The Patricia Kiyono Christmas Collection (45 page)

“
Giles, wait.”

The footman stopped and waited as Robert
caught up to him. Not wanting others to hear, Robert bent close and
kept his voice low.

“
Do I mistreat the
children?”

Giles’ eyes opened wide. “No, sir. I’ve
never seen you raise your hand to any of them.”

“
But, do I treat them
poorly?”

Giles paused, and Robert suspected he wanted
to choose his words carefully. “You — treat them as they will
become accustomed to. The way nobles and gentry would treat them.
They haven’t quite learned how to be obedient and unquestioning.
I’m sure their parents will sort them out.” He trotted up the
stairs before Robert could question him further.

What Giles told him made sense. He treated
the children the way people in their station expected to be
treated. That should be enough.

Shouldn’t it?

Still, he felt Jeanne’s dark eyes piercing
him, accusing him of wrong-doing, and knew they would haunt him the
rest of the day.

~~~~

Jeanne knew she
should feel guilty over the way she’d spoken to
Robert. What she’d said to him might be seen as disrespectful, but
she was trying to be honest.

Taking the stairs to her mistress’ chambers,
she thought again about little Andy Sommers. She worried about him
often. The bruises on his face and arms last night were fresh. His
father must be home again. When she and Robert had arrived at the
church, Andy was already there. He’d likely spent the entire day,
and probably the night before, hiding in and under the pews.

How she would love to take Andy home and
watch over him herself. Unfortunately, there was no place for him
in the Peartree household, unless they hired him. But what would he
do? At the estate, he might be put to work with the groundskeeper
or with the animals, but in town there was no room in a domestic
servant’s life for a family.

As horrible as his life was, he still had a
mother who loved him. She protected him as much as she could — by
sending him away. As soon as his no-good father was gone, Mrs.
Sommers would go to the church to get him.

She’d seen the way Robert eyed Andy with
disgust. He hadn’t wanted to get within arm’s reach of the boy. How
dare he turn up his nose that way? It was no fault of Andy’s that
his clothes were dirty and ill-fitting. The boy didn’t even have
enough layers to keep warm. Robert had been surprised when she’d
proposed a contest, and he’d seemed even more surprised when Andy
had won, but she’d needed a way to give him more food. The uppity
Mr. Townley might not have liked it, but she’d do it again. The boy
had been so hungry he shook.

If only she could check on him. Maybe she’d
make some inquiries and go on her next half-day off.

Upstairs, she found Amelia, Duchess of
Bartlett, pacing in her sitting room. The duchess had always been
an active woman, and society’s insistence on confinement didn’t
suit her, despite her advanced stage of pregnancy. Her steps paused
when Jeanne entered.

“
I am so weary of doing
nothing. Whoever determined that women about to give birth needed
to stay at home must have been a
man
!” The way she spat out the last
words highlighted her feelings.

“
It’s a warm and sunny
day,” Jeanne told her. “Perhaps we could walk in the garden behind
the townhouse for a bit. We’ll put an extra scarf around your face
and neck so that the duke won’t fuss about you catching a
cold.”

Amelia’s eyes brightened. “What a lovely
idea! If I spend another hour indoors I shall go mad.”

With Jeanne’s help, Amelia was dressed in no
time.

Unfortunately, Robert was on his way up the
stairs as they made their way down.

“
Your Grace, was there
something you need? I shall be happy to fetch it for
you.”

“
No thank you. Jeanne told
me about… something she needs to show me.”

“
Then Jeanne should bring
it to you, not the other way around.”

“
No, really. I need to have
some fresh air.”

“
I would be happy to open
your windows for you. His Grace told me—”

The duchess stepped up to the valet and
stood on her tiptoes to look him in the eye. “Robert. Let. Us.
Pass.”

Robert slowly and quietly stepped aside.
Jeanne managed to contain her laughter, but the moment they slipped
out the door, she giggled.

Amelia turned to her with a grin. “Do you
think I scared him?”

Jeanne’s mirth spilled out, and she doubled
over with laughter. “Your Grace, you terrified him. But he deserved
it. He was prepared to do anything to keep you in your rooms.”

“
Yes, and that’s why
Phillip values him so. He’s been a trusted friend all their
lives.”

Jeanne sobered. “I’d heard that Rob— er, Mr.
Townley’s father worked for the duke’s father.”

“
Yes. And Robert grew up
with Phillip, because Robert’s mother died when he was quite young.
They were raised almost as brothers.”

Almost brothers, but not
quite.
Robert knew his place. As well as
everyone else’s.

She wondered what Robert would think if he
knew about her own past.

“
Tell me everything
that happened last night, from beginning to end,”
the duchess begged as she and Jeanne walked. “Were the children
disappointed that I didn’t come?”

“
Yes, Your Grace. They were
quite concerned about your well-being.”

“
They are such sweethearts.
I hope you gave out all the little treats Cook sent.”

“
Yes, Your
Grace.”

“
I’m so glad you and Robert
agreed to take over the class. Some of the older students were
progressing quite well. Martha should be nearly finished with the
book I gave her for her birthday. Perhaps I should ask Phillip to
search for something a bit more challenging. And then there’s
little Andy. How is he coming along?”

“
Very well, Your Grace. He
correctly recited the entire Lord’s Prayer last night.”

“
Wonderful. And the
Cosgrove girls, are they doing better at forming their
letters?”

“
Yes, Your
Grace.”

“
Excellent. Now, what went
wrong?”

“
Wrong?”

“
Something happened that
you were not pleased with. What was it? Was one of the children
rude to you?”

“
No! Not at all, Your
Grace.”

“
I know Robert is not
entirely… comfortable working with children. He was reluctant to
tutor Bertie Crabtree, but seemed to warm up to him, and Bertie has
made so much progress that Phillip has offered to send him to
boarding school and even university when he’s ready. But these
little ones now…they just need someone to show them someone cares.
They need encouragement.”

“
Yes, Your Grace.” Jeanne
agreed wholeheartedly. If only she’d had someone to encourage her
for the past ten years.

“
We do our best to feed
them and teach them some skills that might help them to succeed,
but they need more than that,” the duchess continued. “I feel bad
that the school has to discontinue while we are at the Bartlett
estate in Lincolnshire. And I feel even worse that I can’t be there
now. If you and Robert hadn’t agreed to step in, I would have been
at my wits’ end.”

“
It’s our pleasure, Your
Grace.” She wasn’t sure how she was going to put up with the
pompous Robert, but for her mistress she would endure his snide
remarks about the less fortunate. He truly had no idea what it was
like to have absolutely nothing. He acted as if it was their fault
that they didn’t have enough food to eat or clean clothing to wear.
Sometimes she wanted to wring his handsome neck.

“
Does Robert have a plan
for the next lesson?”

“
Er — I’m not sure. We have
agreed that I will take the younger children for the reading and
writing instruction. He seems to relate to the older students
better. I’ve been working on forming letters — in the air, in the
dirt, on the walls with their fingers — and then when they
understand the movements I give them the chalk.”

“
Excellent idea. How did
you think of it?”

“
That’s how my father
taught me.”

“
Your father was a wise
man. And what does Robert do while you’re with the young
ones?”

“
He has the older students
practicing the letter sounds and reading from the horn
books.”

“
I’m sure you and Robert
are doing a wonderful job. I’m thrilled we were able to get the
horn books for all the children this year. It’s a marvelous
teaching tool.”

“
Yes, Your
Grace.”

“
I’ve been thinking about
the annual Christmas party. If this little one arrives as soon as
the doctor thinks, I won’t be able to leave the baby. But I’d love
to have the children here. I’m going to see what Phillip thinks.
I’m sure he’ll agree to let me invite them. We’ll have a nice
dinner for them, and gifts. I think it would be wonderful, don’t
you?”

Wonderful wasn’t exactly the word she would
use, but it wasn’t her place to disagree. The duchess truly loved
her pupils and missed them dearly, despite her excitement about the
baby.

Amelia stared, and Jeanne remembered she’d
asked a question. “Er, I’m sure the children would consider it an
honor to attend a party here. When and how would you like us to
issue the invitation?”

~~~~

Ten children from
Cheapside coming to a Christmas party at the
Bartlett townhouse?

She understood why the duchess wanted to do
it. With her confinement, it would be impossible to plan the annual
event at the church. If there was to be a party, it would have to
be here.

She could just imagine what Mr.
High-and-Mighty would say about that. If he weren’t so wretchedly
good-looking, she’d punch him. Maybe she would anyway. Then he
wouldn’t be so handsome and she could stop thinking of him.

After going back indoors, the duchess
decided to write. Jeanne gathered items to be cleaned and mended
and went down the servants’ stairs to the laundry room. She worked
quickly, finding comfort in the familiarity of her job. Getting
stains out of hems and stitching minor tears were things she knew
how to handle. Dealing with Mr. Townley was another matter.

Finished with her task, she made her way to
the stairs.

Hearing footsteps behind her, she shifted to
the right side of the steps to let the other person pass. But
instead of going around, the footsteps slowed down and a sense of
foreboding crept up her neck.

“
Good afternoon, Miss
Brown.”

Oh my. How can such an
irritating man have a smooth velvety voice?
“Good afternoon, Mr. Townley,”

“
I must speak with you. The
duchess has informed me of her plans for the holidays.”

Jeanne stopped at the landing so that she
could turn and face him. “Which plans?”

“
Her Grace’s plans to have
a Christmas celebration for the children at the church
school.”

“
Yes, of course.” That
wasn’t news. The duchess had hosted a Christmas party for her
students every year since she’d begun teaching at the
church.

“
She plans to entertain
them here.”

Jeanne simply nodded, waiting for him to get
to the heart of the matter.

“
I spoke to the housekeeper
about taking extra precautions while preparing the house for their
visit.”

Jeanne frowned. “Wouldn’t she go to the
duchess for instructions?”

“
Of course the duchess will
decide how the house is arranged, but we must do our best to see
that valuable items are not anywhere to be seen.”

Her jaw dropped. “I beg your pardon?”

“
While the children are
here, we must be sure they don’t touch anything. I’ll alert the
rest of the staff to be on the lookout for any missing
items.”

Alert the staff? Does he
think of these children as nothing more than hoodlums?
Jeanne took a deep breath, reining in her temper.
She kept her voice low, knowing the tirade she wanted to deliver
would serve no purpose. “If you’re concerned, perhaps you should
speak to Utley. He would be the one to instruct the staff, not
you.” She spun around and marched away before she said something
she’d regret. Townley and the duke had known each other all their
lives — one word from him and she’d lose her position. She would do
well to remember that.

Robert stared at
Jeanne’s retreating figure, unsure where he’d gone
wrong. He’d hoped they would be able to work together to secure the
house for the invasion of the urchins. Interacting with them at the
church was one thing; allowing them inside the walls of his life
was quite another. They could smash things, deface them, take
everything that he held dear… not to mention the duke and duchess’
lovely possessions.

Jeanne was an organized sort, and he’d
thought she would understand the need for precautions. But she’d
seemed perturbed by his suggestion. Almost… insulted. Why? Perhaps
he needed to rethink his decision to pursue her as a potential
mate. The perfect wife needed to be calm, level-headed, and
certainly not prone to displays of emotion. In a daze, he focused
on getting his master ready for today’s session at Parliament.
Perhaps he should forget about marriage, especially to the fiery
Miss Brown.