Chapter 48: Chapter 48

One of Dr. Hamilton's dark gold brows arched in question, as if asking what Marietta had done to earn the gift of a handmade quilt. She smiled at him.

"I know you were with Lara through the crisis of her illness," she said. "Didn't you wonder where the other four children were?"

"Mrs. Denslow said they were with a neighbor...ah." He smiled again. "It seems we have more in common than we thought, Mrs. James."

She shrugged, though she was sure her own lips twitched with amusement. "Ella is a widow with five children. I am a widow with none. She occasionally allows me to borrow hers."

"Of course." Now his grin was downright conspiratorial, as if he knew she only phrased it that way so Ella didn't think she was imposing when Marietta minded her children. "So tell me, what were you doing out in such weather?"