eight
Meredith practically bouncedout of bed the next morning. Even though she had stayed up late the night prior preparing her lessons, she didn’t feel the slightest bit sluggish when she yanked the bell pull to summon her maid.
Her first day in the classroom had filled her with energy and purpose, and she was eager to see what this day would bring. If she arrived early enough, she would have time to set up the room before the MacBride girls had their breakfast. The youngest girls’ nanny planned to bring them to the classroom this morning to listen to their older sisters read aloud.
Meredith and Mrs. Browning had gotten on well yesterday, despite the large difference in their ages. The older woman reminded Meredith of her mother in a way. She addressed the girls with the same gentleness Mama had always shown her and Felicity. Even when their mother was under the weather, which was too often these days, she never raised her voice. Meredith found both of the women inspiring and hoped she could live up to their examples.
She had already begun her toilette when her maid arrived. “Good morning, Lily.”
Her maid’s greeting was slightly less enthusiastic than Meredith’s, and she rubbed her eye with her fist. It appeared Meredith had dragged her from bed.
“I need your assistance dressing, but it won’t be necessary for you to accompany me to Blackwood Castle today.”
Lily raised her honey-colored eyebrows, but she said nothing.
“I know it is wash day,” Meredith said. “You are needed here, and I can manage on my own.”
She would be with her charges all day, and she wasn’t likely to have any further dealings with Lord Blackwood now that he had laid out her duties.
“Yes, miss.”
Meredith thought she detected a note of skepticism from Lily. “I will be alone with my charges all day.”
“I understand.”
Meredith frowned as her maid crossed to the wardrobe. She’d definitely seen Lily purse her lips in disapproval before she turned away.
“I doubt I will even see Lord Blackwood,” Meredith said. “He is much too busy and important to concern himself with the governess.”
She tried to shrug off the veil of disappointment settling over her at the thought and reminded herself that her only interest was in the children’s education. It wasn’t completely true. Lord Blackwood had roused her curiosity, but she would be doing herself no favors by indulging it.
Still, she couldn’t help wondering why he seemed so different from the noblemen she had met in London. She couldn’t imagine any of the popinjays that had been presented to her caring about a child’s education beyond the financing of it. Yet, the earl had spent his morning in the classroom, insuring his nieces were comfortable with their new governess. He truly was a unique gentleman, a man worthy of further study.
Lily returned with a pink day dress covered with tiny roses embroidered in silk thread. It was an ambitious frock designed to attract a husband—not something a governess would wear. Her wardrobe was filled with such dresses, but she would have to wait for her first wages to purchase a more demure fabric and sew a dress better suited for her position. Fortunately, she had inherited her mother’s skill with a needle.
“What about Mr. MacBride?” Lily asked.
Meredith’s head snapped up. “Excuse me?”
“You said you are unlikely to encounter Lord Blackwood. Do you expect you might cross paths with Mr. MacBride?”
She had forgotten all about the earl’s brother, but she wasn’t worried about him. The day before, James MacBride had made himself scarce beyond the introductions and initial meeting to discuss her students’ current skills. “I am sure I won’t see him again.”
When she arrived at Blackwood Castle an hour later, she was proven wrong.
Meredith gaped at the chaotic scene just inside the front door. “Wh-what h-happened?”
James MacBride beamed at her from the first step of the stairwell while all five of her students giggled from their places at the gallery overlooking the foyer. Mrs. Browning, the nanny, held a hand to her forehead as if trying to ward off a headache. A couple of upstairs maids peered over the railing with wide-eyed horror.
“These are sheep.” Mr. MacBride fanned his arms over the flocks’ wooly heads.
“Yes, I—I can s-see that well enough.”
The black and white faced creatures were everywhere, and a musty odor hung over the room. She knew very little about sheep, but they seemed like docile creatures. That a herd might storm a castle was too outrageous to consider. Yet, she couldn’t imagine they were meant to be inside.
One of the sheep accidentally bumped her with its curled horn and knocked her into the entry table. She braced her weight against it to keep from falling. “How did they g-get inside?”
“I herded them through the door, of course.” Their uncle’s incredulous tone set off another round of giggles from the girls. “Sheep are the MacBrides’ livelihood. They are part of my nieces’ heritage. I’ve brought them inside for your lesson.”
