“She has been very helpful to me. We have been learning together.”
“Hmmm. Then I should get you both a proper tutor.”
She looked at him in surprise. A real teacher would make a world of difference. There were so many things she could not learn just by listening hard.
“I would be—”
“Very grateful. Yes, you say that a lot.”
“I am grateful.”
“And I am getting an education alongside you. Very well, any other servant who wants to read will be tutored as well.” Hesighed. “Even if it means that the food is not always hot and my boots are not always black.”
She stared at him, her heart beating in her throat. How could she not love a man who listened? One who thought about his actions and changed them because of her words?
She had spoken her mind honestly and expected him to disappoint her. And yet now, she was deeper in love than ever before.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he grumbled. “It’s just a tutor. It’s nothing of import.”
“Millie will think it is a very great deal.”
He smiled, apparently pleased by her words. His step was jaunty as they climbed the stairs back to the house. He was jolly as they waited by the door and a stable hand held the pony. Then he scooped her up, but the moment they stepped into the house, his expression tightened into chagrin.
There, just coming down the stairs, was his mother with a furious expression on her powdered face.
“Have you taken leave of your senses?” the lady demanded.
Max sighed. “I’m mad as a hatter, Mother.” If his levity was meant to disarm her, he missed the mark badly. The lady pointed one long finger at the parlor.
“You will explain yourself right now!”
Yihui had so enjoyed her time with Max that his mother’s fury was very jarring. It was not customary for her to say anything in these situations. She had been trained since birth to hide in shadows. But this short walk on a pony had changed her in some fundamental way. She did not like to see the cloud come over Max’s face. And though she did not know his mother well enough to understand how to divert her rage, she still took the risk.
She squeezed Max’s shoulder such that he looked directly at her.
“Are you mad,” she asked, “like the king is mad?” Millie had explained that the prince regent led the country because the king was very ill in his mind. “If so, you cannot be questioned. Everything you do is as if done by the Emperor of Heaven?”
She knew it wasn’t true, but it was the best joke she could come up with. Fortunately, it worked. Max grinned back at her, and his eyes seemed to dance with delight.
“Absolutely,” he said. “That’s exactly what it means.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Max carried Yihuiinto the parlor, well aware that his mother would follow.
“Shall I set you in a chair?” he asked Yihui. “Or would you prefer to stay—”
“Whom did you meet out there?” his mother interrupted. She crossed to stand right before him with her hands on her hips. “What did you say? What didshesay?”
He gave Yihui a wistful smile. “I think I’ll take you upstairs. My mother and I will be in conversation for—”
“Of course, she needs to stay!” his mother exclaimed. “If we’re to see her transformed into a duchess, I need every moment with her.”
Max paused, stopping himself before he said that it was all a ruse. His mother was not known for her discretion. She wasn’t a terrible gossip, but she did enjoy the attention garnered from a tall tale. And Yihui was as great a tale as they could get.
“Mother, I think her instruction can wait. She can’t even walk yet.”
“As if a duchess needs to walk!” she huffed. “And you’re the one who began this by taking her outside. If you had consulted me, I would have told you to wait until after the Season was done.”
