Evan rolled his eyes, but he could not stop the urge to smile, not completely. He felt the corners of his mouth turn up slightly. “You are full of jests, Carlson.”
“I am being completely serious, Your Grace.” But the twinkle in his eye said otherwise.
“You are right, of course,” Evan said. “No wonder I am always so fatigued. I am practically a social butterfly now.”
His butler looked at him, looking truly stunned. “Did you just make a jest, sir?”
Evan thought about it for a moment.Did I just jest? Of course, I am not a social butterfly. I barely leave my house, and I do nothost parties. But I said it anyway in a light manner, so …He nodded. “I suppose I did.”
“Forgive me, but I did not know you were capable of such things.”
“I understand the concept of jests, Carlson. I just do not partake in them very often.”
His butler grinned. “I shall write Her Grace a thank-you note. It has been less than a week, and she has already improved you quite a bit.”
Evan did not reply, not sure what to say. He barely spent time with his duchess. The only time they spent together was at dinner, and that was so he could ask for updates on Lilly’s progress.
Yes, keep telling yourself that there is a logical reason why you eat dinner with your duchess,he thought to himself as he went downstairs to the dining room.Perhaps you will forget how much you anticipate spending time with her if you focus on the logical reason you do not dine in your room.
He went downstairs to find Marina already waiting for him. “Will Lilly be joining us today?” she asked by way of greeting.
“Not tonight,” he said.
Her lips pursed, and she sat down at the table. He followed suit, and the footmen served them their meals—meat pie, bread, and vegetables, just like Carlson had said earlier.
“How are her studies coming along?” he asked her.
“She is making progress in arithmetic and reading. She can spell a handful of simple words without looking at the page. Her writing still needs work. Her letters are barely legible. But I believe the biggest problem is that her studies still make her miserable.”
“I am glad that she’s making progress,” Evan said. “After she has mastered the fundamentals, she will enjoy it more.” He loved his lessons when he was growing up, especially after he understood the basic concepts his tutors were trying to tell him.
Lessons and academia are straightforward and a refreshing change from the vague subjective nonsense that often comes with social engagements and other parts of life.“What are the words she knows how to spell?” he asked her as he took a sip of his tea.
“She can now spell cat, dog, and cup, and sit easily. I’m letting her choose which new words she wants to practice because it makes her more interested in the lessons. She is working on learning how to spell ‘prince’. I have a feeling ‘William’ will become her next endeavor.”
“Very good,” he said, nodding. “I will ask her to spell some words then.”
Marina’s expression brightened. “Are you planning to spend some quality time with her this evening?”
“Not this evening, no. But tonight.”
She looked confused for a moment before realization dawned on her. “You cannot mean to test her spelling skills after she wakes up from a nightmare!”
“Why not? It will help her.” He did not understand why she looked so horrified at the thought.
Marina set down her fork and crossed her arms in front of herself. “Please explain how you think making her recite lessons will help her when she is recovering from a horrible dream.”
“She will be too focused on spelling words to think about the nightmare. She will be pulled out of her imagination, and the less time she spends wielding it, the better.”
“You really believe that, don’t you?”
He frowned. “Of course I do.” What good did imagination do? It only brought his daughter terror every night. “I do not understand why you look so displeased. I am not planning on making her learnnewwords in the middle of the night.”
“Yes, because that would be ridiculous,” she said dryly.
Evan felt irritated.Obviously,she thought teaching new words to a frightened child in the middle of the night was ridiculous, so why did she say it with a sarcastic tone? Instead of trying to figure it out, he decided to state facts. “She is comfortable spelling simple words. It will give her something to do to pull her out of the nightmare. Spelling them will also build her confidence in academia.”
“She struggles enough trying to find joy in her lessons. The last thing I want is for her to associate them with her nightmares.”
