“Indeed. She was most grateful. Please thank your sister.”
Selina had gathered the clothing for him and been pleased to do so. Rafe took a step toward the back to join the ladies.
“Ah, you should be aware that there is something…afoot back there,” John said, his brows climbing.
“What’s that?”
John cracked a smiled. “I won’t spoil the specifics. Suffice it to say that all the help you’ve given is now being directed back at you.”
Oh God, what did that mean? And why was John clearly amused by it?
“I see.” Except he did not. But he planned to.
Rafe stalked to the back of the shop. There was a storeroom, an office, and a sitting area near the stairs that led up to the apartments upstairs. It was in the latter where he found Anne, along with three boys, two of whom still lived upstairs and one who had moved out nearly a year before. He’d taken lodgings in Cheapside where he’d become a tailor’s apprentice. The lad was quite skilled with a needle. Rafe had kept in contact with him and had even commissioned his shop to make some of his clothing for the Season.
“Daniel,” Rafe said, extending his hand to the sixteen-year-old with thick russet hair and sizing him up. “You’re looking taller. What brings you here today?”
“I, ah, had the afternoon off, sir. Charlie and Bart invited me to come by.”
Rafe looked around the room and noted a table and two chairs had been set in the center. The table was adorned with a nice but simple cloth, and a complement of mismatched dishes.
He looked at Anne, who was seated in one of the chairs. “Where’s Annie?”
“She went to fetch tea,” Anne replied.
The youngest of the boys, Charlie, dashed up the stairs while Bart went to hold the other chair. “Will you sit, sir? We have tea and cakes for you and Mrs. Dazzling.”
“Mrs. Dazzling.” Rafe blinked at Anne, who lifted a shoulder. “Mr. Entwhistle told you her name?” Rafe asked Bart, a lad of thirteen with dark blond hair and an eye that didn’t track normally, always straggling behind the other when his gaze fixed on a subject.
“Yes, sir,” Bart said. “Will you sit?” he repeated.
Rafe went and took the chair. “Thank you.” He leaned toward Anne. “I thought you were going to discuss the book with Annie.”
“I thought so too.” Anne lifted a shoulder, looking as bewildered as he felt. “I showed her how to curtsey, but then she insisted I sit.”
John’s words came back to him—they were trying to help him? How?
Annie came down the stairs bearing a teapot wrapped in a cloth. She set it on the table as Charlie followed her with a plate of biscuits.
“Thank you,” Anne said. “This looks lovely. Won’t you be joining us?” she asked the children.
They all shook their heads, with Daniel answering, “No. This is for you. In fact, we’ll leave you alone now.” He looked to the others, and they began to file up the stairs, starting with Charlie.
Anne turned in her chair, looking at Annie. “I thought we were going to discuss the book.”
“I, er, I didn’t finish it.”
“You said you did,” Anne said with a slight, confused frown.
Annie gave her a sheepish look. “I forgot.” She ran up the stairs, prohibiting further discussion.
Daniel was the last to go, but before he got out of sight, Rafe called out to him. “What are you really doing here? If it’s to see me, going upstairs is not the way to do that.”
Pink swathed Daniel’s cheeks. “I forgot something. I’ll be back down shortly.” He ran upstairs, leaving Rafe and Anne alone.
“Have you any idea what’s going on?” she asked.
“No.” He again thought of what John had said. Rafe took in the nicely set table, the biscuits, the tea. Could they be trying to play the role of matchmaker?
“Would you care for tea?” Anne asked, picking up the pot.
“Yes, please.”
She poured their tea and then added sugar to hers. “Sugar?” At his nod, she finished his cup.
He picked it up and took a tentative sip to gauge the warmth. Nicely hot, but perhaps the weakest tea he’d ever tasted.
Anne sampled hers and, judging from the movement of her eyebrows, had come to the same conclusion regarding the strength of the brew. “Well, it’s certainly not coffee.”
He laughed. “No, it is not.” He took another sip before setting his cup down.
Taking a biscuit from the plate, Anne nibbled a corner of the square. Again, she reacted, this time her eyes widened slightly and her lips puckered.
“Oh dear,” he murmured, plucking a biscuit to try. He took a small bite and recoiled at the amount of salt. “Perhaps not as sweet as one might expect.”
Anne set her biscuit on her saucer and used a napkin to dab her mouth. “Bless them for trying.”
“Now I know not to refer any of them for a baking apprenticeship.”
Giggling softly, Anne set her napkin on the table. “They went to a great deal of effort. I wonder why.”
Rafe had his suspicions but didn’t want to share them. He didn’t need any help when it came to trying to pair him with Anne. It was taking all his control not to couple with her, physically or otherwise.
Anne studied him, a smile curling her lips. “They care for you very much.”
“How do you know?”
She’d only been alone with them for a few minutes.
“They were exceptionally kind when I arrived, saying that any friend of yours was a friend of theirs and they were delighted to meet me.” Her brow creased. “Now that I think of it, they seemed to put extra emphasis on the word friend.”
“Hmmm.” That was all Rafe could think to say.
“That is how I introduced myself to Annie last week. But this tea for just the two of us is clearly a planned endeavor by the lot of them. You’ve no idea why?”
Rafe caught a flash of bright blond hair—belonging to Charlie—peeking around the wall of the staircase. “Charlie? Is there something you need?”
There was no response, but neither was there the telltale sound of feet ascending the stairs. Rafe tried again. “Charlie? Come out, please.”
A moment later, Charlie crept down the stairs and trudged to the table, guilt etched into his features. “Yes, sir?”
“Why are you spying on us?”
The boy was ten, with a sweet nature. Rafe had brought him to John last fall after Charlie’s mother had died.
“They sent me down to see what’s going on. Whether you were kissing yet or not.” Charlie made a face. “I didn’t want to come, but they said I was smallest, so it should be me.”
Anne’s brows shot up as she darted a look at Rafe. He would have laughed if he didn’t, in fact, want to kiss her so badly.
“Is that the point of this endeavor?” Rafe asked. “To get us to kiss?”
“Annie said you’d get married if you kissed.”
Hell. What if they’d already done more than that?
Anne put her hands in her lap. “And you all think we should get married?”
Charlie nodded vigorously. “Mr. Bowles needs someone to look after him the way he looks after all of us.”