Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters since the Eloise movies and the characters are the property of Disney and Kay Thompson. I make no money from this work of fiction!

"I am Eloise. I am almost six. I live here at the Plaza Hotel. Here is my card ..." said the little girl who had pushed into his path just as Wilkes was stepping up to the front desk. She handed him a small cardboard square

Rather taken aback, Wilkes looked a trifle helplessly at the manager behind the desk.

"Yes, sir. May I help you?" Mr. Salomone directed a glare at Eloise then transferred his gaze to Wilkes.

"My name is Wilkes ..."

"Sir Wilkes!" Suddenly Mr. Salomone's face changed, and his manner became obsequious. "We've been expecting you, Sir Wilkes. Yes, we have. I meant to be ready, and I tried, but, well, it is such an honour, Sir Wilkes, that you have chosen OUR hotel as your home-away-from-home for the next few years. The Plaza is a five-star hotel ..."

Wilkes listened patiently while the hotel manager waxed eloquent until suddenly the clamour of the bell being repeated hit made the man break off his flow of words and glare once more at the small blonde child beaming up at him as he protected his bell from the onslaught of her fist.

"Yes, Eloise," Mr. Salomone said in a long-suffering voice.

"I absolutely HAVE to ask ..." She turned to Wilkes, "Is your first name really SIR?"

"Er, no. My given name is Wilkes, the sir is ..."

"Oh my Lord, you mean you're absolutely a real KNIGHT? SIR Wilkes?" Eloise was obviously thrilled. "Did you have to kill a dragon to get to be a knight? And rescue the fair damsel in distress?"

While Wilkes shook his head, a trifle embarrassed at the child's words, Mr. Salomone again attempted to interrupt, but to no avail.

Eloise continued to babble excitedly. "I've never met a real KNIGHT before! Will you show me your sword sometime? Because a REAL knight absolutely HAS to own a sword, of course! Everyone knows that! This is absolutely DIVINE! Oh, and Sir Wilkes, I can show you where you are going to be living, because it's right down the hall from us. Lily was telling me ALL about you ... at least, what we know, which isn't much. Are you married? Do you have any little girls? Well, not so little, for Lord's sake, but about the age of ME, Eloise!"

"I'm afraid not. I'm sorry." Wilkes felt wretchedly guilty when he saw the child's smile leave her face.

Eloise heaved a sigh. "That's all right. At least I have Nanny to play with. She likes to play."

"Nanny?" Wilkes questioned feebly.

"She's my mostly-companion. I love her next to Maman."

"I see."

"She's English. Like you. Do you say things three times too? Nanny ALWAYS does! I asked her why, but she just told me not to be rude, rude, rude!"

"Actually, I ..."

"Eloise," Mr. Salomone broke into the conversation a little desperately. "Don't you have something else to do?"

The little girl looked puzzled. "No, I don't THINK so!" She beamed up at Wilkes again. "Sir Wilkes, do you know Mr. Peabody? He's the owner of the Plaza Hotel. Did you know that he's a great businessman and terribly, terribly, TERRIBLY dapper?"

"No, I didn't know that. How remarkable ..." Wilkes said weakly.

"What does dapper mean?" was the child's next question.

"Er ..."

"Eloise?"

The sound of a woman's voice caused all three to turn towards the staircase.

"Oops! Gotta skitter!" Eloise said, and scampered in the opposite direction.

"Eloise?" A frazzled-looking woman came around the corner and stepped up to the front desk, hardly paying any attention to Wilkes. "Oh, Mr. Salomone, I cannot apologize enough, but 'ave you seen Eloise? I've been looking for her everywhere, in all the usual places ... Aoww, I know I should try someplace NOT usual, because this IS Eloise ..."

"She was just ..." Mr. Salomone began.

Wilkes interrupted him. "I had the pleasure of meeting Eloise, and I look forward to further acquaintance."

The woman brushed a strand of hair out of her face and smiled widely at him as she said, "Eloise 'as a big 'eart, but she can be rawther overwhelming at times. I just 'ope she showed some manners, for sure, sure, sure!"

Looking into eyes bluer than the lake near his English home and feeling the warmth from her lovely smile, Wilkes was startled by a sudden jolt of attraction for this woman he had never seen before, and wondered if the flash he noticed in her eyes meant she had felt it, too. "My name is Wilkes ..."

"SIR Wilkes!" Mr. Salomone put in, importantly.

The woman's cheeks turning a faint pink as she emitted a faint squeak. "We'd 'eard ... HEARD you were coming... Aoww, I DO apologize, Sir ... "

"Excuse me, but are you Nanny or Maman?" Wilkes found himself interrupting her.

Her face flushed even more and her eyes dropped to avoid his scrutiny. "I'm Nanny ..."

Nanny's demeanour had changed subtly. Wilkes wondered what caused it, and frowned slightly in puzzlement. Before he could put his finger on the change, Nanny had excused herself and hurried over to the elevator. Wilkes turned back to Mr. Salomone to complete his business, but his mind stayed on the woman with the remarkable blue eyes.

O o O o O o

Seeing that Max's elevator was at the eighth floor, Nanny walked rapidly past the bank of elevators and whisked around the corner where she stopped and leaned against a wall while catching her breath. Oh my LORD, she had never expected the new gentleman on their floor to be so ... so .... well, he had certainly sent her blood pressure soaring! His smile, his politeness, the air of ... of NOBILITY that surrounded him ... and those searching eyes that seemed to look at her and IN her, and reveal her innermost feelings of inadequacy.

Then she scoffed at herself. Ridiculous! He had merely been polite after she had so rudely pushed past him in her anxiety about Eloise's whereabouts. So why was her heart still pounding? Why, for an instant as she had gazed into his brown eyes, had she felt like throwing herself at his feet and asking him to walk on her? How attractive THAT would have been!

Suddenly she heard his voice at the elevators, and she held her breath. He WAS getting on the elevator, wasn't he? He wouldn't come around the corner ... WOULD he? It was fully five minutes before Nanny felt it safe to move, five long minutes in which she refused to admit that she had been almost irresistibly drawn to a complete stranger ... a KNIGHT, for Lord's sake!

O o O o O o

"Sir Wilkes!" Eloise's shrill voice greeted Wilkes as he stepped out of the elevator on the top floor of the Plaza Hotel, key in hand to the suite where he expected to live for the next few years while completing some business transactions and signing off a company to his nephew's care. "Mr. Salomone sent you up here all by yourself without even someone to carry your BAGS? I thought this was supposed to be a five-star hotel! At least, that's what he's always telling me. It gets rawther boring, if you ask me!"

"Miss Eloise," Wilkes bowed slightly and touched his bowler as if she were an adult. "My luggage is to arrive later, and will be delivered." He spoke a trifle awkwardly, not having had much to do with small children. Privately he had always felt that his one and only nephew had been born an adult! That could be, of course, because Wilkes' sister was much older than he was himself, and had made a point of living up to the social position she enjoyed to the best of her ability. That had meant that her son had been raised by a nurse until he was old enough to attend school, then had been shunted off to boarding school. Wilkes had only seen him once a year, at Christmas, for an hour or two.

"That's all right then! Now see, this is where Nanny and I live ..." she threw open the double doors and he looked into a homey-looking living room with a fireplace between large windows overlooking Central Park.

"Your nanny was looking for you earlier," he commented. "I trust she found you?" He looked around, hoping to see the woman who had caught his interest with her beautiful eyes.

"Not yet," Eloise said carelessly. "I skittered as fast as I everly could to get up here first. I wanted to show you YOUR place!" She caught his hand after pulling the doors to her suite closed, and danced down the hallway to the end. "Here. This is where YOU are going to live! And you WILL tell me stories about fighting the dragons, won't you, Sir Wilkes?"

"My story-telling is a little rusty," he admitted with a faint smile, "but I shall attempt to do my best to entertain you sometime. When your nanny permits, of course."

"Oh, Nanny doesn't mind! She's rawther unusual for a Nanny. You know what, Sir Wilkes?"

"What?"

"When you smile, you look really, really, really nice! You get these nice little crinkles just in the corners of your eyes ... Nanny's heart was broken once, you know."

Caught off guard by the sudden switch in topic, Wilkes blinked. "Er, was it?"

"Yes. So was Philip's. Philip's my tutor. He broke up with his girlfriend only three years ago and that broke HIS heart, but Nanny's had to suffer DREADFULLY with hers for ever and ever and ever. Or so she says. But now she has Maman and me. Maman was a debutante, you know! She wore Dior! I'm going to be a debutante when I grow up, and go to the Debutante Ball at the Plaza in April. I bet you weren't a debutante, because you're a boy. Did you miss not being one?"

"I ..." Wilkes had tried to keep up with the conversation, but now concluded he was too old. He inserted the key into the lock and opened up his rooms. Eloise bounced inside first, without waiting for permission.

"You have a really nice suite, too, Sir Wilkes. It only has one bedroom, not three like ours, but that's all right because you don't have Nanny living with you, or a maman who needs a room sometimes like we do. But you have a fireplace, too. Aren't they absolutely divine? Too bad you just missed Christmas. I absolutely LOVE Christmas! Nanny and I sit and read out loud in front of the fireplace on Christmas Eve ... I lie with my head in her lap and she reads me Dickens' Christmas Carol because she says it'll improve my mind. Maman usually just listens and smiles. Maybe next Christmas you can come and listen, too, if you want."

A vision, of himself lying with his head in Nanny's lap while she read aloud, presented itself to Wilkes and he felt himself blushing. Before he could say something, a woman's voice came from behind him.

"Eloise?"

Wilkes whirled around, and there, standing hesitantly in the doorway and avoiding meeting his eyes directly, was Eloise's nanny, looking prim and proper, her clothing functional rather than attractive. Yet he knew right away that he was physically attracted to her... and knew that she knew it, too.

"Oh, Sir Wilkes, I cannot apologize enough … Eloise should never have..." Nanny stammered.

"Tosh, tosh, tosh!" Wilkes held up his hand to stop her. "Miss Eloise has been wonderful."

Eloise beamed up at him. He removed his hat and swept her a magnificent bow, and Eloise was beside herself with excitement. "Oh, oh, oh! You did that JUST as if I was the queen! It was absolutely divine! Oh, Sir Wilkes! Nanny, did you see that? Isn't he absolutely the most wonderful knight in the whole wide world?"

"Aoww, my Lord ..." Nanny swallowed hard. Then she frowned at Eloise. "Eloise, you KNOW that Philip is waiting for you, and it is rude, rude, rude to make him wait when you are roaming around the Plaza! It's time to go back to the suite, pet, and get at your lessons. Come along, love, let's move, move, move!"

Eloise sagged, making a face. "But Philip's boring, boring, boring, Nanny!"

"Perhaps when your lessons are finished," Wilkes found himself coming to the child's rescue, much to his surprise, "I will have remembered some, er, dragon-fighting stories."

"Oh, Sir Wilkes, that would be ABSOLUTELY DIVINE!" Eloise almost shrieked and launched herself at him, giving him a big hug before dancing off down the corridor. "Ta ta!"

"Thank you, Sir Wilkes ..." Nanny slipped out quickly after her charge before Wilkes had recovered from the shock of the little girl's hug.

"Ta ta ..." he said to the now-empty doorway. Then he looked around the suite. It was very nice for a hotel suite, he conceded... but after having had Eloise invade it for even a few minutes, Wilkes had to admit that now it seemed very quiet and... dull.

Frowning, he quashed his vague discontent and resolved to think no more about Eloise OR her "rawther unusual" nanny with the vivid blue eyes.

O o O o O o

While Eloise sat listlessly on the floor at Philip's feet, Nanny busied herself in her bedroom, trying vainly once more to push Sir Wilkes out of her mind. Yes, he was debonair, attractive, and very nice... but he was above her station and she had no business even THINKING about him in that way; if she didn't get hold of herself, Eloise would notice and Nanny's life would be over because the child would tell everyone including Sir Wilkes himself!

Over the next couple of months, however, Nanny found out it was impossible to stop dreaming about Sir Wilkes even though they skirted around their mutual physical attraction. Eloise was no help in Nanny's silent battle of avoidance, since she persistently left the doors of the suite open in the mornings, and more often than not, Sir Wilkes was passing by. Nanny lost track of the times she had to dodge behind the door and pretend to shut it while sneakily peeking out at him as he walked away. He truly had wonderful manners... which was more than she could say for young Eloise, for sure, sure, sure! Ordering room service while upside down in the chair indeed, and then running across to open the doors once again, KNOWING that Bill would not be up with their breakfast that quickly. Honestly!

O o O o O o

Eloise's sixth birthday came and went in a whirlwind of activity with her mother, then Nanny and Eloise were on their own again. Wilkes had been busy for the short time Kay was in New York, but he heard all about her time with her daughter from Eloise on one of the child's infrequent visits. He secretly wondered why Nanny seemed to be more responsible for the young girl than her own mother, but conceded that it was none of his business. Eloise, when she popped in for an occasional visit with him, prattled about Nanny much more than her mother, which suited Wilkes. He was anxious to find out all he could about Nanny, although he was finding it very difficult to speak with the woman.

Most mornings, as he strode down the hallway towards the elevator, he would come to Nanny's suite just as she got there with the intention of closing the doors. Sometimes he could hear her scolding Eloise for leaving them open. Her expression would change the moment she caught sight of him, and she would flush as she mumbled, "Good morning, Sir Wilkes."

He would return her greeting gravely, raising his hat and bowing politely, then would resume his march to the elevator, very conscious that her eyes were following his retreat. Having someone watching his every movement was something new for him, and he wasn't quite sure how to deal with it. After all, he knew very well that there was nothing at all special about him! His looks were very ordinary, after all. Had Nanny been an American, he might have suspected that she was impressed by him merely because of his title, because he had been informed that many Americans thought highly of the British aristocracy. But Nanny was as British as he was, or probably even more so, he conceded, since he had been born in Canada! Since Nanny never presumed to engage him in a conversation and indeed rarely looked directly at him, he was forced to find out what he could about her in tidbits from Eloise's random conversation. Eloise generally was a font of information, sometimes useless, sometimes pertinent.

One morning, Wilkes was conscious of an unusual frenzy of activity in the Plaza when he was returning to his suite with the daily paper. He got on the elevator and made his way to the corner at the back, then realized Nanny was beside him. Acknowledging her with a smile, he was about to question her as to the meaning of the bustling hotel when Mrs. Daniels, having overheard Nanny's murmur of his name, overwhelmed him with her gushing words. Ah! The Debutante Ball! He should have remembered, after hearing Eloise talking about it over and over again.

He saw Nanny eying Mrs. Daniels' figure and smirked inwardly, not realizing that he was being impolite and ignoring the woman's limp hand she had held out to him. Mrs. Daniels was just the sort of woman he was used to having flutter around him, and all because of his title! He didn't know why it didn't bother him that Nanny seemed in awe of him, doubtless because of his title as well. Perhaps it was because she never said anything to him about it... perhaps it was because of the look in her eyes any time she saw him... but probably it was because of how spectacular it made him feel, knowing that she admired him yet didn't feel the need to fawn over him!

When Mrs. Daniels was gone, Wilkes considered the invitation to the ball. He normally hated dances ... but Eloise had been saying for weeks that she planned to attend, and he assumed that Nanny would naturally be there if the child was. He wondered if Nanny would dance with him... and hoped that IF he went and IF she agreed to dance with him, he would not repeat his terrible blunder from the last time he had danced more than ten years ago when he had broken three bones in his sister's foot. What would he do if he stepped on Nanny's foot the way he had stepped on his sister's foot that night?

That very afternoon, although he had hesitated before accepting Mrs. Daniels' invitation to tea, he was flabbergasted when Nanny arrived obviously thinking that he had invited HER for tea. Once Nanny had figured out what had happened and had begun to apologize profusely, her face flushing, Wilkes admired Eloise's ingenuity. Imagine sending an invitation to Nanny from HIM! He never would have thought of it. Of course, it had been a little embarrassing in the beginning, but he was ever so grateful to Nanny for remaining to act as a buffer between Mrs. Daniels and himself. And when Nanny roused herself to speak to Mrs. Daniels, Wilkes was most impressed with the wisdom and insight she showed. He knew for sure then that he wanted to get to know Nanny better!

Unfortunately, the tea ended very quickly, with Mrs. Daniels storming off. Nanny suggested he follow, and although that was the last thing he wanted to do, upon reflection he thought that perhaps it was for the best. Mrs. Daniels refused to see him, but her daughter assured him that the invitation to the ball that night was still open and that he was to be SURE to come. Riding up the elevator from the eighth floor to the sixteenth, Wilkes discovered from Max that Eloise and therefore Nanny would also be at the ball.

Accordingly, that night Wilkes attended the first ball he had been to in over a decade. Although he stood at the edge of the dance floor and searched, he couldn't find Nanny. He thought he caught a glimpse of her at the other end of the room, and plunged into the crowds in that direction. Alas, it wasn't her. But he DID find Eloise who pointed out to him the food table and told him to go look at it because she, Eloise, had been the one to plan the menu!

There he found Nanny. Any question whether or not Eloise had deliberately sent him over there was promptly forgotten when he looked in Nanny's eyes and saw again the spark of attraction that he had experienced the day they had met. He puffed up with pride and joy when she asked him to dance, and led her to the floor with alacrity, saying, "I cannot keep calling you Nanny!" Surely it was time he learned her first name!

"No, I ... suppose you can't," Nanny almost gasped, flushing again before adding, "but I'd rawther not be called Miss... it sounds ridiculous at my age. And you know, my name IS Nanny!"

"It IS?"

"I'm ... afraid so."

He spun her out then smiled at her as she returned to his arms. "Just plain Nanny it is, then."

"That's me, for sure, sure, sure," she sighed.

She sounded dispirited all of a sudden. Wilkes' eyes sharpened. "You're not, you know," he said softly.

"Not what?" Nanny asked blankly.

"Plain."

Nanny stared at him in astonishment, then ducked her head in embarrassment. "Oh my stars, stars, stars, I don't need flattery!" she muttered.

The lighting in the ballroom had been dimmed somewhat to make the atmosphere more romantic. The soft glow in the corner where they shortly found themselves softened her features and blended the lines that were etched in her face. She WAS beautiful, he realized with a start, and not just because of her eyes. She didn't have the youthful peaches-and-cream perfection she had undoubtedly known years ago and she no longer had a slim, youthful body, but she was beautiful with a kind of beauty that had and would last a lifetime. Her face had a wonderful strength and character that would be there even when she was ninety. Her blue eyes would shine until her death with the same intensity as they shone now. He shook his head, keeping his eyes on her. "You are beautiful, Nanny," he murmured huskily.

Nanny just grimaced faintly and looked away. "I know what I am... I can see myself every time I look in a mirror. My Irish grandmother would say to you, 'That's enough of your blarney, young man!' and she'd be right, for Lord's sake."

Wilkes was intrigued by this new and almost introspective side of Nanny he had never seen, but he had the feeling that if he tried to take advantage of it to get to know her better, she would skitter back into the brittle shell that she wore around herself most of the time, keeping her innermost thoughts secret while acting boisterous and loud. "I think you are VERY beautiful," he insisted.

Nanny smiled indulgently, shaking her head just a bit. She knew she wasn't... and she knew that HE knew that she knew! He was... aoww, he was sweet, sweet, sweet!

At one point they found themselves next to Eloise and the young prince. Eloise grinned and said, "Oh, Nanny, I'm having an absolutely divine time at my first Debutante Ball!"

Nanny snorted and said, "Imagine my surprise!"

As they continued dancing, Wilkes reflected that for once in his life, he was glad he had come to a dance ... because he found that he was loving holding Nanny in his arms. Gradually he steered them over to the side, and their steps slowed until they were merely swaying in each other's arms. She looked into his eyes, and the spark of attraction that had flared between them earlier took firmer hold. No words were needed to confirm its existence. Wilkes realized he wanted to kiss her, REALLY wanted to kiss her. He was certain, too, that it showed on his face. Something, perhaps the slight shift of her body towards his or the way her eyes softened, told him that she wanted him to kiss her too. Unable to stop himself, he reached up and rubbed his thumb across her cheek. "Nanny..."

She stepped back immediately, dropping her gaze to the floor. "I should go find Eloise, for sure, sure, sure. Do you mind?"

"Er ... no, of course not ..." he stammered, wondering if he had misread the signals. He was definitely rusty enough that it was more than possible! Either way, he couldn't deny that she had been right to stop whatever was happening between them. They were much too old to indulge in such nonsense... in public! Nevertheless, as he watched her walk away, he sighed. He very much wished he had had the courage to persuade her to stay.

Nanny hurried out of the ballroom with an undeniable sense of regret for her own cold feet. A dance was just a dance, for Lord's sake! It was plain that she had just been too, too, too long without attention from the opposite sex! That must be what would explain her overcharged response to Sir Wilkes' arm around her waist and his hand clasped with hers. After all, she was human, a normal woman with normal needs... but she was also Eloise's nanny, and he was a knight, for Lord's sake, and she had no business dreaming impossible dreams!

O o O o O o

Following the Debutante Ball, Wilkes deliberately came around more often when he was in New York City, although his summer months were mostly spent back in Britain. He invited Nanny and Eloise to tea a few times, and Eloise was more than equal to keeping the conversation going on those occasions. The air between Wilkes and Nanny continued to be constrained, however, and Wilkes wasn't quite sure what to do about it. Perhaps Nanny preferred it this way?

Walking down the hall on his way to work a week before Christmas, Wilkes heard faint screams from suite 1625 where the doors were wide open as was usual in the mornings. He hurried to the doorway then stopped dead, seeing Nanny sitting with tinsel and Christmas lights wrapped around her body as if tying her to the chair, softly calling 'Help!' and straining against her 'bonds' while Bill and Eloise battled it out with a large candy-cane and a wooden spoon. His worry subsided, and a smile crossed his face as he watched.

When they seemed to have finished their game and Bill and Eloise had asked for and received permission from Nanny to have Eloise meet Bill at four o'clock to set up for a party, Wilkes cleared his throat. All eyes turned towards him, startled, as no one had been aware of an audience.

"Sir Wilkes!" Nanny gasped, her eyes wide as she remained frozen in her chair, horrified at having been caught in the middle of a game with Eloise. She felt like a fool with the tinsel and Christmas lights draped over her torso.

Wilkes stepped into the room, saying, "I heard the fair damsel calling for help, so I came to her rescue." Then, glancing over at Nanny, he bowed and said upon straightening up, "Have you been saved, my Lady, or might I still play a part in this drama? Although I must admit I do not have my white horse..."

Eloise grinned and bounced over to Sir Wilkes, her candy-cane waving. "I am the Pirate Eloise, and this is my prisoner! You'll have to fight me for her hand, Sir Wilkes!"

"Ah. Yes, yes. Fight for the right to win her hand ... as in... fencing?" He switched his umbrella to his other hand and assumed the correct fencing position, his left arm up behind him, his knees slightly bent, and his umbrella out as his sword.

"Oooh!" Nanny, covered in blushes, was about to jump to her feet when he put his hand on her shoulder. She subsided with a thump, feeling the heat from his hand burning her skin even after he released her.

"Stay, fair lady ... I am ready and willing to fight for you... please allow me to play the part of a REAL knight! En garde, you pirate!" and he parried his umbrella with Eloise's candy-cane.

Beaming, Eloise made a few swipes, then conceded. "Okay, I guess you can have her, Sir Wilkes," she said. "Thanks for playing!"

"My pleasure!" was his reply, and he straightened up, once more the consummate businessman. Then he touched his hat and bowed slightly to Nanny. "My Lady...?"

"Aowww, Sir Wilkes!" she gasped again at the appellation and got to her feet. She would have said more, but Eloise started bouncing up and down.

"Nanny, you have to give Sir Wilkes something to tie around his arm... the way the ladies all did in the old movies when the knights fought for their hands when they were wooing! A ribbon, or something!" the little girl cried out excitedly. "No, some of this tinsel! Here, Nanny..." Eloise unwound the red and gold tinsel that had been draped around Nanny and thrust it into her 'mostly companion's' hands. "Tie the end of this around his arm, then cut off the long end. That'll work, won't it? Then, whenever he sees it today, he'll think of you!" She beamed at the other three in the room.

For a moment, the adults remained frozen. After an awkward moment of silence, Nanny muttered, her face flushing slightly, "I'm sorry, Sir Wilkes..."

"Er ... sorry? Does that mean I'm not going to get my favour?" He looked a little crestfallen. "And I was willing to fight for you, too!"

Nanny's smile was crooked. "With an umbrella? Against a candy cane? 'Ow very daring of you, for sure, sure, sure!"

He drew closer and his voice dropped, sounding husky as he murmured, "I'd even brave real swords for your favour, Nanny..."

"Here's the scissors, Nanny!" Eloise popped up between them. "Tie the tinsel on him!" she ordered.

Nanny obeyed numbly, but her fingers were shaking slightly. What had come over her? Aoww, she needed her coffee, for Lord's sake!

Eloise snipped off the tinsel, then Bill cleared his throat. "I'd best be getting on. I'll see you at four, Eloise!"

"I'm helping Bill get ready for a party later," Eloise informed Sir Wilkes, importantly.

"Er, yes. Quite. Quite. Well, alas, I must sally forth to see if there are any other fair damsels to rescue or perhaps a dragon or two to slay..." He lifted his hat and bowed to the little girl who beamed back at him, then bowed to Nanny whose confused eyes couldn't quite meet his, then he regretfully departed.

Nanny had been looking forward to going Christmas shopping with Eloise, and had arranged with Maggie to take them around the stores as a special surprise for the child. However, at the breakfast table that day, Eloise asked Nanny what she planned to get Sir Wilkes for Christmas, since it was obvious that he would be getting HER something 'très extraordinaire'. That put Nanny into a real dither, as it had never occurred to her that she would be expected to come up with a 'perfect' gift for the man who generally played a far more important role in her dreams than he did in real life. Suddenly her enthusiasm for Shopping Day was dampened, and she knew that until she thought of something to give Sir Wilkes, she would be unable to concentrate completely on anything else.

O o O o O o

When Wilkes encountered Eloise dressed in her outdoor clothes at the elevator one morning a few days later, he smiled at her, asking where she was off to so early in the morning.

"Nanny and I are going Christmas shopping," Eloise announced. "She can't wait another minute to get your present!" Then she leaned forward and said meaningfully, "She won't tell me what it is, but I have a feeling it's rawther divine!"

A feeling of dread settled in the pit of Wilkes' stomach. Before Eloise could run away, he quickly asked, "Oh, uh, tell me, did Nanny happen to mention anything SHE might enjoy being given?" Unfortunately, before he had received an answer, the elevator arrived and Eloise was gone.

Suddenly it felt as if the weight of the world had descended on Wilkes. Nanny was getting him a Christmas present? A 'rawther divine' one, according to Eloise? Oh, dear. What in the world could he possibly get HER? And in only a few days, too! Well, there was nothing for it. He would have to go out shopping IMMEDIATELY.

The following afternoon, after searching over half of New York, some hairpins in a shop window caught his eye and when he asked about them, he was delighted to hear that they were Ming Dynasty. That would surely impress Nanny and would be useful at the same time. Still, before buying them, he thought he should check with Eloise. He had been invited over to watch a Christmas movie that night.

Never had watching a movie been so excruciatingly painful as that night. Both Nanny and Wilkes were on edge as neither had managed to find a present for the other. Eloise was busy doing something in her bedroom, so the two adults sat on either end of the sofa and pretended to be engrossed in the television show. Nanny was more silent than usual as she was finding it difficult to look at Sir Wilkes without imagining him in the long underwear she had been eying on and off in the catalogue thanks to Eloise's offhand comment the other morning at breakfast.

At last Wilkes couldn't stand the silence anymore. Carefully not looking at Nanny, he said, "Magnificent rendition... don't you think?"

Their stilted conversation ended abruptly when Nanny dazedly poured her wine on her blouse. Wilkes instinctively reached out to help pat her blouse dry with his handkerchief but Nanny, mortified at her clumsiness, yelped and pushed him away before escaping to her room. As Wilkes sat helplessly on the edge of his seat holding both wine glasses, Eloise came through the living room.

"Eloise, could I get your opinion on something?" he asked quickly, checking to make sure Nanny was not within earshot. Eloise sighed and sat beside him. He hurried on. "It's about Nanny's Christmas present. I passed a shop this afternoon... they had the most magnificent Chinese hairpins. I was told they were Ming Dynasty." He was about to add more, but Eloise was already getting up, a bored expression on her face.

"Nanny already has LOADS of hairpins," she informed him, then walked away.

"Oh, does she?" he said, almost to himself, quite disappointed. He pondered the question of what he could give Nanny once more, then his mind wandered to the look on her face when he was talking about the one idea that seemed more lovely than the rest for a certain person. He could have sworn that his words had caused her to spill her wine. He clenched his hand that was still holding her glass and his handkerchief, and wondered what he would have done had she allowed him to help her. She had spilt the wine on her chest... he would have touched her breast... his face flushed. No wonder she had been so perturbed with him! How incredibly crass he had been! He sighed. How delightful it would have been, though... then his face felt as if it were on fire. It was a very good thing indeed that no one could read his thoughts! He tried to concentrate on the movie and forget about his lustful thoughts with regard to Nanny.

For her part, as she scolded herself while wiping off the wine frantically, Nanny, too, was thinking about what it would have felt like had she allowed Sir Wilkes to assist her in drying her blouse. His fingers cupping her breast... "Aoww, honestly, Nanny!" she muttered and scrubbed at her blouse harder, horrified anew at her thoughts. Then Eloise was there and asking about wooing... and Nanny, after a quick glance out to the living room at Sir Wilkes, lapsed into a vague sort of daydream wherein he brought her dozens of long-stemmed red roses as proof of his regard for her. Suddenly a loud noise from a commercial on the television brought her out of her reverie, and she gave one final swipe to the blouse then took a firm hold of her emotions and made her way back out to join Sir Wilkes.

The moment the movie was over, Wilkes made some excuses and hurried out the door. He had a lot of reflecting to do if he were going to come up with another idea for Nanny's Christmas present!

O o O o O o