“Oh, the idea! Of course we will,” she shot back.
“No, we will not.” Miss Hale’s offer flashed in his mind. “I’ll see to the arrangements myself.” He stomped from the small room to the main corridor and turned to walk downstairs.
Mrs. Towler trailed him. “But that was not our agreement! That is not what we—”
“I’m their father.” He did not break his stride as he descended the stairs. “I make the decisions—let me be abundantly clear about that.”
“And I’m here as a voice for Elizabeth.” Her voice cracked as shecalled from the upper-level landing. “She would have wanted us to wait. She would have wanted—”
“Elizabeth is dead!” His bellowed words echoed from the plaster walls. He stopped short on the stair’s landing and turned to look up the stairwell to face her. “She’s not here, and she never will be again.”
He spoke more harshly than he intended. But it was a truth they all needed to accept. Himself included.
Mrs. Towler’s face blanched to ashen. She suddenly looked very small. Very frail. The assumed authority, the poignant sharpness of her voice, taunted. “How dare you speak to me in such a tone. After all I have done for you. For this family.”
When he did not respond, she shouted even louder. “Pick your governess then. We’ll see what happens. If you are determined to ruin your daughters’ chances at success in society, then there is naught I can do.”
Chapter 21
James glanced at his pocket watch, then returned it to his pocket. He needed to be off to the Kents’.
He was hardly in the mood for a social gathering. It had only been one day since Maria’s fall, and today mill business had kept him away from Briarton Park. As much as he wanted to stay home tonight, he knew how important these monthly meetings could be—for so many different reasons.
He climbed the staircase to the nursery. He’d expected to find Maria in bed, but he found her curled up on the window seat, her face turned to look at the grounds below. Her long, sleek hair was loose around her shoulders, and she had her knees pulled up to her chest. Her arm was protectively cradled in her sling.
The sight was a difficult one.
Determined to brighten her mood, he forced cheer to his voice. “There’s my girl!”
His smile quickly faded, however, when she turned. The light highlighted the tear tracks on her freckled cheeks.
Sobering, he lifted a wooden chair, crossed the room, placed it next to her, and sat on it. Silence prevailed, then she inched down from the window and approached him.
“What are these tears for? Does your arm pain you?”
She leaned against him and sniffed. “A little.”
Sensing there was something on her mind, he put his arm around her narrow shoulders. “Is something else bothering you?”
“I shouldn’t have been in the tree.” Her pensive words were barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry.”
“What were you doing up there?”
She shrugged. “Just looking. I like being up there. It is peaceful, and you can see all the way to the other side of the courtyard.”
“Yes, I’m sure it was very pretty, but it isn’t safe to climb trees like that. It’s not safe for anyone. Those trees in the orchard are old. The branches may not be steady.”
She bit her lip thoughtfully. “Would Mama be upset with me?”
“Your mama?” The whispered words jolted him and evoked Elizabeth’s image in his mind. “Why would she be upset with you?”
The girl was still. “She never would have climbed a tree.”
“Your mother would be relieved you weren’t hurt more seriously, that I know for certain.”
Maria sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder. “One of the maids told Grandmother that I was climbing a tree, and Grandmother told me to stop. She’d told me that before, but I disobeyed. I just like being up high. And that’s when I fell.”
“You knowingly disobeyed your grandmother?”
