Rebecca Hagan Lee (22 page)

“Because she didn’t know those things.”

“Why not? Wasn’t she a member of a best family? She must have been to have married into your father’s family.”

“Of course she was,” Elizabeth said. “But her mother died when she was small, and she couldn’t benefit from her mother’s guidance. My mother didn’t have the proper background for entree into society.”

“It figures,” James muttered.

“What?”

“Your grandmother felt that your father married beneath his station,” James said.

“Yes,” Elizabeth admitted. That was part of it. But there was something more, another deep family secret Elizabeth had only heard mentioned twice in her lifetime—the day her father died suddenly of apoplexy at the age of thirty-seven and the day her grandmother had disowned her. It had tainted the family atmosphere for years and hung unspoken and unacknowledged, like a pall in the air, until the whole house reeked of it. Elizabeth couldn’t bring herself to acknowledge it aloud, but she was to blame for her mother’s unhappiness and her father’s distance. She was to
blame because she was the reason her father had been forced to marry her mother.

“And I’ll bet your Grandmother never let you or your mother or your father forget it.”

“No.”

James let go of Ruby’s hand and bent low to ask, “Ruby Button, will you please open the door for Miss Sadler and Daddy?”

Ruby looked up at her daddy, then at the new governess. “No,” she answered defiantly.

“I’ll get it,” Elizabeth volunteered, reaching for the doorknob.

“No!” Ruby exclaimed, running ahead of Elizabeth to grasp the doorknob. “I open door for Daddy!”

James shook his head. “It figures. One rebellion a day is never enough.” He stepped back to allow Elizabeth to enter the nursery, then set Emerald on her feet. She crawled over to watch as Ruby ran over to the shelf lining the playroom wall and began pulling down a pile of building blocks.

Eager to join her sisters, Garnet squirmed in Elizabeth’s arms. Elizabeth put her on the floor, then watched as Ruby built a tower of blocks and ruthlessly knocked it down, sending wooden blocks flying across the floor.

“Ruby, please,” Elizabeth said, firmly but gently. “Not so hard. You’ll hit your sisters.”

“No!” Ruby looked to James for approval.

But James shook his head. “Ruby, you must listen to Miss Sadler now. She’s in charge of the nursery. You must mind her.”

He turned to Elizabeth. “You’re the governess and it’s important that the Treasures understand that when they are with you, you’re in charge.”

Elizabeth nearly panicked. She couldn’t be in charge of the nursery, because she had no idea what to do. “What about you?” she asked James.

“I’m going to work.”

“What do I do?” She lowered her voice to a whisper,
not wanting the girls or Delia to hear. “You know I don’t know what to do. I’ve never done this before.”

James reached under his dressing gown, searching his jacket pockets until he found what he was looking for. He took out a folded piece of Craig Capital stationery and handed it to her. “It’s the Treasures’ daily schedule. I wrote it down for you.”

Elizabeth unfolded the sheet of paper and read it aloud. “Six
A.M.
—up and dressed for seven o’clock breakfast with father. Eight-thirty
A.M.
—supervised play time in the nursery. Ten
A.M.
—lessons.” She glanced over at James. “Lessons? What kind of lessons?”

He shrugged. “Start with the basics. The alphabet, counting to ten, colors. Read them a story. Be creative.”

Elizabeth nodded in agreement, then read the remainder of the schedule. “Eleven
A.M.
—lunch in the nursery. Twelve
P.M.
—nap. Two
P.M.
—daily walk in park for everyone including Diamond.”

“Mrs. G. will show you where the carriages are kept, and Delia will accompany you.”

“All right,” Elizabeth said.

“Four
P.M.
—return home. Four-thirty
P.M.
—dinner in nursery. Six
P.M.
—baths. Seven
P.M.
—story. Seven-thirty or eight
P.M.
—bedtime.” Again, she looked over at James for an explanation.

“Sometimes they fall asleep before the end of the story,” he said. “And sometimes the story is interrupted because, even though we’re weaning her, Emerald often cries for a bottle at bedtime.”

“That’s a long day,” Elizabeth told him. “And a very full schedule.”

“Yes, it is,” James agreed. “And I’m afraid your day is even longer. You see, although we try to keep Diamond on the same basic schedule as the others, she requires an early morning feeding or two.” He winced as he said the words.

“How early?” Elizabeth asked.

“I feed her before I retire for the night,” James said.
“Then she usually requires another bottle around two or three in the morning.”

Elizabeth gasped. No wonder the man had been desperate to find a governess. No wonder he was willing to have her arrested, bail her out of jail, and agree to pay her the princely sum of fifty dollars a day to come to Coryville. No wonder he looked so tired. No wonder his wife had died. A schedule like this could kill an ox.

Recognizing the note of alarm in her voice and the expression on her face, James tried to reassure her. “Mrs. G. and Delia will help you during the day. And I’ll do my share at night. I’m usually home in time to help with baths, get them ready for bed, and read them a story.”

“I’m relieved to hear it,” she replied.

Realizing her sarcasm masked her apprehension, James gave her a knowing look. “And not only that,” he said, “but you’ll be relieved to see me as well.”

“Is there anything else?” she asked, glancing back down at his bold handwriting on the schedule he’d written out for her to follow, suddenly uncomfortable with the warm, understanding expression on his face and in his eyes.

“You did well this morning.” He walked over and lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes. This time James didn’t attempt to rein in his impulses. Taking full advantage of her speechlessness, he gently caressed her full bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. “You did
very
well this morning. I’m quite proud of you, Elizabeth.” His voice took on a rough husky quality. “Don’t worry. You’ll do fine. Forget everything your grandmother ever taught you or said to you, and follow your own instincts and you’ll do just fine.” He winked at her. “Any more questions?”

“Are you sure you have to go to work this morning?”

She looked so appealing, standing there in her nightgown and bare feet, imploring him not to go to work, that James forced himself to fight the urge to give in and stay home and show her everything he knew about babies, including how to make them. Instead of kissing the worried look off her face the way he longed to do, he managed to laugh. “I
most certainly do,” he said. “Especially if you expect me to pay you the outrageous sum of fifty dollars a day.” Unable to resist, he leaned closer until he was within an inch of exchanging breath with her. “It’s time to go to work, now. Time for you to earn your money.”

“It’s time for you to earn money,” Elizabeth rebounded. “As much as you can. Because when I’m done with today’s schedule I may decide fifty dollars isn’t enough!”

James laughed again. “There is one more thing, Elizabeth.”

“What now?” she asked, rather ungraciously, wondering what other surprises he had up his sleeve.

“Dinner for grown-ups is served at eight,” he said. “And I would consider it a very great honor if you’d join me.”

“
DO YOU WANT
to talk about it?” Will asked when James reentered the dining room.

“What?” James gave Will a blank look and tried to avoid the question by pretending not to understand.

But Will ignored James’s pretended ignorance and pressed on. “Don’t try to fool me, Jamie. You’re no good at it. I’ve known you too long. If you don’t want to talk to me about what’s bothering you, all you have to say is, ‘Will, I don’t want to talk about it.’ ”

“Will, I don’t want to talk about it,” James replied.

“Well, you need to,” Will decided. “I haven’t seen you so snarling and territorial in years.”

James clenched his teeth and pinched the bridge of his nose, then heaved a resigned sigh and shrugged out of his dressing gown. He draped the silk garment over the back of a chair, then, realizing he was still covered in talcum powder, began brushing at the front of his suit. “Have you finished your breakfast?” he asked Will.

“Yes.” Will pushed back his chair and stood up.

James glanced up at the ceiling. “Then let’s go. We can talk in private while we walk to the office. I’ll let Mrs. G. know we’re leaving.” He left the dining room and walked
into the kitchen, where Helen Glenross sat drinking a cup of tea at the large oak worktable.

“Breakfast was delicious as usual, Mrs. G.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Ruby settled down a bit once I gave her the red dish. Thanks for the help.”

“You’re welcome, sir.” Normally Helen Glenross didn’t interfere in her employer’s business, but Mr. Craig had been having such a hard time of it since that last poor excuse for a governess left, and she wanted to reassure him that this time he’d made a wise choice. “How did our Miss Sadler do?”

James grinned. “She did fine, Mrs. G. You were right about her. She’s not as experienced with small children as I had hoped, but she handled herself and the Treasures very well.”

“I’m glad to hear it, sir.”

“Mr. Keegan and I are leaving for the office. I said good-bye to the girls,” James told her. “And I made it clear to them that Miss Sadler is in charge of the nursery, and I wrote out a schedule for her to follow. She’s to come to you for help if she needs anything. It may take her a while to settle in and become accustomed to the Treasures and the way in which we do things, but her presence should help relieve some of your responsibilities. I would appreciate it, however, if you can continue to help with Diamond. Miss Sadler is a bit apprehensive around her.”

Mrs. G. nodded. “That’s perfectly understandable. A society lass like our Miss Sadler probably hasn’t been around many newborns.”

“No,” James agreed. “But she’ll learn soon enough.”

“That’s for certain,” Mrs. G. said. “And it will be a right good training for her. She’ll be an old hand at caring for babies by the time her own little ones come along.”

James paused and looked at Mrs. G. as if the idea that Elizabeth might one day choose to leave his house to marry and have children of her own had never occurred to him, “I suppose you’re right.”

Helen Glenross raised an eyebrow at him. “Well, surely you weren’t thinking our Miss Sadler will stay in service forever.” She shook her head. “Oh, no, that one will find a husband before too long and raise children of her own. She’ll not run out on you like the last governess did or cause herself to be dismissed like the others, but you can wager that she won’t be staying on permanently.”

James knew better than to ask, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. “Why not?”

“Because one day you may decide to bring home a bride,” Mrs. G. answered. “New brides always make changes in the household staff. And our Miss Sadler won’t want to stay where she isn’t needed.”
Or wanted.
Helen Glenross had eyes. She understood, even if James Craig did not, why Miss Sadler had decided to stay. And if Mr. Craig got tired of being a widower and brought home a new bride, Miss Sadler would be on her way. Not that Miss Sadler was after his money. Nothing of the sort. From what she’d seen of her, Elizabeth Sadler looked very much like a young lady on the verge of falling in love. It wouldn’t hurt to give Mr. Craig a tiny warning not to take his new governess for granted.

James cleared his throat as he headed for the dining room door. “I don’t think you have to worry about that any time soon, Mrs. G. What innocent young girl would be willing to take on a man of my reputation? Especially when I come equipped with four Chinese daughters?”

“Maybe an innocent young Chinese girl,” Mrs. G. replied, teasing.

But James Craig didn’t hear the teasing note in her voice. He only heard the suggestion. He glanced down at the sheen on his highly polished shoes. “Not again, Mrs. G. Never again. I don’t think I could survive it.”

“
I THOUGHT WE
were going to talk.” Will Keegan lengthened his stride to keep pace with James. James hadn’t
said a word since leaving the house. In fact, he hadn’t said a word since he’d left the kitchen. And James had left the kitchen in a hurry. He’d paused long enough in the study to retrieve his leather satchel, then headed straight out the front door at such a pace, Will immediately suspected the kitchen might be ablaze.

“Will, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Well, that’s just too bloody damn bad,” Will told him. “Because something’s got your tail tied into knots, and I’m not going to let you keep it all bottled up inside. It makes you too bloody hard to live with! Now, what is it about Beth that’s got you all lathered up?”

“What makes you think that what’s bothering me has anything to do with Elizabeth?” James snapped.