The Duke studied her silently. She stood tall, trying her best not to look intimidated or frightened… even if she was. With the darkness of the room, with the intensity of his stare, she was once again reminded of the power of this man, and how little she had herself.
“I did not hire you to play games,” he said evenly. “I did not hire you as a babysitter. I hired you to instruct my son in the ways of the peerage. And if that is something that you are not able to do, perhaps I made a mistake asking you to be here.”
“You seem to forget that you did not hire me at all.”
“Excuse me?”
“I was not asked to be here,” she said, letting her anger grow through her. “I was told to be. This is not exactly a dream of mine.”
He scoffed. “Is that how you see it?”
“What is more, I do not appreciate being treated so… so rudely.” Yvette’s heart raced, and despite her best efforts, she could not stop herself from speaking. “I am doing as I think is best for your son, and if you cannot see that, well…” She furrowed her brow at him. “Then maybe this isn’t going to work how you hoped.”
It was subtle, but a hint of a smirk touched his lips. “Are you threatening to quit?”
“Is it a threat if you so clearly want me to?”
He groaned and rubbed his eyes. “I do not have time for this, Miss Norleigh. And please, if you could stop acting like a petulant child, that would be greatly appreciated.”
“Excuse me!”
“The way you are behaving right now,” he said. “Unable to take criticism. Unable to admit fault. Hugh is…” He hesitated. “Heis my son, I have asked you to teach him only, and rather than agreeing to my orders, you see fit to deny them. It is immature, and it makes me wonder if you are the right person to teach him at all.”
There was a flame burning deep within Yvette’s subconscious. She had been able to control it until that point, knowing that to let it build and then explode would only lead to trouble. But the Duke’s words… they were tinder to the flame, and it erupted and burst free from her before she considered the implications.
She had been told that the Duke meant well. She had been assured that he was kinder than he let on. So far, she failed to see it, and nothing he did or said suggested that he was anything more than the cold, uncaring, even cruel man that she had seen.
Yvette cared for Hugh. She wanted what was best. But she also refused to be spoken to like this. Especially when she had never asked for it in the first place!
“You are…” She clicked her tongue. “I cannot believe that you think it is fine to speak to people this way.”
“With the truth?”
“Ha!” She scoffed and then sneered. “Clearly, this is not going to work.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that if you want a governess to do your bidding, then hire one yourself. I am done.” With that, she turned and stormed from the room.
At least she meant to.
“Wait!” he called after her.
She ignored him, striding for the door. Her body shook from anger and adrenaline both, such that when she tried to open the door, she struggled to grip the handle properly. It slipped in her hand, she cursed under her breath, and it was just as she finally managed to open the door that a hand snatched at her.
It took her free hand, and she was spun about.
“Oh!” she gasped.
The Duke stood right in front of her now. His hulking frame, so large that it blocked out the room entirely, seemed to smother her where she stood. Her eyes widened, she gasped, and when she realized that he still held her hand in his, her arm began to tingle.
She looked down at his hand, how big it was wrapped around her own, and while she knew that she should have felt afraid in the moment, that was far and removed from the shiver that ran down her spine…
“I’m sorry,” the Duke said, his voice softer now. “I should not have… please, do not go.”
She tore her eyes from her hand and looked up to meet the Duke’s eyes. When she did, she gasped at what she saw. Every time that she had looked at the Duke since meeting him, those eyes were distant, even cold. Now, for the first time, she saw something new in them.
It might have been her imagination, but she could have sworn that she saw… was that fear? Perhaps even piety…
