Riven trailed his fingers over her jaw, his eyes sparkling with love.“How is my wife doing this fine day?”
“Well,” she drawled out, “Marie here is going to start teaching her mama her letters, all on her own.How exciting is that?I might be out of a job!”
Marie giggled at the thought.
Not to be outdone, Gustav asked, “Can I teach my papa a letter?”
Bella had an idea for the older sibling.“Let us write out your father’s name to show him.How exciting will that be?”
“Really?”
Bella loved the spark that shone in the boy’s eyes.This was what she loved about teaching—seeing the excitement when things came together and made sense.
Riven nodded and ruffled Gustav’s hair.“That is an excellent idea.I think Willum will be quite shocked and pleased to see how his name looks in print.”
“Show me, show me, show me,” Gustav demanded as he bounced on her knee, and Bella grabbed a fresh slate and wrote out Willum’s name, explaining the letters as she went.This led to the children wanting to see what their names looked like, so Bella complied, spelling them out on two separate slates.
Little Maria hopped off her lap and hugged the slate to her chest.“I am Marie!”she proclaimed, running about the school hut with her prize.
“I am Gustav,” her brother yelled, mimicking her actions by running in the opposite direction.
“It is like standing inside two competing whirlwinds,” Riven said as he watched.
Bella calmly observed their antics for a minute, then asked, “How goes the new college?Is the building almost complete?”
He frowned.“It is, but I’ve run into an issue I hadn’t expected.”
“Oh?”She shifted to face him.“What is that?”
He pressed his lips together in his tell that she would not like what he was about to share.Bella braced for the bad news.“The teachers do not want to have young women in their classrooms.They feel they will become a distraction.”
Bella scoffed, her mouth gaping.“Do you honestly mean to tell me that males are incapable of concentrating on their studies if women are present?Women must comport themselves daily around men and have no trouble in doing so.Surely this alone proves us the more capable sex in academics where focus is concerned.”
He smirked at her.“Perhaps I should deliver you to the council to argue your case.”
She grinned.“I will tell them that perhaps theseboys,teachers included, should be better taught how to control themselves around women.Inform them that their inability to focus is a moral failing on their part.”
“Yes.That should go over well.”
She tossed him an arrogant smile.But then Bella said, “I find I have a simple solution.”
He grinned.“I assumed you would.”
“Put out an advert requesting female teachers.”
“What?Are you mad?”
Bella cocked her head at him.“Place notices in papers as far as India if you must.State they will be paid the same as the male teachers.”
“Unheard of.”
“Which is why this university will be so unique.You, husband, my prince, will show the world that women are skilled and qualified.We must have a seat at the table if we are to be treated as equals.”
“Are you, though?”he teased as she swatted him.“Are women not the natural, submissive extension of men?”
His eyes danced as she swatted him yet again, but Bella had grown quite used to his jesting over the past year.“I bet I can find not one, but two enchantresses who may think different.”
He stopped, his eyes wide with caution.“You would not dare call out their names.”
