breath. “Quick, Sophy, look! Can you see the pretty bird inside the conservatory? It must be one of the parrots that your papa brought back from his travels.”
Sophy scrambled up to stare in the direction Tessa was pointing. An unexpected scowl descended over the girl’s face and she let her armful of leaves flutter to the ground. “Papa won’t let me go in the ’servatory.”
Tessa’s heart wrenched. Had she known, she wouldn’t have called attention to the parrot. “I see. Well, perhaps he’s just afraid you might accidentally let one of the birds out.”
“No! It’s ’cause he hates me. He never wanted a daughter.”
Appalled, she sank down to put an arm around the girl. “Oh, I’m sure that isn’t true. He loves you very much.”
“Does not!”
Sophy squirmed free and darted away. She scooped up a stone from the gravel path and pitched it at the conservatory.
The tiny missile struck one of the windows with disastrous accuracy. The glass made a sharp, sickening noise as it splintered, leaving a hole edged by jagged pieces.
Shock rooted Tessa in place. It had happened so fast she’d had no time to react. To make matters worse, a man’s face appeared at the broken window. The duke glared out at them before vanishing from sight.
Sophy stood stock-still, her eyes like saucers and her face ashen. She appeared terrified by her own reckless act. With a choked cry, she made a mad dash for the back door, no doubt to find someplace to hide.
“Sophy!” Tessa called, starting after her.
As the girl reached the broad steps to the loggia, her father came outside. He’d discarded his coat and his shirtsleeves were rolled to his elbows. His irate look could have curdled cream.
Sophy halted in her tracks. She stood there looking wildly around. Then she scurried back to Tessa and took refuge behind her skirts. “I-I didn’t mean to do it. Please, Miss James, tell him I didn’t!”
Tessa felt the trembling of that small body against her, the hands that clutched the fabric at the back of her waist. Without turning, she reached back to give a soothing rub to Sophy’s arm. For the moment, the girl’s fear outweighed any well-deserved reprimand.
Carlin stalked down the steps and approached the two of them, where they stood beneath the orange and gold leaves of a beech tree. “What’s going on here, Miss James? Is stone throwing one of the skills you’re teaching my daughter?”
Tessa stiffened as his sarcasm cured her of any inclination to wilt. “Of course not, Your Grace. It was an accident.”
“Stones don’t strike windows by mistake.”
“You’re right, of course. But young children sometimes act without thinking—especially when they’re angry at their father.”
Tessa’s heart lurched. The tart words had emerged of their own volition. She’d meant to drop a hint about his neglect, not a bombshell.
His dark brows clashed in a startled frown. He glanced down at Sophy, then back at Tessa. He had to be irked to be addressed so impudently by a servant, especially one who was charged with keeping his daughter out of trouble—and who had failed miserably at that duty. Yet she couldn’t regret having spoken out in the girl’s defense.
She bent down to pry Sophy’s fingers loose from their death grip on her skirt. “I need a word with your papa, dearie. Go gather the leaves you dropped and put them in the basket. Then wait for me on the steps.”
Sophy kept a wary eye on her father as she sidled down the path. Tessa noticed Carlin observing the girl, too. In those few moments, his ire seemed to subside as his expression took on a hint of worried uncertainty. She hoped that meant he would listen to her.
She clasped her hands tightly at her waist. “I’m very sorry for what happened, Your Grace. It was my fault for not keeping a closer eye on Sophy. You may deduct the cost of the repair from my wages.” Lud, it would make a crippling dent in her savings, but that would be better than being dismissed.
“Devil take the expense. What do you mean, she’s angry at me?”
“I pointed at a parrot in the window, thinking she’d be delighted at the sight. Instead she became very upset, saying you wouldn’t allow her in the conservatory.”
“Only because she might leave the door open and let the birds escape. They’d never survive in this cold climate.”
“Did you explain that to her? For that matter, have you ever taken her into the conservatory to show her the birds?”
Carlin