Page 10 of The Iron Duke's Flaming Christmas
Mrs. Kittles sat in the rocking chair by the fire. Clearly, the housekeeper had decided to keep out of the interaction, and merely observe. It was equally clear to Selene that this was a sink or swim situation—what she did now would influence her relationship with the child going forward.
She took a deep breath, gazing at the little girl, smiling faintly. “Do you always greet your new governesses in such a manner, my lady?” Her voice held a hint of amusement.
Lady Lenore’s dark eyes flickered. “Sometimes. They usually cry and scream and stomp their feet.”
“I see,” said Selene gravely, nodding her head. “I can see that a lot of people might react in that way.” She took a deep breath. “I will answer your question now. I am not going to punish you.”
Lady Lenore looked surprised. “You are not?”
Selene shook her head. “No. It was merely water, and it did not hurt me, although I must look quite a fright now.” She made a silly face. “Like a gargoyle, perhaps? Or a drowned rat?”
Lady Lenore giggled. “Maybe.”
“Why do you throw water or do other such things to your governesses?” asked Selene, kneeling in front of the child, so that their eyes were level.
Lady Lenore looked surprised again. Obviously, nobody had ever asked her such a question before.
“Because I can,” responded the girl slowly, shrugging her shoulders. “Because it means that they will leave.” She hesitated. “I do not like them. They yell at me and stomp their feet and tell me I am bad.”
Mrs. Kittles made a tsking sound from the rocking chair, but didn’t say anything.
“And you assumed that I would do the same thing,” said Selene, in a thoughtful voice. “Although, you did not give me a chance, did you?”
The girl shook her head. “No.”
“Will you give me a chance?” asked Selene. “I promise that I will not yell or stomp my feet or tell you that you are bad.”
The girl tilted her head to the side again, contemplating Selene. Her dark eyes wandered over her face, looking at her carefully. Selene held her breath.
“Maybe,” replied the girl eventually. “You promise you will not be mean to me?”
Selene nodded. “Yes, I do,” she replied. “I have already said so.” She hesitated. “Will we give each other a chance to see if we like each other until Christmas? Can we do that?”
The girl looked solemn. “Just until Christmas?”
“Yes,” said Selene. “Then, if either of us decide that it is not working out, it will end. You do not have to force me to leave, my lady. I will do it willingly because I want what is best for both of us.”
The girl looked shocked. “All right.”
“Good,” said Selene, holding out her hand. “Shall we go to the library now and look at some books? I would like to see what you like.”
Lady Lenore’s eyes flickered to the outstretched hand. There was a moment when Selene thought she wasn’t going to take it. Then, quite suddenly, she did.
Selene’s heart swelled. So far, so good. She smiled at Mrs. Kittles, who looked a little shocked, as well, but smiled back, nodding at her imperceptibly. They turned and walked out of the room toward the library. Selene held her breath the whole time. She really was the governess of Trenton House now. She still couldn’t quite believe it.
***
Ian let the curtain drop when the new governess led his daughter out of the nursery toward the library. He had been watching their first interaction from an adjacent room, curious to know how Miss Bomind was going to handle his daughter, and how Lenore was going to greet her.
He grinned to himself, shaking his head. His daughter had given her quite a greeting, pouring water over her head. It was very naughty, of course, and if he hadn’t been so curious as to how the new governess would handle the situation, he would have intervened, scolding Lenore soundly.
His heart contorted. But Miss Bomind hadn’t scolded her—instead, amazingly, she had laughed, then talked quite calmly to Lenore, brokering a deal with her. Oddly, it had seemed to work. They had calmly agreed to go to the library together.
It was unprecedented. He had never seen a governess react in such a way to such provocation. They always overreacted, trying to lay down the law, and show who was incharge far too soon, which only antagonized his daughter more. Lenore was different to other children—she had to be handled very carefully.
She didn’t like strangers marching in and trying to immediately control her. And, of course, she didn’t have a mother’s loving hand to temper her spirit.
The new governess seemed to understand that. It was very odd, indeed.
