Page 44 of The School Mistress (Emerson Pass Historicals 1)

My heart sank. His dark expression told me everything I needed to know. “They were upset?”

“What? No, no. They quite like you. Yes, they quite like you.”

I studied him. Why was he repeating himself, and why the emphasis on the word quite? He picked at the skin around his thumbnail as his gaze darted around the kitchen. “Anyway, they’re upstairs in the dining room. Perhaps bring them into the library after you’re done here and talk to them about things.”

“Things?” I asked.

“You know, how you expect them to behave and such,” he said. “Jasper and I are going into town for a drink.”

“Lord Barnes?” Lizzie asked. “To the saloon?”

“Yes, we’re going to the saloon,” he said. “Just this once, so you mustn’t worry about my moral corruption, Lizzie.” He nodded at us and then practically ran back up the stairs.

“What’s gotten into him?” Lizzie asked. “The saloon?”

I folded the damp towel and hung it over the side of the sink. “Perhaps it went poorly with the children and he didn’t want to say.”

“No, it’s something else,” Lizzie said. “I think the death of Mr. Cole has him worried and sad.” She nodded, as if trying to convince herself. “Yes, that’s all it is.”

A few minutes later, I herded the children into the library and had them sit together on the couch. They obeyed without question, with Cymbeline between the twins and Fiona on Josephine’s lap.

“Your father told you I’m going to look after you until he can find a proper replacement, is that right?”

Nods all around. Fiona tracked my every movement with adoring eyes. I had one on my side. Was it four to go?

“We’re going to come to a few agreements,” I said. “Like school, there are rules.”

Five pairs of eyes were fixed on my face.

“I ask that you’re respectful and obedient. In exchange, I’ll treat you with kindness. If you’re well behaved, we can have fun adventures together.”

Flynn raised his hand. “Do we have to raise our hands like at school?”

I swallowed a laugh. “Not at home, only at school. Here, you’ll wait your turn to speak and be courteous to your family members, but you don’t have to raise your hand.”

“What’s courteous mean exactly?” Cymbeline asked.

“Courteous means polite and thoughtful. It means you do not put frogs in beds,” I said.

Flynn and Cymbeline giggled.

“That was extremely naughty,” I said with a pointed look at Flynn, then Cymbeline.

“You didn’t know her.” Josephine’s eyes shone with a feverish hatred. “She was awful to us.”

“What about all the other nannies?” I asked. “Lizzie told me all about your antics.”

Theo and Josephine looked into their laps. Flynn and Cymbeline smiled, reminding me of cats after a kill. Fiona seemed oblivious to her siblings’ previous misbehaviors as she wrinkled her little brow and looked confused.

“None of them belonged here.” Flynn crossed his arms over his chest and jutted out one pointy chin.

“They were scary old ladies,” Cymbeline said. “Not pretty like you.”

“Pretty is on the inside,” I said.

“They weren’t pretty in there, either,” Josephine said. “You’re both.”

This clever girl had certainly figured out how to soften me. I must remain stoic and impenetrable to their charms. Falling in love with the Barnes children would do none of us any good. I was not their mother. I wasn’t even their real nanny. At some point, I would have to leave them and move on to my own home and life. I was merely an interloper, I reminded myself. Spending time with these precious children was my way of paying back a kind man for his hospitality and employment. Remaining aloof had never been a strength. On the contrary. I fell for any living being who needed and wanted my affection. Stray cats, lame dogs, motherless children. All foils to my resolve. “All right then, can I have your promise that you’ll be obedient and respectful to me?” I asked.