Chapter 56

Oh, dear. He didn't care about it.

The man turned toward them and looked down at the ground immediately. He groped beneath the fabric of his pocket reflexively as he saw the chain watch lying on the ground.

The boy's eyes widened in fear, his mouth gaped open. The boy waited in pure terror, but the man who captured him said nothing more.

The older gentleman glanced at the urchin in suspicion.

"Thank you, sir."

The man didn't shift his gaze from the boy as he came near and bent down to pick the chain watch. He studied them in silence for a while before asking.

"Tell me, sir. Did that monkey try to steal it?"

The boy suddenly quivered in his hand. Ava glanced at him, catching her breath.

"By no means. And this boy is no monkey, he is my coachman's son."

Ava felt quite taken aback by his answer, at the same time, she felt a measure of relief.

The gentleman stared at them suspiciously, but finally he said.

"Very well, then. Thanks again."

"Don't mention it."

After the gentleman had left, Ashton turned to the boy.

"How long have you been doing this?"

The boy winced under his stare. Ava eyed the boy curiously. He was about eleven or twelve, with night black hair just like hers. Even under the muck covering most of the skin in his face, she could see the urchin was remarkably handsome, but not his impressive features that made her staggered in a startling second. It was the unusual blue of his eyes that held her captive. It was the same shades of blue with the duke. No one had eyes that color but him. The boy's eyes looked extremely big in his skeleton face. She glanced quickly at him to see if he noticed the resemblance between him and the kid, but he seemed unaware of that fact.

"Are you doing this job for someone?"

"Nn..no, sir..." the boy stammered. "I'm an orphan, sir. I'm on my own. I have no other way to buy me food."

He studied the boy for a while, considering his answer.

"What's your name?"

"Matthew, sir."

"Have you ever been caught in the act of your thieving ways before, Matthew?"

"No, sir..."

"Do you know what might happen if you're caught by somebody else?"

The boy swallowed and shook his head.

"If you're lucky, you'll be arrested and put in jail for some time, but if you're not, you'll be beaten until you're totally bruised and battered, probably until you catch your death."

He paused at the boy's terrified expression.

"I wouldn't like it either way if I were you."

"Me neither, sir..."

He set the frightened boy free. Matthew cast his eyes down, dared not to look at him.

"Where do you live?"

"I... I live in the streets, sir."

"Where do you sleep at night?"

"Anywhere, sir... Mostly in an alley..."

"Have you no relatives?"

The urchin shook his head.

Ava felt compassion for the poor boy flame in her bowels. How could a child as frail as he, bore such a hard life alone? He was nothing but skin and bones, it seemed like a good wind could knock him over.

She saw Ashton taking out some money from his pocket.

"This is to buy your food today, and this one,"

He gave the boy a namecard.

"Find a man named Freddy in Magnolia Inn and show him this. He'll take care of you."

The boy took the namecard timidly. Ava saw his mouth twitching as he read the name on it.

"You can come anytime, just remember we would be leaving tomorrow morning at nine o' clock. We won't wait for latecomer."

"Thank you, sir..."

The boy looked up at the duke, surprisingly he dared to stare at him longer this time, as though he just found something about him. The boy sidestepped around them, still turning his head toward him, before he scurried away and disappeared amongst the crowd.

"What are you going to do with him?"

She asked.

"Get him a roof over his head and three meals a day, for the time being. Still figuring out what to do next."

Ashton stared at the direction where the urchin was last seen. For some curious reason, he felt a strange protective instinct for the boy, like he was obliged to do more than just giving a little help.

Ava was quite surprised with his answer.

"I thought you will give him a job."

"He is too young."

"That's very kind of you."

She gave him a sideways glance.

"At first I thought you would have him arrested."

"He is just a child, an unfortunate one."

"But I guess it's his luckiest day. I believe you will take good care of him."

She paused for a while. After a moment's thinking, she said carefully.

"You do understand that you have to be very careful with him, don't you?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean... I know your intention is good, but you have to stay wary..."

"You want to say, there's a chance he mean to take advantage of it and do something bad instead."

She searched desperately for a right word to say it, she didn't want him to change his mind about helping Matthew, but she also had a little worry. The boy was a street urchin after all. Undoubtedly he was shaped by a harsh and difficult upbringing. There was a chance that his kindness would turn to have an adverse effect on him.

"I know there are risks involved in helping people, but my instinct told me this one is harmless."

He was right, the worst case was the boy stole things and ran off. Thinking about Matthew, she felt curious. The boy's face, his beautiful features was somewhat too refined for a commoner.

The boy really looked like him in some way, she considered to tell him, but she decided not to say anything. It would be terribly offensive to compare a high-ranked nobility like him with a guttersnipe.

Stealing a glance at him, at his expressionless face, she knew that the cold mask could no longer deceive her. She had seen the man beneath the facade, surprisingly different from what she thought of him at the first time. He wasn't superficial and self-centered. He wasn't all arrogant and ruthless. He put his duty first and put his heart aside, and he was somewhat sensitive and caring. And in moment like this, sometimes she got too comfortable with him, she forgot to stay distant and she talked to him like they were friends.

"The gentleman you helped must have thought you are a frugal employer. Your coachman's son dresses in rags."

She chuckled at the thought and he grinned.

"Fortunately he doesn't know who I am."

That smile. It was difficult to look away, it kept her absolutely riveted, until he noticed her staring and returned her gaze. She looked down with a guilty blush across her cheeks.

It was a perfect autumn day. The sky was tinged with a shade of bluish grey, the wind came softly with sweet-scented gusts from the sea. It felt like they were in another world, a small world of their own. In the world where nobody knew who they really were, suddenly their differences had no meaning, and they were just theirselves, a man and a woman, walked side by side out in the streets, mingling freely with the crowds without worry. She imagined it as a borrowed time, a short moment when she could pretend they were anything they were not, anything they would never be. As if universe answered her mind, a little girl with a basket of flowers bumped into them.

"Buy a flower for your lady, sir."

The little girl offered him a basket full of roses.

"I'm not his lady."

Ava corrected immediately. The little girl blinked at her, seemed startled and confused. Ava felt an instant guilt, it seemed like her unexpected reaction was a bit harsh, the wide smile on the little girl's face faded.

"We'll buy it anyway."

He said quickly and reached into his pocket and gave the girl some shillings.

"Here, how many flowers can I get with these?"

The girl's eyes rounded as big as saucer.

"You can get all these flowers!"

She snatched the money and cried in excitement.

"And you can take the basket too, as a free gift."

The little girl gave him the basket of flowers and bounced down the street, turning back once again and gave them a happy wave.

"Thank you sir! You both look great together."