was blowing bubbles,” Charlotte offered helpfully.
He smirked at Callie then. “So you were. I shall endeavor to pay more attention.”
“Finish your breakfast, children. Then we shall walk,” Callie instructed.
“What if we don’t wish to walk?” Claudia asked.
“Then you may remain here with the servants while I take William and Charlotte. Or if they do not wish to go, then I shall go alone, I suppose.”
“But you’re our governess! You’re supposed to spend time with us!” Claudia stated, all but stamping her feet.
“I think the real issue here, Claudia, is not that you don’t wish to go for a walk… it’s that you don’t wish to do what another person has suggested. You may stay here if that’s what you wish, but I’d rather hate to see you cut off your nose to spite your face, dear. I think being outdoors would be good for all of us. We’re having rather fine weather at the moment. Certainly more fine than we’ll likely see again for some time. So if you wish to remain in the house, you are certainly welcome to do so. But I, for one, mean to take advantage of the little bit of sunshine we have and walk in the park. I thought we might gather some leaves and some flowers and attempt to identify plants. It’s important for you to know the native flora and fauna of England, since you’ve been abroad so very much.”
“I thought you were going to teach us to read and to write our names,” William protested.
“And I shall. You’re bright capable children. I daresay you can learn more than one thing in a day, can’t you?” Callie challenged.
William puffed his skinny chest out with pride. “I can learn anything. I’m very smart.”
“I’m certain you are and you will have ample opportunity to prove it. But if you’re done eating, you should go upstairs and get your coats. The sun is shining but it is still chilly,” she admonished lightly.
The children filed out of the room, even Claudia, and went to do as they’d been bid. She could feel the earl looking at her.
“How do you do that?”
“Do what, my lord?” she questioned.
“Make them do what you’ve asked them to do. Even when they challenge you, you simply roll right along as if it bothers you not at all!”
“Well, it doesn’t,” she said with a smile. “Those children do not know me well enough for me to be offended at all by anything they might say or do. They are looking for boundaries. Children need structure and rules in order to flourish, with just enough room to figure a few things out for themselves. I provide that. And I talk to them like they understand the language and aren’t wild, feral creatures whom one must fear.”
He grinned. “Is that what I do? Do I act like I’m afraid of them?”
“No. But you don’t act like you’re very interested in them either. These are children who have lost everything. Surely given you’re own recent losses, you can empathize with their difficult position?”
He grimaced. “My father had been ill for some time. His death was not unexpected in the least. I daresay, given his failing health, it could almost be looked at as a relief for him… an end to his suffering. It’s hardly the same!”
“No. It isn’t the same at all. They’ve lost both their parents and all that they knew. But you’ve lost your father and your brother and had your life turned upside down. Perhaps, my lord, if you could use that common ground of having your life altered so drastically as a way of bonding with the children—”
“Miss St. James, I will spend time with the children. I will endeavor to be more interested and attentive to them. I will not throw myself prostrate on the floor and weep with grief while inviting them to do the same!”
Callie’s lips firmed into a thin, disapproving line. “You are intentionally misconstruing my words, my lord, in order to avoid having to discuss something so very bourgeois as one’s feelings. These children need to feel safe with you and that can only happen if they know their tender feelings will not be mocked or met with derision!”
“I would never do that!” he snapped. “They are children, after all. One could hardly expect them to be in control of their emotions as an adult would.”
“Then you must provide an opening for them to express themselves! They have lost everything. They don’t even have the comfort