Page 42 of The School Mistress (Emerson Pass Historicals 1)

“Are we a burden?” Cymbeline’s bottom lip trembled.

I waved my hand dismissively. “Not a burden, no. I simply mean that five children are a lot to look after all at once, and they already have too many responsibilities.”

“I can take care of us,” Josephine mumbled.

I ignored that for now.

“Anyway, until I can get someone else, Miss Cooper has volunteered to help.”

Cymbeline and Flynn frowned. Fiona sucked in her bottom lip. Josephine folded her arms over her chest. Theo slouched over his plate. I thought they liked Miss Cooper.

“What is it?” I asked. “Don’t you like Miss Cooper?”

“We like her very much,” Josephine said, finally. “But she cannot be our nanny.”

“Temporary nanny,” I said. “And why not?”

“Because she’s supposed to be your wife,” Flynn blurted out.

I blinked. “What did you say?”

“Papa, we prayed for her to come, and she finally did,” Josephine said.

“She’s going to be our mama, not a nanny,” Cymbeline said. “We already decided.”

I’m not one to lose my sense of direction or find myself without words. This time, however, I sat there utterly flabbergasted.

“Isn’t that why you ordered her?” Theo asked.

“Ordered her?” Had I heard him right?

“Like Mr. Carter did,” Flynn said. “From the mail.”

“Whatever would give you that idea?” I asked. “How do you know how Mr. Carter got his wife?”

“Papa, everyone knows where these women come from,” Josephine said. “They just show up one day on the train with a sad little suitcase and suddenly they’re someone’s wife. We figured you were so clev

er that you found us a teacher and a new mother in the same person.”

I pushed away my plate and folded my hands together on top of the table. This was not at all how I thought this conversation was going to go. “Let me set you all straight. Miss Cooper came here to be our first teacher. Not my wife.”

“Oh, so you don’t actually know yet?” Flynn asked. “We thought you knew.”

“We didn’t know, obviously,” Josephine said. “Until we saw her. Until we saw you together.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you,” I said. “But you have this all wrong.”

Fiona started to cry. “The others said she was going to be our new mama.”

“When in heaven’s name did you discuss this?” I asked.

“This morning,” Josephine said. “During our family meeting.”

I dropped my forehead into the palm of my hand. They had family meetings without me? When had that begun? It was like a geographic shift, and I was looking at a world I no longer recognized. Because here was the actual ridiculous truth. I agreed with them. I couldn’t say that, of course. We’d known Miss Cooper for two days. This time last week we were eating beef stew and discussing how excited we were for our new teacher to arrive. Two days ago, I’d thought she was a white-haired spinster. We were all acting mad. Romances like this were for books, not real life.

“Listen carefully now. You will not mention any of this nonsense to Miss Cooper. Do you understand?”

“Why?” Cymbeline asked. “How will she know the plan?”