Mr. Gardiner and the Governess - Sally Britton Page 0,27
Isabelle moved to the far side of her couch and patted the seat next to her in clear invitation.
Lady Josephine came into the room and sat between Lady Isabelle and Lady Rosalind. She put one arm around each of them in a brief embrace. “I had much rather be here, especially since there are no guests to entertain at present. Next week things will be different again. But here I might nibble on cakes without Grandmama remarking on what they might do to my figure.”
The girls laughed, and Lord James bounced again in his chair. “We have such good cakes, too. Miss Sharpe doesn’t mind it like the last governess.”
Despite her soldier-like stance, Alice returned his grateful grin. “I should not like to have bread and butter with my tea every day. I cannot imagine why children should have to do so.” She looked to Miss Arlen, whose relaxed posture gave Alice leave to stand at her ease.
Perhaps she need not fear Lady Josephine’s scrutiny as she thought she must, but wisdom dictated that she tread carefully. “Do sit, Miss Arlen. The tea will be here in a few moments, I’m certain.”
“Thank you.” Miss Arlen drifted to one of the remaining empty chairs. “Lady Josephine and I were discussing the deplorable lack of women our own age in the last round of guests. There were any number of matrons, and a few of their sons, but no unmarried women.”
Had they come in search of more company? Alice lowered herself into her favorite chair—a battered gray seat modeled after Queen Charlotte’s sitting room chairs, she had been told. It was comfortable, for all that it bore a few scuffs from its presence in the nursery.
“I am afraid I am not much better than a matron. The children will attest to that.” She gestured to the girls. “I am not the least bit amusing, am I?”
The girls giggled, trading a secretive glance with one another.
“Not amusing in the least,” Lady Isabelle declared with amusement.
“Absolutely the strictest of women,” Lady Rosalind put in.
Lord James pushed himself back into his chair and crossed his arms, eyes sparkling with the joke. “Dull as dishwater. That’s Miss Sharpe.”
Lady Josephine cocked one regal eyebrow at her younger siblings. “Dear me. Not amusing, strict, and dull. It seems Miss Arlen has misled me most terribly. What have you to say for yourself, Emma?”
The companion shrugged her delicate shoulders. “I cannot account for it, my lady. It seems I was horribly mistaken. When last I was here, Miss Sharpe made the opposite impression.”
Alice clapped her hands at the performance, fighting back her own laughter. “Wonderful, children. That is precisely what you must say should anyone ask if your governess is strict enough.” She cast Lady Josephine an apologetic nod. “I have told them if people think I am too wonderful, they might not believe I am doing my job properly. But we do attempt to find amusement in our studies.”
“We built a pyramid out of clay yesterday,” Lord James said excitedly. He jumped up from his chair and went to the cupboards lining one wall. Most were full of things for lessons, but he pulled out a baking tray with the miniature pyramid. “When it’s all dry, we’re to paint hieroglyphs all over it.”
“We have also been reading about the deities of Egypt.” Lady Isabelle said happily. “Did you know that the Greeks and Egyptians had many similar gods?”
“You sound precisely like a little heathen,” Lady Josephine said, rocking back in her seat with wide eyes. “You mustn’t tell Grandmama such things but do tell me all about it.”
By the time tea arrived, the whole group discussed life upon the Nile River with as much interest as others discussed society’s latest gossip. Alice poured out amid a conversation on whether Egyptian cotton was superior to the cotton grown elsewhere in the world. The topic thrilled her, reaffirming she had done something right in their studies. If the children could discuss Egypt with ease and interest, that meant they had enjoyed learning.
“Next week, our studies turn to the Romans. We will study the history, mythology, and art.”
“Then I must come to tea again next week.” Lady Josephine took a little cake in one hand, holding her teacup in the other. “Truly, Miss Sharpe, I wish my governess had inspired me as you have inspired these horrid little beasts.”
Given the grins and giggles, the three youngest members of the duke’s family enjoyed being labeled beasts by their sister. There was obvious