This time, Letty could not hold back her reaction. She grinned at the little girl, who almost gave her a smile back.
“Is that right?” she asked.
Iris only nodded, but Letitia didn’t mind. This was progress, true progress.
She’d like to see that stubborn duke claim otherwise.
She felt guilty about the thought as soon as she had it. This wasn’t about theduke. It was about Iris. That much had become clear within the first few hours with the girl. She was so sweet. She was shy, gentle, and kind. The day prior, Iris had spent half an hour gathering a handful of berries off the ground, and when Letitia had warned her not to eat them, the girl had smiled and pointed at a nearby bird, then left the treat within sight of the creature before backing slowly away.
She was a child whofed birds.
So, yes, it was about Iris. And a little bit about Letitia. And about Sarah.
That left no room for the duke.
Not, Letty had to admit, that he was trying to take up very much space. She’d scarcely seen him since that… moment between them in his study when she’d first arrived. Not that she had sought him out—she’d spent as much time as possible in the nursery. It wasn’t that she wasavoidinghim. She was just… diligently doing her work.
Sometimes, though, they’d cross paths, and every glance between them felt oddly significant. The oddest part, however, was that it didn’tbotherher. Oh, it felt strange. But it didn’t make her want to flinch or hide away. Not like?—
She shook her head a little bit.
“Sorry,” she said to Iris. “I was woolgathering. Let’s get our day started. Today, we shall try to see how many things we can find that are green.”
Iris obligingly hopped to her feet and began tugging at the ribbon on her nightgown. Letty had been gently probing the girl’s knowledge and found that she more or less knew what might be expected from your average child from the country. She didn’t seem to know much about her letters—Letitia planned to start on that after just a little more time spent settling in—but she knew her colors and could identify groups of things up to ten.
“Green,” Iris said when Letitia started doing up the buttons on her gown, pointing down at her frock.
“Aren’t you clever?” Letty praised, and Iris bobbed her head happily, her dark plait swishing back and forth along her back with the motions.
There was a slight thump on the door that Letitia knew would be Sarah—not only because Sarah had been assigned to the nursery since she’d first arrived, but because she’d tapped for entry with her foot, not her hand, meaning she was carrying something in her good arm.
Letitia crossed to the door and admitted her friend, who was balancing a stack of clean linens in her arms.
“Sarah!” Iris said happily.
IrisadoredSarah. She didn’t talk to her as much as she did to Letty, but she always followed the maid around the nursery for her morning chores, watching everything she did with avid interest. She particularly loved helping put the new sheets on the bed, for reasons that Letty could not quite understand. But she wasn’t about to deny the little girl so simple a happiness, so instead of waiting until Letitia and Iris were out for the day, as she might otherwise have done, Sarah had been instructed to come in right when the girl woke.
Besides, Letitia wanted Iris to gain comfort talking to more than just her, and that meant encouraging contact with anyone sheseemed to like. Small steps to get big results, she reminded herself.
“Good morning, Iris, dear,” Sarah said. “Morning, Letty.”
“Morning, Sarah.” Letitia took the linens from her friend’s arms. “Iris and I shall be searching for green things today.”
Sarah nodded solemnly. “If I see any green things, I shall save them for you, Miss Iris.”
Iris giggled, and the two women exchanged happy glances. Letitia knew that her friend was just as taken with the little girl as was Letty herself.
Iris wandered over to try to pull on her stockings, her tongue tucked between her teeth in concentration as she worked. For now, she was pulling the left one on backward, so the curve of the heel would be on the front of her foot, but Letty wanted to give her the opportunity to figure that out for herself.
“Going well?” Sarah asked as she stripped the linen off the bed, swift even with one arm. It wasn’t technically the job of a governess to do household chores, but Sarah and Letitia had worked together for years, so Letitia crossed to help her out of habit.
“She’s definitely warming up,” Letitia agreed, glancing back at Iris, who was frowning at the stocking, clearly certainsomethingwas wrong but not yet clear what that was. “I think we shall make good progress within a month.”
Letitia had been frank with Sarah about the duke’s deadline, as well as the promise that Letitia’s failure, should it transpire, would not affect Sarah’s employment.
“I am sure the duke will be happy,” Letitia went on absently. When she turned back to her friend, however, Sarah looked concerned.
“What?” Letty asked.
