When a Duke Loves a Governess (Unlikely Duchesses #3) - Olivia Drake Page 0,15
warned me never to underestimate her.”
He had no ready answer to that impertinent truth, merely giving Tessa one last frown before disappearing out into the corridor. Once he was gone, she blew out a sigh of relief that he hadn’t sacked her on the spot. How strange that she’d never dared to speak to Madame Blanchet in such a cheeky manner but felt at ease to do so with the duke. It made no sense at all.
Before Tessa could ponder the mystery further, a yelp rent the air. Sophy was wiggling in her chair while the maid attempted to comb the girl’s tangled tresses. “Ow, ow! That hurts!”
“’Tis a knot, milady,” Lolly said placatingly. “If ye’ll sit still—”
“No!” Grabbing the comb, Sophy pitched it across the room. “Use the scissors to cut it out.”
Tessa knew it was time to start setting rules. Walking briskly across the nursery, she plucked the scissors from the floor before the maid could do the girl’s bidding. “That’s quite enough,” she told Sophy. “There’ll be no more snipping of hair or destruction of books.”
“Lolly lets me do whatever I want with the scissors.”
“Is that true?” Tessa asked the servant.
The maid shuffled her feet, glancing from Tessa to the girl as if trying to decide which of them to offend. “Only when I’m watchin’. Never thought she’d snitch me shears whilst I nodded off fer a minute.”
The overturned sewing basket lay behind the rocking chair, the spools spilled in colorful disarray. Tessa hid her exasperation. How could anybody be so careless around a mischief-maker, especially when one of the prior governesses had had her hair hacked off during the night? If Tessa couldn’t depend on her fellow employees, it would make her job all the more difficult.
“Henceforth, the scissors will be held by me,” she said, tucking them in her pocket. “Let me know when you need them, Lolly.”
The stout woman nodded, though not without a fearful glance at milady. It was clear the girl reigned as queen bee in the nursery—and she wouldn’t give up her throne very easily.
“What if I want them?” Sophy demanded, her small hands on her hips.
“You’re forbidden for the next week. I’ll decide then if you’re to be trusted with them. It will depend on you being on your best behavior.”
Tessa kept her tone gentle but firm to keep from lighting the fuse of Sophy’s temper. Shouting would only make matters worse. If ever she hoped to win the girl’s cooperation, it would be necessary to calmly stand her ground.
Sophy instantly put that resolve to the test. “I want ’em now. I has to finish my circus!”
“I’m sorry you’re angry. But you’ll have to manage without them.”
The girl screwed up her face into the spiteful mug of an imp. Tessa braced herself for an attack of kicking and biting, but Sophy merely threw herself onto the rug and began to batter the floor with her fists and feet. “I hate you! I hate you! You’re mean!”
Tessa had dealt with weepy little girls in the past, though never with the overindulged daughter of a duke. At the foundling home, children had never dared to throw tantrums lest the matron apply a cane switch to their tender bottoms. It had taken only once for Tessa to learn to save her tears for the dark of night, muffled by the old flour sack that had served as her pillow.
Afraid the noise would carry downstairs, she went to close the door just as a younger maid with curly auburn hair scurried into the nursery. She bobbed a curtsy to Tessa while her dismayed brown eyes fixed on Lady Sophy.
“See if ye can soothe her, Winnie,” Lolly advised.
Winnie crouched beside the girl, rubbing and patting her back, but it only seemed to make Lady Sophy angrier. No amount of petting mollified her. She only squirmed away and increased the volume of her caterwauling.
Just then, Tessa noticed the girl take a peek toward her and Lolly. The scamp was gauging their reaction to her performance. She wanted people to make a fuss, so perhaps that was the key. If everyone ignored her, eventually the girl would realize the futility of her actions.
“Leave her be,” Tessa said. “She’ll stop eventually if no one pays her any mind.”
Winnie sat back on her heels. “But miss! We daren’t let ’er scream.”
“The duke’ll dismiss us all!” Lolly fretted. “Why just this mornin’, ’e sacked Miss Drysdale fer paddlin’ milady an’ makin’ her cry.”