“I will not have you, a stranger, tell me how and how not to raise my sister.”
Selina was not backing down despite the tone of his voice that suggested he did not care for her retorts or whatever else she had to say.
“I believe the young lady would be better off with a woman’s influence,” she said, her brows raised as she challenged him to tell her that she was wrong.
It stung even though he tried his best to hide it. Morgan had been saying to himself and his sister that he had no idea how to raise a child so she was not telling him something he already did not know. However, it stung that his efforts with his sister had been so easily discarded by a stranger.
He struggled to keep his anger in check. Did she think she could do better than he had? She had only known his sister for a short time. She did not know what the girl needed, no matter how much she thought she did.
Just because she was a woman herself, did not mean that she knew any better than he did. And by no means would he let her disregard his effort and make it seem like she knew any better.
“I will have you know that I have been doing a good job of raising her for the past five years all by myself,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Oh? And what would make you do it by yourself when you should be able to have a governess. Is the fact that you have not been able to keep a governess the only reason you have had to raise her all by yourself?” she asked him.
Morgan felt his anger begin to fade as it was replaced by embarrassment. How had she come to know of that very fact? Who told her that? Why would anyone even tell her that?
Was he the only one who could remember clearly that she was simply just a stranger to them? How could they be so easily swayed by her to let her into their lives so easily and divulge secrets to her?
Morgan knew he was being slightly irrational. It was not a secret that he had been unable to keep a governess for longer than two months. In fact, he was certain it was a topic of gossip to everyone in the village whenever his name came up.
Still, Miss Knight had not left the estate yet, so it was clear that it had not been common gossip she heard from a random person. Someone in his household had been the one to divulge the information to her.
Morgan was upset. So far, this young woman had managed to upset him in ways that no other person had ever been able to do. It made him feel very weird about himself.
Once again, just as he opened his mouth to retort, his eyes noticed a movement from a bend. Morgan sighed as he realized that just like before, his grandmother had come just in time before he went off the rails on her.
He did not know what he would have said to her but he knew that it might have been something that he would regret. He did not know if it would have hurt her since she seemed to have tough skin and always had a retort ready for him no matter what he said.
“Oh goodness, what is going on here?” the grandmother asked in shock as she took in the state of all three of them.
“You see the state we are all in? I happened to find the two of them like this and all of this is because Barbara was climbing a tree and it seems that your companion was encouraging her to act this way,” Morgan said, happy that someone else was shocked by their state.
“Oh, I assure you, Selina only means well for Barbara. I know you think that you need to make Barbara a proper lady but there is still a lot of time for that. Right now, all she needs to do is to be a child and enjoy herself. Have fun,” his grandmother told him, waving off his concerns.
Morgan’s jaw slacked open as he looked at his grandmother who had just taken the side of her companion over his. He was sure she did not see it that way but saying so when Miss Knight was still standing with them felt like betrayal to him.
“Now, why don’t we all calm down and go get cleaned up,” she suggested, clearly wanting to put an end to the drama she had just walked into.
“This is why I said that Barbara needs to have a new governess. I do not know what to do to give her what she deserves,” he said.
“The reason I happened upon this sight was because I was looking for Barbara so that we would work together to pick a governess that she would be happy with.”
Morgan looked at his sister, suddenly feeling guilty. He had been so angry with her that he might have been too harsh. She had not said anything since he scolded her and had not even looked up when their grandmother happened upon them.
His grandmother looked at him and then at Selina. “Why not just let Selina teach her a few things and take care of her until you are able to find a new governess for her?”
Morgan reared back in shock at his grandmother’s suggestion. How could she even suggest such a thing to him? He looked at his grandmother like she had just grown a second head.
“How, grandma? How can I trust this woman with my sister’s education when she has not shown any appropriate behavior so far? She has been speaking to me so brazenly so far,” he said, quite appalled.
“I can assure you, my dear boy, that Miss Knight is quite the lady,” his grandmother assured him, looking at Selina with that look of approval she seemed to be receiving from everyone but him since they arrived.
“Perhaps you have not had the best impression of her so far but I doubt that there is anyone who could do as good a job as Miss Knight would,” his grandmother told him, not changing her stance on the issue of Miss Knight’s qualification despite the fact that Morgan clearly disapproved of her.
Morgan so badly wanted to say no to his grandmother. He did not trust Miss Knight to give his sister the proper education that he wanted for her.
Perhaps it was that the lady in question vexed him so much with her constant disagreements with him. There was also the fact that Miss Knight was currently caked in mud which was no fault of hers as his sister had made sure to point out.
