me. “I’m sure you’ve had a very long day. You’re free for the rest of the evening. Breakfast is served in the breakfast room beginning at seven—I’m an early riser—and Rollo must be at school by nine. Mrs. Talbot will give you directions so you don’t have to rely on him.” He added with a crooked smile, “He’d probably lead you to the airfield or the docks and claim it was his school.”
The next morning, I found the breakfast room with only a few wrong turns. Lord Henry was already there, sitting alone at the table. He glanced up from his newspaper as I entered and greeted me with a smile. “Good morning, Miss Newton. I trust you slept well. Your room is comfortable?”
“Yes, very, thank you.”
“Breakfast is on the sideboard. Would you care for coffee or tea?”
“Tea, please.”
He gestured to a footman, who left and then reappeared a moment later with a pot of tea and a cup on a tray, along with a small rack of toast. Rollo soon entered the room, yawning loudly. He wore a school uniform with a wide white collar, and his hair was slicked tight against his head. He filled his plate with food, then sat beside his uncle, appropriating a section of the newspaper that Lord Henry had already read and put aside. Rollo hadn’t read much before he shouted, “Ye gods!”
“Rollo, language,” his uncle corrected without raising his eyes from the newspaper.
“But, Uncle Henry, the Masked Bandits struck again yesterday!”
I couldn’t resist looking at Lord Henry to see his reaction. He didn’t show the slightest sign that this story affected him. His eyes didn’t widen, narrow, or blink, and his face didn’t redden or pale. No muscles twitched or tightened. He merely kept reading as he took a sip of tea and said, “Really?” in a tone of polite disinterest.
“Yes! They robbed a train!” Rollo frowned as he read some more, then his eyebrows rose. “Hey, it was the train from New Haven. Miss Newton, didn’t you come from New Haven? Was that your train?”
“I suppose it could have been,” I said, trying to imitate Lord Henry’s disinterested tone while surreptitiously watching him from beneath my eyelashes. “But it was a very big train, with many cars.”
“Oh.” Rollo sounded so disappointed that I was tempted to tell him about my adventure.
“There’s an article about a new model of airship,” Lord Henry said. “It’s on page three.” He knew exactly how to distract his nephew. Rollo eagerly turned to that page and became lost in the newspaper. Once Olive came skipping into the room, she took over the conversational burden, chattering amiably about any number of seemingly unrelated topics, to which her elders responded with nods and vague noises.
Lord Henry checked his watch, then said, “Rollo, you’d best leave for school. I’ll save the newspaper for you.” He nodded at the footman, who tugged on the bell pull on the wall.
Mrs. Talbot appeared and handed me a neatly drawn map. “This is the way to Rollo’s school. It isn’t far.”
“I can show her,” Olive said. “I know the way.”
Rollo whirled to face his uncle. “I have to have the governess walk me to school?”
“You know very well that you don’t go out without a chaperone,” Lord Henry said.
“But you’ve been coming with me.” I now understood Rollo’s dismay. Walking to school with his uncle must have felt like a manly outing, but walking with the governess would make him feel like a child again.
Lord Henry’s face softened slightly, so he must have understood as well. “I may still, when my schedule permits, but it is Miss Newton’s job, and you will go with her.” His voice grew slightly sharper with the last phrase, making it an order.
Rollo sighed dejectedly, and I hurried to say, “Olive and I will be taking a morning walk before we begin lessons. Would you be so kind as to escort us as far as your school?”
Rollo gave me a frown before saying, “I would be honored.” Lord Henry mumbled a goodbye without looking up from his newspaper. Olive took my hand as we left the house, and Rollo held his elbow out for me to take.
I felt so very grownup and responsible in my first official task as governess. Then I wondered if there was something I should be doing. I supposed I should be getting better acquainted with my charges. “What is your favorite subject in school?” I asked Rollo.