Edward could not hold back his grin, but he nodded and replied, “I am sorry, Lily. I did not mean to hurt your mama’s feelings. I will be nice. Will you forgive me?”
The little girl appeared to consider that for a long moment before she finally nodded. “I forgive you, Uncle Edward.”
“Thank you,” he said. “That is very kind of you.”
Her mouth turned into a wide grin. Lily turned to her mother and declared, “Uncle Edward is sorry, mama! I made it all better.”
Reaching out, Emily cupped her daughter’s face in her hands and kissed her forehead.
“You are such a good girl, Lily,” Emily said. “Thank you for teaching your uncle such a valuable lesson. Why do you not go down to the kitchen and see if Cook will give you a treat for being such an excellent helper?”
Lily’s face lit up with excitement. “All right, mama!”
Without a moment’s worth of hesitation, the little girl turned and ran out of the room, practically skipping in her glee.
Edward chuckled. “What a delight she has grown to be. She must get all her charm from James. I cannot imagine that you contributed anything to her personality.”
“Do I need to call her back to give you a talking to again?” Emily demanded to know.
Edward put his hands up and shook his head. “No, please, no! I will behave, I promise.”
Sharing a look, the two broke into peals of laughter that caused tears to leak from Edward’s eyes.
As their laughter slowly died, Emily stood up and brushed her hands over her skirts.
“All right,” she sighed. “I should go and prepare for the first of the interviews. The candidate should be arriving soon.”
Edward stood as well. “Then I will take that as my sign to leave. I do not need to be around when the nannies come marching in.”
Emily smirked. “If I did not know any better, I would say you are scared, Edward.”
Shrugging, Edward replied, “Believe what you like, sister. I will never admit to it.”
Giving her a quick kiss on her cheek, Edward hurried past her and made his way toward the townhouse’s door. He did not know exactly where he would go, but he truly did not want to spend the afternoon tip-toeing around the interviewees.
In the end, whoever Emily hired for the position would not matter to him. The governess would have her position within the household, and he could avoid her if necessary. He just hoped that, whoever she was, she was at least kind to Lily…even if she was a sour-faced old woman.
Chapter 9
“My, you are right on time, miss,” the kind-faced butler who had answered the door smiled at Victoria. “Eleven on the nose.”
Nodding, Victoria replied, “Punctuality is one of my gifts, I suppose.”
The butler moved to the side to allow her in. “Well, welcome, Miss…Clifford, was it?”
“Yes,” Victoria answered.
“Good, good.” The butler shut the door behind her before continuing, “Allow me to check that Mrs Radcliffe is ready to receive you.”
“All right, thank you,” Victoria said.
The butler turned and made his way further into the house, and Victoria stood in the foyer, awaiting his return. She looked around at the richly decorated space. The floor was veined marble, covered with plush Persian rugs, each of an intricate pattern and deep colour.
There were paintings of different scenes of what she assumed was daily life – a couple walking together in a garden, a carriage rolling down the street, a man fishing in a still pond – things that were rather mundane in truth, but the artist had inserted a breathtaking beauty to the ordinary. Still, Victoria thought it odd that such simple images would hang in such a lavish home.
Before she could contemplate the curiosity further, the butler returned.
“Mrs Radcliffe is ready for you,” he informed her.
