmured with a slight inclination of her head .
    William held the door open for Sylvie, who dashed across the hall with unbridled excitement . He checked his watch and returned to his own room, there to pace while he waited for his mother and sister to finish dressing. He studied the closed door of the green room as he passed, wishing he could pop in and reassure Miss Crockwell, who undoubtedly thought she had been abandoned by now, but he thought it best to keep his mother and sister from the knowledge that he had already seen her in her undressed state that morning, let alone slept in her room.
    He heard the creak of a door opening in the hallway and poked his head out . Sylvie, now dressed in a light blue silk day dress and busily trying to pin her unruly golden curls atop her head, dropped the effort and beckoned to him.
    “Will!” she whispered as he approached . “This is so exciting. How lucky you are to have such an adventure.”
    William grinned and shook his head . He took his sister by the shoulders and turned her around to pull the drawstrings of her dress tight in the back and tie them, a task he had performed more than once during their youth.
    “I am not certain that is the case, my dear . Mother seems less…enthusiastic than you, I am afraid.”
    “Thank you, Will . I know I look a fright, but I did not wish to wait for the maid to help me dress,” Sylvie murmured as she took his hand. “Come, Mother must be dressed by now.” Sylvie dragged him across the hall and tapped on their mother’s door.
    Upon the sound of Mrs. Sinclair’s voice, Sylvie opened the door and stepped in . Their mother, lovely and elegant in a cream-colored frock, sat on a stool at her dressing table and adjusted a few curls as they peeped out from her frothy lace cap.
    “Thank you, Mary . That will do,” Mrs. Sinclair said to the older, gray-haired woman who gathered up her mistress’s discarded nightclothes.
    “Yes, mum .” Mary, a plump, motherly woman, dipped a quick curtsey and worked her way out of the room with a swipe at an imaginary dust speck here and there, and a beaming smile for her mistress’s two children.
    “Good day, Master William, Miss Sylvie .”
    William gave the long-time family retainer who had once held the duty as nanny the same familiar grin he reserved for Mrs. White and Mrs. Bailey.
    “Good morning, Mary . I hope you are well?”
    “That I am, Master William . Thank you for asking.”
    “Oh, Mary,” Mrs. Sinclair called out.
    Mary turned. “Yes, mum?”
    “Please bring tea to t he green bedchamber. For four.”
    “Certainly, mum .” Too well trained to ask, Mary bobbed another short curtsey and slipped out through the door with only a quick glance in William’s direction to betray her curiosity at the unusual activities of the morning.
    Mrs. Sinclair rose and turned, one graceful eyebrow lifting as she surveyed her children .
    “Sylvie ! Did you attempt to dress yourself this morning? It certainly seems that way.”
    Sylvie, unabashed, appeared as if she would hop from foot to foot in anticipatory excitement if she could.
    “Yes, Mother, I did. I did not wish to waste time on my toilette as I am anxious to meet our new guest.” She flashed William an impish smile, and he responded with a grateful curve of his lips at her use of the word “guest . ”
    “Our guest,” Mrs. Sinclair murmured dryly . “Of course. Shall we?”
    William opened the door and allowed his sister and mother to precede him . They moved down the hallway and came to stand in front of the door leading to the green bedchamber.
    “I think I shall just step in and prepare her for your arrival .” Again, he blithely ignored their startled looks