Page 40 of A Lovely White Christmastide
Beth rolled her eyes. They’d had one glorious week without the older lady lording over them as if they were ten, but now that Mrs. Barker had returned to health she’d applied herself with vigor to the task of stopping any interactions she deemed inappropriate with the opposite sex.
“Yes,” Carswell said, “but as a gentleman I cannot let her traverse such treacherous terrain alone. With the rain and cold there could be patches of ice. You would not wish your charge tofall and break her arm, would you? What would her father say to that?”
Mrs. Barker’s eyes widened and Beth had to hide her smirk.
“I see. In that case, maybe it is best you help us both out.” Then without an invitation, Mrs. Barker latched onto Carswell’s other arm.
This time it was he who appeared startled. Beth raised a hand to her mouth to keep from laughing. He’d so expertly convinced Mrs. Barker of the hazards of walking by oneself that Beth doubted the older woman would travel to and from the carriage without assistance for the rest of their stay—especially if it gave her an excuse to touch the handsome man’s arm.
Beth did not blame her. She quite liked having his assistance as well. So when a bubble of irritation rose up inside, she was taken by surprise.
Rarely did she become vexed with anyone, but Mrs. Barker's incessant chatter as they approached the carriage made her wish for a gag to tie about the lady’s mouth. Especially as most of her conversation revolved around reminding Beth to behave herself.
She was five and twenty years old, not ten! She did not need reminders and chastisement as if she had barely left the schoolroom.
“Mrs. Barker,” she finally said at the door of the carriage. The woman stopped, her shock evident at the firm tone Beth had taken with her. “I would appreciate it if you would remember that I am well past my majority and can regulate my own behavior.”
“But it is my job as?—”
“You are not my governess; you are my companion and I will thank you to behave as such.”
Mrs. Barker’s mouth hung slack. Over her head Beth could see a smiling Julianna giving her silent applause, but the angerthat had pushed her to speak had fled and she now felt the sudden need to cry.
Thank the heavens for Carswell. He stepped in between her and Mrs. Barker, leading her to the door of the carriage and helping her up the steps.
“I will be back in one moment,” he said, and tucked her against the side in the blessed dim light where no one could see the single tear that slipped down her cheek.
Murmuring words met her ears but she could not focus on anything anyone said outside. She hadneverstood up to anyone. Not Mrs. Barker, not her father, not even her mother when she was alive. It was both liberating and terrifying.
She took several slow deep breaths to calm her nerves.
Eventually Carswell joined her sitting across the carriage, but when the door was closed and the conveyance began to move she glanced at him in surprise.
“I thought you might need a moment. You appeared a bit shaken.”
“Thank you.” She glanced down at her clasped hands in her lap.
“You did a fine job of expressing yourself, Beth. I, for one, am grateful you let Mrs. Barker know she had overstepped her bounds.”
“Really? You do not think it disrespectful of me considering her age?”
“Not at all. Especially considering her occupation. Yes she is to provide proprietary—something I just overstepped with this private ride”—he cast her a roguish smile— “but she does not need to ring a peal over your head every time you are in Society with an eligible gentleman. In fact, I think that is quite the opposite of what your father wished when hiring her. The last thing he needs is a grumpy dragon scaring off suitors.”
She smiled at the image. Julianna had often called the woman a dragon, but the picture seemed different when Carswell said it. She imagined a large scaly Mrs. Barker, her tail curled about her breathing fire and snapping at any man who got too close.
“Unfortunately, I believe that was exactly why my father hired Mrs. Barker.”
A vee formed between his eyebrows and he leaned forward, his forearms resting on his knees. “Why? You are of age. Does he not wish you to be taken care of after he is gone?”
“He has set aside enough to care for me…”
“But?”
“Our mother died in childbirth. I believe he worries we will both fall to the same fate.”
He leaned back. “That is a risk of life, but if that were the case, why would he think to remarry?”
This time it was Beth who was taken aback. “How do you know that?”
