Selina looked away at the flowers. The roses were perfectly healthy, flawless and without bruises. It was obvious that the gardener loved his job. The Duke was prickly, but he seemed to care for those around him well.
“My grandmother seems to believe that you will make a suitable governess even if it’s only in the interim while I find another governess for my sister,” he said in a grave voice.
Selina did not need him to say the words for her to know that he still did not find the idea appealing. What he had said made his thoughts on the matter known earlier before his sister pleaded with him to reconsider.
She was certain that if it had not been for Barbara, they would not have this conversation.
“I am well qualified to take on the role of her governess if that is what you are asking,” Selina told him haughtily.
After his grandmother had put an end to their argument, she had refrained from any angry outburst she might have had as he talked about why she was not suitable to be a governess for his sister.
It was in part that she did not want to disappoint the dowager by starting a fight again and also because she doubted he would be more inclined to change his mind if she argued with him on her fine points.
Now, however, he was speaking directly to her and although she had not been expecting to have to work as a governess during her stay here, she liked Barbara and wanted to see that she received her lessons while also having fun. A concept she was beginning to realize the young girl had not received from her previous governesses.
“Well, you will pardon me if I find that hard to believe given you were only just now, trying to defend my sister’s wrong of being up in the trees,” he replied in the same light.
Selina studied the man in front of her. Did he really think that young ladies were not meant to have any fun? Was this his way of teaching her how to be better equipped for society?
“What child does not climb trees?” she asked him, folding her arms in front of her as she waited for his response.
As Selina watched him blink blankly at her, a thought occurred to her that had her staring incredulously at him. Could this be why the dowager had been trying to warn her? She stared at him incredulously.
“Goodness! Have you never climbed a tree yourself, Your Grace?” she asked him.
“Whatever do you mean?” he questioned, standing straighter.
“No, because you do not seem to understand this, so I can only assume that you yourself have never climbed a tree,” she replied.
“Never, in any of the books, has it been said that climbing trees is an important part of the development of children,” he said, bristling slightly at her confrontation.
“I would argue that it quite is, yes,” she argued.
“And what would be your argument for children who grow up in places with no trees?’ the Duke asked her, his brows raised, clearly believing that he had found the hole in her argument.
Selina narrowed her eyes at him. “Really?”
She could not believe the length he would go to disprove her theory. Besides, in what place did people not have trees?
The Duke looked away from her, swallowing. He turned to her and regarded her before asking, “What then? Have you climbed a tree yourself?”
“Very much so, Your Grace. In fact, there were many trees in my father’s estate and before I was of the age where I had to be a lady, I made quite good at climbing each and every one of them,” she told him proudly.
Selina looked at him as his eyes bulged. Now that she was certain that he had never in fact climbed a tree, she wondered if there was anything she could do to remedy that. Although she was certain that the Duke would be appalled by the idea, it was a chance she was willing to take. After all, there was no harm in asking.
“Would you, by chance, like this lady to teach you how to climb trees, Your Grace?” she asked and just like she had assumed would happen, the Duke’s eyes widened as though he had never heard something more preposterous.
“Wh- what?” he spluttered, affronted by the idea. “I do not need you to teach me how to climb a tree, Miss. I’ll have you know that I am perfectly capable of climbing one myself.”
Selina’s raised a brow, her lips stretching into a smile. The Duke, although not her plan to begin with, had given her a way to get him up those trees. She very much liked a challenge and she hoped that he would not back down from this one.
“Oh really, Your Grace? Well, come on then. I would like to see you climb.”
Selina began to walk toward the tree that Barbara had only just climbed some time ago, not looking back to see if the Duke was following after her.
“What?!” his voice had gone an octave higher past his normal speaking voice.
“Well, I mean you believe you can climb, we are already near the tree and your clothes are already dirty. There is really nothing stopping you from climbing now, is there?” she quizzed him.
