while another blob stained her white pinafore.
The hiss of the fire filled the silence. Then pandemonium erupted.
The servant woke with a snort and hefted herself out of the rocking chair. “Wot’s this? Who’re ye, miss?”
At the same time, Lady Sophy dropped the scissors with a clatter and jumped up, knocking over her chair. “That’s mine! You can’t take it!”
She grabbed for the book, but Tessa clutched it to her bosom. “No. Books are meant to be read and cherished, not destroyed on a whim.”
The duke strode forward with sharp footsteps. “Miss James! We agreed on harmony, not mayhem.”
His daughter turned to him, her lower lip thrust out in a pout. “Papa, she stole my book. Make her give it back to me!”
“That wouldn’t be wise, Your Grace,” Tessa murmured. Creating a scene hadn’t been the ideal way to meet his daughter, but instinct warned her that backing down would only undermine her position.
Gazing at his daughter, Carlin appeared torn by indecision. “The book has already been destroyed. I can buy her another.”
“It would be a poor lesson, though. Rewarding bad behavior only encourages more of it.”
His troubled eyes searched hers for a moment before he gave a stiff nod. “Sophy, this is Miss James, your new governess. You are to do as she says. Miss James, you’ll also wish to meet Lolly, the head nursemaid.”
Lolly bobbed a curtsy in the general direction of Tessa, though her wary gaze was on the duke. “Yer Grace, so sorry fer milady’s untidiness. The wee mite must’ve got in the jam pot afore Winnie took the tea tray below stairs.”
With the hem of her apron, the servant attempted to scrub at the spot on Sophy’s cheek, but the girl twisted free with the slippery agility of an eel.
She stamped her little foot. “Don’t want no stinky governess. ’Specially if she takes my book away!”
“Sophy…” he began in a warning tone.
“I was only cutting out animal pictures to make a circus. ’Cause nobody ever takes me to a real one.”
Sinking down onto the floor, she began to weep loudly, rubbing her eyes in a show of tragic wretchedness. Tessa suspected it to be an act designed to get her way, though Carlin looked stricken. He took a step forward, and before he could take another, Tessa caught hold of his arm to stop him.
Despite the layers of sleeve and shirt, she felt his muscles tense beneath her gloved fingers. He shot her a scowl that made him look remarkably like his angry daughter. Realizing she’d erred in touching his ducal person, Tessa dropped her hand at once. But she was beginning to wonder if he was part of the problem, allowing himself to be manipulated by humbug tears.
“It’s a pity you’re crying,” she told the girl with a sympathetic tsk. “You’ll only make your papa think you’re too babyish to visit the circus.”
Sophy miraculously recovered from the bout of tears and scrambled to her feet. “I’m not a baby! I’m almost five.”
“Five is a very fine age. You’re becoming a big girl and must learn how to behave before you can go to the circus. Now, your papa has work to do. Will you come and give him a kiss goodbye?”
Lowering her chin, Sophy eyed him with sulky mistrust. “No.”
It was clear the girl wouldn’t budge and compelling her to obey would only make matters worse. The duke, on the other hand, regarded his daughter with an expression of strained worry that hinted he was weakening. Tessa couldn’t let that happen.
“All right then, perhaps another time. Shall I walk you to the door, Your Grace?” In full sight of the girl, Tessa handed him the butchered book. “I’m sure you’ll want to take this away with you.”
Carlin reluctantly accepted it. She couldn’t decide if he was more irked at being dismissed by an underling, or if he disliked being compelled to deprive his daughter of her heart’s desire. Whichever the case, she needed him gone before he caved to Sophy’s demands.
Lolly hastened forward to make a fuss over the girl and tidy her hair. Her clucking and Sophy’s protests gave cover to Tessa’s muted conversation with Carlin as they walked to the door.
He aimed a glare at Tessa. “In the future,” he muttered, “I prefer not to be drawn into these nursery battles. Sophy already resents me enough.”
“It’s important that we show a unified front,” Tessa whispered back. “Otherwise she’ll play the two of us off each other.”
“She isn’t so devious!”
“Oh? You’re the one who