Until You

Chapter Five

"Lord Williams, your guest."

Ethan rose to his feet in acknowledgement of Jacob's announcement as the red head made her way into the dining room. Something moved in her arms, gaining his attention.

Glancing down, a slight frown claimed his face. "I had a maid look into her care," he said, gesturing to Elizabeth who sat in her arms.

"Well, the poor baby could do with some love," she said, her gaze drifting briefly to the baby, before shifting back to him. "Here, hold her."

"What?" He had barely gotten the word out when she dumped Elizabeth in his arms and begun digging in a bag. He glanced down warily at Elizabeth. "Miss..." He paused, waiting for her to supply him with a name.

The woman barely glanced up. "Gretchen Riverside, and I must thank you for your help yesterday. Why, that was a very noble thing to do, coming to my rescue like that."

He nodded, struggling to maintain a firm grip on a now fussing Elizabeth. "Miss Riverside, do understand that babies in the dining room is simply not acceptable," he protested. "Mr. Jacob will now hand her over to a maid—"

"That won't be necessary; Ellie's having breakfast with us." Gretchen turned to him, brandishing Elizabeth's bottle. She placed the bottle on the table and relieved him of the child. His lips fell open, stunned as he watched her settle on a seat along with Elizabeth in her lap.

Ethan stood still for a while, confused by her behavior – did Americans dine with babies? Was it a thing of insignificance or was Miss Riverside simply uncivilized? Perhaps he needed to have a long talk with her concerning dining ethics in his home and most likely the entire London? With a baby on the table, the only thing one had to look forward to was a messy breakfast filled with spit-up.

Ethan retook his seat and struggled to ignore Elizabeth's babbling as he gave orders to Jacob to usher in their food.

"If it isn't much trouble kind sir, I would like a cup of apple juice," she said with a smile on her face. Jacob bowed in acquiescence and left the room.

"Tell me Miss Riverside, is it common practice in America to have babies on the breakfast table?"

Gretchen's attention monetarily shifted from Elizabeth to him. "Not exactly, no. But this is different."

"How so?" he asked, his curiosity piqued; perhaps there was a perfectly good explanation for her behavior?

"Ellie needs to be around good people. I do not care too much for the maid you sent."

"Ellie?" He raised a brow.

"Elizabeth. Also, I find Elizabeth too taxing to actually pronounce."

While she was speaking, the maids appeared in the room, carrying in their breakfast and placing two plates before Gretchen. Confused about her intentions, he sat watching her, the frown on his face deepening as she took a piece of bread and offered it to Elizabeth.

"Lastly," she glanced up at him, "there's a possibility that Ellie hates milk." She took the glass of juice and poured it into Elizabeth's bottle, before offering it to the baby who hesitated a little bit. But, one taste of the bottle's content and Elizabeth was sucking away.

Ethan watched everything play out before him, barely able to take his eyes off of Gretchen and Elizabeth long enough to actually eat. To his surprise, Elizabeth ate the meal before her without much probing as Gretchen helped her with it.

By the time breakfast was over, his plate was lifted from before him without him having had a taste of its content.

Gretchen rose to her feet with the baby seated comfortably on her hips. "That was a good breakfast, don't you think, Ellie?" she cooed. She turned to where he sat unmoving, stunned by the events that had just taken place before him. "If you'll excuse us, someone's had too much juice and would absolutely need a change," she announced, before strolling out of the door.