It took a couple of days before Wilkes could work up his courage to ask Nanny to have tea with him in the Palm Court, and then only because she happened to be dressed when they met at the open door of her suite as seemed to be becoming a habit. Not that her being dressed mattered very much, Wilkes realized immediately, since his imagination proved in good working order, and he could still visualize her in her night-time attire. He had to rein in his thoughts quickly before his body reacted wildly again, and spoke hurriedly to Nanny about the possibility of tea. Together. Today. When Nanny hesitated momentarily before answering, looking somewhat taken aback at his rawther abrupt invitation, he quickly added, "Or, if you would prefer, we could arrange a, you know, a walk in Central Park. To see the flowers. This afternoon. With Eloise... and, er, her dog..."
Before Nanny could respond, Eloise was jumping up from the breakfast table, running to throw her arms around a startled Wilkes, and crying out, "That would be absolutely divine, divine, divine, Sir Wilkes! Weenie loves the park and Nanny will come to look after me, Eloise, so I don't fall into the pond with the swans! Then you two can walk and watch and Weenie and I can play!"
Nanny laughed at the surprised and almost overwhelmed expression on Wilkes' face, and said warmly, "My, my, my, 'ow nice, Sir Wilkes! I must say, I 'aven't been out to see the flowers yet. But are you sure you can take the time...?"
"Tosh, tosh, tosh! Yes, of course I can take the time!" He waved away her concerns and beamed at her. "Brilliant! I'll call for you at half two, shall I?"
Walking in the park with Weenie and Eloise running rampant around them, both Nanny and Wilkes privately thought this outdoor walking was much more comfortable than being prim and proper in the Palm Court for tea – much, much, much more comfortable, thought Nanny with a burst of added appreciation for his thoughtfulness. She tucked her gloved hand into the crook of his arm and smiled happily when he looked at her and patted her hand with his.
With the flowers to view, Eloise to watch, and the increasing cloudiness of the sky to monitor, the two managed to talk easily for almost two hours. They sat for a while on a bench while Eloise fed the ducks and swans at the pond. Wilkes confided that he used to feed ducks on the pond when he was young, too... which led Nanny to ask if that was in the grounds of his castle.
"Alas, no. Not that there isn't a pond at my castle, and I daresay there might even be ducks, but I don't know... the grounds are rather unkept, you know, except for the lawns around the long drive up to the front gates... which are standing open because we haven't fixed them yet... No, the pond I remember from my youth is on the entailed estate, which of course went to my older brother, Reginald. It's only a short drive from my castle. Reginald's widow and son live on that estate now, and I tend to stay there too, rather than at my castle, since I have no retainers... I have to do for myself the few times I stay there. Now that I'm so close to retiring, I'm planning to spend most of my time this summer doing the restoration work necessary to make the castle more comfortable. To that end, I have hired some of the people from the village nearby to come in this month and give the place a thorough cleaning so that when I arrive in May, I can assess the situation properly and decide where to start on it. Indoors first, of course, before the grounds. But yes, I am planning to completely restore things."
Nanny noticed that while he was talking about his castle, Wilkes was quite eloquent and decisive, with very little hesitation or stammering. This must be how he is at work, she thought, smiling inwardly. For some reason, it eased her tension with him a tiny bit, thinking that perhaps it was proximity to her that seemed to rattle him on occasion. She felt a bit of power from that thought, and promptly lost a little of her own cautiousness around him, not worrying about remembering to speak more elegantly than usual as she described to him with some nostalgia in her voice the ponds in the parks near where she had grown up in London.
Nanny heard about Wilkes' childhood, one of privilege when it came to money but one with not much love or kindness. He was the second son, the baby by ten years. His older brother, when home, had spent much of his time bullying Wilkes in an attempt to 'toughen up the child'. His mother had died when he was only four and he had been sent to boarding school at the age of five where bullying had been even worse. His shyness had made him seem antisocial, and after leaving school, he had concentrated on business, discovering a love and an aptitude for it. His brother had married young and had had one son with no head for business but who was presently on the payroll of the family business in which Wilkes owned majority shares. His brother had passed away twenty years ago, leaving his widow and son, now the Earl, in Wilkes' care.
Hearing that last detail, Nanny's heart sank. An earl? Wilkes was the son of an earl? His nephew was now the Earl? Oh my Lord, Wilkes was far, far, far above her station! "Er, 'ow old is your nephew?" Nanny asked, needing to say something. "Why must you look after 'im? I'd 'ave thought 'e was quite old enough to look after 'imself, and 'is mother, for Lord's sake!" She had no patience with people who would not raise a finger to help themselves, and quite frankly, Wilkes' nephew the Earl, sounded like just such a person!
Wilkes merely shrugged... there was no answer to that. Nanny shared a bit of her youth, as well... no family to speak of, and a hard life of work with very little recreation. Wilkes understood from that to mean that her ebullient personality must have been inherent, because she always saw the bright side of things and was the type of person to believe the glass was half-full rather than half-empty. His admiration for her grew even stronger. Almost thirty years ago, she had been hired by Kay's parents to be the nurse and nanny for their tiny daughter, then had stayed on as Kay's companion "and now I'm nanny to Kay's daughter. It 'as been a good life with them, for the most part." She wouldn't tell of the frustration she often felt, or the loneliness or the longing to be accepted as a beloved member of the family just for herself, not for what she did. After all, Kay had a lot to think about! She couldn't be expected to cater to her daughter's nanny as well as her daughter!
"But do you have a life apart from them?" Wilkes inquired daringly. "When was your last vacation? What will happen when you retire? When Eloise no longer requires your companionship, Nanny, do you think you will stay here in North America, or are you perhaps thinking about returning to England?"
Sighing, Nanny wasn't quite sure how to answer that. "Aoww, I really couldn't say," she finally said, watching Eloise closely as the child skipped nearer the pond's edge. "I 'aven't really thought about it. Per'aps I should go 'ome..." She had tried to ignore the warning signs that Kay was getting restless with having Eloise in New York City while she, herself, wanted to spend most of her time in France. Kay had never been one for routine. Now that Nanny was older, she should be thinking about what she would do when Kay decided that Eloise was old enough for boarding school... especially since Kay had said before that she thought seven was the proper age to start school.
"So you still consider England home, Nanny?" asked Wilkes.
"I suppose I do," she said, still mulling over the possibilities in her future, all of which looked rawther bleak.
"No family, you said? I've no one, really, but for my sister-in-law and nephew, and to be honest, they are almost worse than no one."
"Naoww, I've no family," A shadow crossed Nanny's face for a moment, then she seemed to square her shoulders and turned to look at him fully. "Still, moving back to England might be a treat, for sure, sure, sure! I rawther think I envy you, Wilkes, knowing where you are going to live... a place of your own..." His warm brown eyes gazed into hers, and she thought irrelevantly that his eyes hinted at pleasures untold, laughter and, if she wasn't imagining it, some kind of strong emotion held in careful check?
Wilkes opened his mouth to say something, then paused when he felt a drop of rain hit his cheek. Another followed.
"Nanny! Sir Wilkes! It's starting to rain!" Eloise cried out, running up to them with Weenie barking at her heels. "We'd better skitter back to the Plaza as fast as we everly can!"
"I suppose we should," Wilkes agreed, smiling at the child. He stood up, gave Nanny a helping hand to rise as well, steadying her as she tried to work out the kinks from sitting so long, then opened his umbrella.
"You must have been a Boy Scout, Sir Wilkes," grinned Eloise. "Always prepared! But Weenie and I don't need the umbrella. You and Nanny can use it. We can run between the drops... Weenie and me, Eloise!"
They headed back to the Plaza Hotel through the light rain, Eloise dancing ahead of them, enjoying the warm raindrops after the icy sleet which had come so often in the winter. Wilkes held the umbrella over Nanny and himself, his arm around her protectively. They walked briskly along the street, Eloise just ahead and having been warned to wait at the corner to hold Nanny's hand so they could cross together. Watching the child's antics, Wilkes observed, "I suppose it is true, what I've heard, that life isn't about how to survive the storm but how to dance in the rain."
Nanny nodded, thrilling to his closeness. Then they turned to look at one another and, almost as one, they both executed a couple of dance steps in a circle, smiling at each other as they turned with Nanny's hand covering Wilkes' to hold the umbrella steadily above them. Then she grinned more broadly at him when they caught some incredulous glances from people passing in cars and said,"But 'ave you noticed that those who dance are thought mad by those who do not 'e...hear the music?"
Wilkes laughed. "You are so right, Nanny! You are so right! Well, let them think us mad! It is spring, after all!" and he twirled her around again.
"NANNY! SIR WILKES!" Eloise's scandalized voice stopped their dancing, but their eyes continued to sparkle into each other's for a long moment. Then the child's stern, scolding voice was very close. "Sir Wilkes, Nanny detests making a spectable of herself, for Lord's sake!"
Both adults chuckled, and Nanny hugged Eloise, saying, "It's a 'spectacle', love... and are you sure, sure, sure about that?" she added archly.
"Absolutely!" Eloise said darkly, not bending to Nanny's coaxing laughter. "And I think you are absolutely too, too, too old for this, Sir Wilkes!"
"I really don't feel THAT old, Eloise," Wilkes said, his eyebrows raising in query as he looked at Nanny who rolled her eyes and flushed a little.
"Well, pet, I suppose we 'ave been making something of a spectacle of ourselves at that!" Nanny sighed. "Time to move, move, move!" Catching Eloise's hand, Nanny took Wilkes' arm again and they walked across the street and into the hotel, shaking the drops of water from their damp clothes. Fortunately, it never HAD begun to rain very hard.
"Would you two ladies care for tea in the Palm Court to warm up?" Wilkes asked, suddenly loathe to have the afternoon end. Seeing Nanny's wind-tossed hair, shining eyes and lips that did strange things to his body when he looked at them and remembered The Kiss, Wilkes found it very difficult to look away from her. He had no need of tea to warm up... one look at Nanny and heat poured over him!
"What'll we do with Weenie? He can't go home by himself! I suppose I COULD take him up myself and let YOU two have tea by yourselves," Eloise said, a sly smile on her face.
"Eloise!" Nanny frowned at her, feeling her face flush again. "I thought you were annoyed when you saw us dancing outside."
Wilkes smothered his smile, watching the two 'dancing' around with words. Nanny really was quite enchanting, he thought, and felt hot desire for her bubbling to the surface of his consciousness once more. Forcing down the wayward thoughts, he glanced over at the counter and caught the eye of the bellhops who responded to his look and began to make their way over to the small group.
"Well, Sir Wilkes said he wasn't too, too, too old after all!" Eloise said innocently. "I didn't want him to get sick and die!" She put her hand on her head dramatically, then added quickly, "And what can possibly happen to you two in the Palm Court, for Lord's sake?"
"Don't be cheeky! You know I'm much more concerned with what would happen in Suite 1627 with you upstairs and me down 'ere, love," Nanny said severely.
"Oh, all right, Nanny. I guess Frederic or Lou can take Weenie home. That's what bellhops are supposed to do, you know. Besides carrying suitcases. They run errands for people like ME, Eloise!" Accordingly, Eloise passed Weenie's leash to the first bellhop to approach, charging Lou sternly to be gentle with Weenie and to take him right up to Suite 1627 and to "charge it, please! Thank you very much!"
The three proceeded to the Palm Court where Eloise announced to Henry that she and Nanny "were on a date with Sir Wilkes", causing Henry to grin at the discomfitted adults, then say in a loud whisper to Eloise, "So you're playing the fifth wheel, are you? Or are you their chaperone?"
"Fifth wheel? Chaperone? What...?" Eloise began, puzzled.
"Never mind, Eloise," Wilkes cleared his throat and took charge, not wanting to have Nanny more embarrassed than she seemed to be right now... otherwise she might never agree to meet him anywhere again, let alone in the Oak Room in the next evening or two!
"Right this way, Eloise... Nanny... Sir Wilkes..." and Henry led them to a table in the corner and took their orders for tea and dainties along with juice for Eloise.
"Sir Wilkes," Eloise asked, kicking her feet under the table as she waited for her drink to arrive, "is your castle absolutely huge and magnificent? After seeing you the other morning, Nanny said she was building castles in the air, and I wondered what your castle looks like. Is it in the air like the ones Nanny was building?"
"Aoww, Eloise," Nanny's face flamed again at Wilkes' inquiring look and slight smile. "You shouldn't say such things!"
"What? Why can't I ask about his castle?" Eloise slumped back in her chair, and crossed her arms indignantly, glaring at Nanny.
Wilkes interrupted, hoping that his interpretation of Eloise's revealing comment about Nanny was correct, however uncomfortable Nanny was now to have him hear it. "Tosh, tosh, tosh, Nanny, I truly don't mind her questions! Actually, Eloise, my castle is large, but, well, I plan to go back at the end of this month to start fixing it up."
"Fixing it up?" Eloise bounced up again. "Is it an absolutely divine castle like the queen's? I wish WE lived in a palace! Tell us about it, please!"
Chuckling, Wilkes said, "It's not, you know, a grand castle like the queen's palace, by any stretch of the imagination! Indeed, it's mostly in ruins. I have a lot of work to do on it."
"Do you have any pictures?" Eloise asked eagerly.
"I do believe I have a couple," Wilkes said, standing up and reaching into his pocket for his wallet. Opening it, he ruffled through and extracted a couple of pictures. "They're not very good," he added, "and I've been carrying them with me for a number of years, so they are rather the worse for wear, but..." He proffered them to Eloise who poured over them eagerly, Nanny trying to see over her shoulder and around her hand and finally sitting back, disgruntled. Wilkes winked at her, and she smothered a grin in her napkin.
After asking innumerable questions, Eloise finally passed them to Nanny who studied them avidly. Handing them back to Wilkes, she said, "It seems you 'ave got a lot of work to do there!"
"I do indeed," sighed Wilkes, putting the pictures carefully away again. "Much of the wiring and plumbing has been upgraded, but so far only the kitchen, one bathroom, one salon and two bedrooms are habitable."
Their tea arrived at that point and the conversation turned away from castles, in the air or otherwise, much to Nanny's relief. When they were finished, the three walked to the elevator and rode up to the top floor with Eloise pestering Max as usual to react to what she said. Her talk today, naturally, centred around castles! Once on their floor, Eloise ran ahead down the hallway to their suite, Nanny and Wilkes following more slowly.
The moment the elevator was gone and Eloise was out of earshot, Wilkes asked Nanny if she would consider going to the Oak Room the next evening with him for a 'nightcap'. "I must go out of town on business for a week and am leaving in a few days, so I was wondering if you might, you know, go with me. Downstairs. To the, er, Oak Room bar. Soon."
"And leave Eloise on her own?" Nanny asked, surprised but delighted to be asked. "Aoww, I really couldn't say! Per'aps if she were in bed... and asleep... aoww, per'aps I could ask Mrs. Thornton if she could come over to watch television here while I'm gone... to babysit Eloise, although I must say I can 'ear Eloise's indignant howls at that term!" and she grinned. "I'll let you know if I can make it as soon as I've spoken to Mrs. Thornton."
"That would be 'absolutely divine', to quote Eloise. Thank you, Nanny!" Delighted at her willingness to make an effort to meet with him, and seeing that they were quite alone in the corridor, Wilkes wasn't able to resist a swift kiss.
When he leaned closer and his mouth claimed hers, Nanny's knees almost buckled. Telling herself it was only for a moment, she savoured his taste on her tongue and her awareness of his body close to hers sent a tingling sensation spiralling all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes. Then he was drawing away, and she was trying to pull together her composure, hoping to not let on how he had affected her.
"Let me know whenever Mrs. Thornton will sit with the sleeping Eloise, Nanny... if tomorrow doesn't work for her, perhaps the next night would be better..."
"C-Certainly, Sir Wilkes," Nanny murmured distractedly and she disappeared into her suite without another word.
O o O o O o