“There are others like this, by both of the girls. They both draw. This one is Eloise’s,” She extracted another. “And Althea drew this one for me. Eloise says the lady in the picture is the monster lady and that she only comes at night. I wondered if she is the woman of Althea’s nightmares. Perhaps she’s told Eloise about them?”
But Jasper was seeing red. It had to be Mrs. Crabtree. He’d warned the woman not to punish his children. He jerked his head. “You will keep me informed?”
The red was disappearing and the blood in his veins turned ice cold.
The newest woman in his employ reached out to take the drawings back, but he shook his head. “Leave them.”
He was vaguely aware that she closed her book and replaced the pencil behind her ear before standing up.
He’d not protected his daughters. Now they had nightmares and drew pictures of a woman who never should have been left alone with them. Mrs. Crabtree was finished.
“Miss Fortune?” He forced the words from his mouth. “Tilde?”
She’d been making her way toward the door, but his voice halted her.
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
Her chin dipped an instant and without looking back, she answered. “You’re welcome.”
Settling in
Although Willoughby had made it a point to spend time in the nursery each day, it was tough when Parliament was in full swing. While writing in her lesson book, Tilde had overheard him explaining to the twins that since he’d been voting by proxy over the past few years, he had lots of learning to do. When he’d gone on to explain what proxy meant, Tilde had given up all pretense of her task at hand in order to watch daughters and father interact.
That had been four days ago. Since then, she’d managed to avoid close proximity to him successfully.
In as much as was possible.
That did not mean she was not aware of the energy floating between the two of them each time he entered the nursery or whenever she passed him in one of the corridors. The Countess often required the twins to present themselves downstairs for the approval of her guests and he’d been present on two of those occasions as well.
Those meetings were the most awkward.
Because at one time she’d been something other than a servant and a few of the guests had remembered her name. How could one not forget the un-“Fortune”-ate tragedy that befell her parents. She’d heard the joke a few times in the past and ignored it. It wasn’t so easy to ignore when Lady Willoughby clucked her tongue and then tittered at the play on words. Lady Willoughby was careful not to do so within her son’s hearing, but had done so twice with the girls looking on.
Tilde had come to bristle at these increasingly frequent summonses and was going to have to have a talk with Lord Willoughby about them. He seemed to not see his mother’s manipulations. Lady Willoughby had become quite adept at her subtle ways. At times even Tilde questioned the woman’s motivation. But then she would overstep her limits.
Tilde didn’t trust her.
The flamboyant countess enjoyed bringing the children out when it suited her, much as she would a favorite toy or pet. She’d insist the girls be dressed and styled immaculately, and always identically. Then she would have them parade before her visitors so they could exclaim at the girls’ likeness to one another and try to guess which one was which.
Althea struggled increasingly in her abilities to finish her studies after such meetings. It seemed Tilde would make one step forward with the shy little girl, and then slide two steps back.
Tilde untied her apron and laid it across her bed next to where she’d placed Peaches. When she’d first arrived, her chamber had housed three small twin beds, three matching short dressers and one austere desk and chair. She was surprised, however, when after taking the girls and Peaches for a walk through the park on her second afternoon there, she returned to find that it had been completely overhauled. Although adjacent to the nursery, the new furnishings seemed more suited for that of an esteemed guest than even the most prominent servant in the household. It now housed a delightfully tall canopied bed, as well as a spacious wardrobe and comfortable desk placed at the window.
Jasper had asked her that evening if she found the new furnishings to her liking and when she’d gone to thank him, he’d cut her off with a satisfied nod. She had the feeling he’d ordered the improvements himself. Lady Willoughby certainly would not have.
She glanced at the watch attached to her chatelaine. The girls had gone down for an afternoon nap a short while ago, and most likely wouldn’t awaken for another hour. Peaches, had walked around in several tight rings before settling into a comfortable circle of dog. Her canine watched Tilde from her high perch with mild curiosity.
“You think you deserve a nap yourself, do you?” Tilde raised one eyebrow at her dog.
Peaches tilted her head.
“Yes, well. I could not be happier with your behavior this week.” Tilde rubbed Peaches’ back and dropped a kiss on the top of her tiny head.
Even Mr. TKBUTLER was warming to the idea of having a dog in the house. Others not as much, but not everyone had the good sense to appreciate the presence of a well–behaved canine companion.
And some human beings were simply cold hearted at best.
