“You are wearing lavender,” he pointed out.
“Half mourning is about the best we can do, and I think he would understand.” Miss Doyle tilted her chin again. “What will this mean for your position with the Alien Office?”
Julian straightened. How the blazes did she know about that? “To what do you refer?”
Miss Doyle laughed. “I am not so foolish that I have not picked up on a few phrases or listened to some discussions and have been able to deduce matters for myself.”
He would have to warn his friends to be more careful. It did no good to be a spy if everybody knew that you were.
“You do recall I was present when there was fear of the French coming ashore during your last visit to Harrington Manor. The activity on the beach, the gunshots and death were not easy to miss.”
Julian had forgotten she was at the school when Norbright’s brother had thought to smuggle French spies into Cornwall. It had not gone as planned and Norbright lost his older brother in the process.
It would have been impossible for her not to have known what was happening beneath the school.
“Few students know the truth and the teachers will not speak out of turn,” she assured him before she smiled. “Though I had never heard so much screaming as I had that night when the witches’ coven set to sacrifice a fellow teacher.”
Chapter Three
Julian chuckled. The witch coven and sacrifice of her former fellow teacher, Claudia Morris, had all been a ruse to keep the students’ attention away from the beach, and on the Earl of Norbright’s property. Claudia later wed Norbright and now lived next to the school instead of in it.
“That is true,” he laughed. “But I should warn you that the students now have suspicions about you.”
“Me?” Cait asked in surprise.
“I overheard a conversation before I came down to the beach and dismissed it because it was so ridiculous. But with your reminder of that night, and other tales of what Claudia has shared about those she calls the terrible trio, perhaps I should warn you what they are now about.”
“What could they possibly be imagining about me?” Cait nearly laughed but knew better than to dismiss their imagination.
“Selkies!” Lord Rivers announced.
Cait frowned. “Selkies?”
“Yes. Since you sit amongst the seals so often without injury, and that they seem to welcome you, the students are convinced that you must be a selkie,” he stated in a serious, sober tone.
Cait stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. At least being accused of such was not as dangerous as seeking out vampires, witches, and ghosts.
“What are you going to do about it?”
“I am not certain.” She’d learned long ago that it was impossible to convince the girls otherwise once they latched on to a ridiculous notion.
“We could still have a bit of fun with them,” Lord Rivers suggested. “My time here is unknown, but it will be at least another fortnight before I am allowed to leave.”
Cait could not believe that Lord Rivers was making such a suggestion, not that she had any objections. The students did need to be taught a lesson, not that it would be learned. But it would also give her the opportunity to spend more time with Lord Rivers.
“What do you propose we do?” she asked.
“First, we need to learn the mythology behind a selkie. All I know is that it is a human that turns into a seal or a seal that turns into a human but that is all.”
Cait laughed. “I recall hearing a story when I was a child but cannot recall the details. I will look through the books in the conservatory. That is the only place the students could have come by their information, so it would behoove us to know what they know.”
“The conservatory?” Lord Rivers asked. “Why not a library?”
“We had to hide all books on paranormal, magical beings, and especially horrid novels. The girls discovered them, but the books have not been returned to the library because we do not want to make it too easy for the students to read them. When they do, imaginations take flight and…well…you have witnessed it yourself. As the conservatory is separate from the school, the books are not as readily available as they would be on a library shelf.”
“We could search through Norbright’s library,” Lord Rivers suggested. “If there are no books to provide the information we need, then we shall search the conservatory.”
Anticipation and delight filled her being. Though looking for specific books was usually not all that exciting, it was for a teacher who lived a mundane existence of students and lessons. Especially when that search included being with Viscount Rivers. “I do believe that I am going to enjoy the next fortnight very much, Viscount Rivers.”
