They stood thusly for several long moments, the expression on Miss Smith’s features turning first thoughtful, then hesitant.
He would very likely regret asking, but his mouth opened anyway. “Is there anything else that you wish to discuss?”
The dark curls perched precariously atop her head bounced as she gave a nod. “Yes. Miss Notley mentioned that she does not see you unless she visits you in your study. She wishes to improve your relationship, to know you better—”
“She does not know what she wants.”
“I believe she does,” Miss Smith replied in a voice that was somehow both soft and firm. “And I will ensure that she gets it.”
His stomach clenched, and unease prickled up his neck. “I do not know how to interact with children,” he confessed. Damn, but he sounded the fool.
A bright smile lit her lips and crinkled the corners of her eyes, and Leo’s chest squeezed in response.
“I can help with that,” she announced. “Commencing tomorrow, we shall begin each day by breaking our fast together, the three of us. She will learn comportment and table manners, and it will strengthen your bond.”
His gaze caught on the sparkle in her eyes, and despite himself, he nodded. The tightness in his chest grew stronger as she flashed him a grin and slipped from the room. As he watched her go, he very much feared that he’d agreed to something that would hurt him more than she could possibly know.
* * *
Exultation filledhis chest as he spied Juliana through a high window of a grand estate. He’d been searching for days, and had found the correct one, at last.
He shifted his seat, settling back against the trunk of a tree, sheltered from the falling snow. The darkness of the evening and the drooping branches shielded him from view; anyone who cared to look would see only shadows. But he… He could see Juliana clearly.
Her bruise-marred skin was pale against her drab uniform, but he knew what she truly was. She was a stain upon the ducal line. No matter how many people died in his wake, he would see his task completed. All he had to do, now, was decide whether to find his way inside or wait until she ventured out of doors.
CHAPTER6
Eyes slightly bleary from her night of restlessness, Juliana strode down the lengthy corridor, the ever-present pitter-patter of muffled paws and little feet moving alongside her. The owner of the aforementioned paws—and her brother, Boots—were the reason for Juliana’s poor sleep. Lord, but it felt as though the dogs had spent the entirety of the night barking at shadows.
A small hand slid into her own, and she gave the girl a reassuring squeeze. She was nervous this morning, and truthfully, so was Juliana.
Her stomach was a mass of nerves, swirling and swooping unpleasantly. She’d made a fool of herself the previous day, intruding on Mr. Notley’s solitude and accusing him of— Lord, she hated to even think on it. She ought to have thought through her assumptions before voicing them, but so many years of life with her father, and now her brother, had taught her some invaluable lessons. She merely required experience in learning other men’s cues.
Living with her father had been a constant lesson in humility. His choice of tongue-lashing could come in the form of belittlement or direct insults. When he wasn’t indifferent to her, Jasper had been there to comfort her, to disengage her mind with a silent game of chess when she was hurting. And then he’d inherited the title, learned of their father’s debts, and changed into a man she scarcely recognized.
They descended the last staircase and rounded a corner.
Before Mr. Notley had the opportunity to show his true nature—and before the weather cleared for her journey—Juliana intended to begin the repair in the man’s relationship with his niece. She would be the governess not only to the child, but to the man, as well. For while Lizzie had an uncle in Mr. Notley, she desperately needed a father.
Kitty let out a playful bark and bounded ahead of them down the hall. Elizabeth laughed and chased after her, a noticeablecrinklecoming from her hands.
“Mind the parchment, Miss Notley!” Juliana called after the child.
The girl was a darling and, despite Juliana’s previous assertion to the contrary, needed the guiding hand of a governess. While Juliana did not intend to remain for long, she hoped that she could aid the sprite in her decorum and speech while continuing the education that the staff had begun. All this, of course, while introducing her new agendum.
A low muttering nearly halted her steps, but she gamely continued on toward the opened door of the dining room.
Tightening her jaw against the disquieting ripple of emotions weaving through her, Juliana paused in the doorway. The man of the house was absently scratching behind Kitty’s ears while Elizabeth pranced around the table with Boots. The man-of-all-work, Percy, leaned forward, his fists planted on the side of the long table, but his warm gaze was on Lizzy.
Juliana wondered at the men. Elizabeth and Kitty had obviously intruded upon a private discussion, but neither man appeared put out by the interruption. If Juliana had burst in on her father in such a way, even in the public space and when she was expected, a lashing of the tongue would not be the only sort she would have received.
“I beg your pardon, Mr. Notley,” Juliana said, a slight nervous quaver in her voice as she dipped in a curtsey. “Mr. Percy.”
The man-of-all-work straightened with a shallow bow, and Mr. Notley’s hand stilled on Kitty’s neck as he stood.
“Miss Smith,” he acknowledged with a nod as the dog pawed at his arm.
An apology sprang to her lips, but she held it back. That was precisely the problem in this household: loneliness, estrangement, and guilt. The guilt, she would not play into, but the others…
