“That’s my perfume,” Emily said.

Ginny picked up another block. “What do you look like? Mama said you look pretty, but she said the sunset looks pretty too. Do you look like a sunset?”

Enchanted by the child, Emily smiled. “‘Pretty’ just means that something is nice to look at.” She picked up a block and placed it in Ginny’s hand. “Like you.”

Ginny rose on tiptoes to add the block to the top of the tower. “What color is your hair?”

Emily tried to think. How does one describe the world to a sightless child? “My hair is almost the same color as yours. Only a little lighter.”

“I know what color that is,” Ginny said proudly. “It’s the color hot.”

“Hot?”

“It’s the same color as the sun, and the sun is hot. What color are your eyes?”

“My eyes are blue, same as yours.”

“I don’t know what blue looks like, but I know what it feels like. It feels like water. Mama said that water is blue if there’s a lot of it.”

“That’s true,” Emily said.

“I know what Cookie looks like cuz he let me touch his face. But Mama said it’s not polite to touch other people on the face.”

“You can touch my face,” Emily said. “I won’t mind.”

“Really?”

Emily smiled at the child’s enthusiasm. “Yes, really.”

Kneeling, Emily guided Ginny’s hand to her face. With a start, Emily recalled the feel of Chase’s finger on her cheek. The tenderness of his touch. She must have reacted, for Ginny pulled her hand away.

“Did I hurt you?”

“No, no, of course not. I was thinking of…something else. Here, try again.”

This time, she stayed perfectly still while the child ran her fingers the length of her face.

“Your skin feels smooth,” Ginny said. “Like the ribbon in my hair. It’s not fuzzy like Cookie’s.” She drew her hand away. “Mr. Knight makes the floor shake when he walks. Does he have a fuzzy face too?”

“You mean does he have a mustache or beard? No, he doesn’t.”

“Is he pretty like you?”

Emily was momentarily uncertain how to answer. She hadn’t really given much thought to his good looks except in the most general terms. “Most men wouldn’t like to be called pretty,” she said. “They’d much rather be thought of as handsome.”

“Is Mr. Knight handsome?” Ginny persisted.

“Oh yes,” Emily said. “He is most handsome.” Now that she thought about it, she had to admit he was the most handsome man she had ever known.

14

Emily wasn’t sure if it was due to the snake episode or something else, but she and Chase seemed to have declared some sort of unspoken truce.

He now knocked before entering her bedchamber. For her part, she began arriving at the stables just after daybreak and didn’t object to the long hours in the saddle or the rigorous training he put her through. Though God knew, she had plenty to complain about.