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Chapter 17
That whole day went by in a blur for Anne. If anyone had asked her when she was going to bed that evening exactly what had transpired after she left her room with Freddie – or rather, Robert – that morning, she would not have been able to tell them. She felt as though someone had taken over all her actions that day while she processed all that had happened so early that morning.
For one thing, she could not believe that her instincts about Robert had been correct. She’d had these ideas that he was far closer to Lord George than he said he was but had never guessed that he was really his half-brother. She had to admit, though, that she liked the name Robert far more than the name ‘Freddie’, and so that was a positive thing.
And all that business that she’d overheard with Robert’s sister, what was that about? There had been mention of Robert leeching off of George ... why had Robert come to the estate in the first place? And why did it seem that Louisa despised her brother so thoroughly? It also seemed to Anne as though Lord Graham was not a very pleasant person either. Anne had only met him once at a celebration many years ago, and she had not been very impressed with him at the time. It now seemed that her instincts about him were also correct.
And lastly, Robert had proposed marriage to her! And she had not said no! She could not get over that fact, in addition to all the others. It seemed that Robert had not simply tried to seduce her, but he had fallen for her while trying to work out all his family issues. She only hoped that they’d be able to get everything figured out through their letters to one another while Robert was away. They had much to discuss.
But of course, Anne could not spend her days pining for her absent lover; she had a very busy job to do. The children were still preparing for their recital that was fast approaching, and while they were all doing very well with their instruments, there was still much they needed to work on. They practiced for about two hours a day, but even that didn’t feel enough.
The day after Robert left, Anne also became very aware of the new presence in the house. After the rocky start that she and Lady Louisa had, she was not sure how the woman felt about her, but it turned out that she needn’t have worried. Any time Anne was in the room at the same time as Lady Louisa, she ignored her entirely to the point where Anne wondered if she even remembered that it was her who had been eavesdropping. The young governess thought not.
“Why must they be here?” Anne heard Lady Louisa whisper a little too loudly to her brother as they all sat eating their evening meal. “Do they not take their meals separately with their governess?”
Lord George looked at his sister, queerly. “Certainly not, Louisa. They’re our children. They take all of their meals with us.”
Lady Louisa looked down the table towards the children, and Anne followed her gaze to see how the children were behaving. Andre was wolfing down his meal as though it would be the last thing he was ever fed, while Margaret was trying to read the book that she’d brought to the table as she ate (she was not having much success), and Amelie was pushing a reed of asparagus around on her plate with a disgusted look.
Excellent. Nothing is out of the ordinary, Anne thought.
But then, Anne felt a pair of eyes upon her, and when she turned to see who it was, Lady Louisa was staring at her so hard it felt as though she was trying to bore a hole clean through her head. Anne returned her gaze with a smile, but she felt very uncomfortable.
“Who are you again, and why are you here?” Lady Louisa asked her.
“Louisa,” Lord George said sharply. “I’ve already told you three times today that this is Miss Anne Watkins, the children’s governess.”
Lady Louisa looked as though she had been slapped in the face. “She’s the governess? Why on earth are you letting a dirty rotten eavesdropper continue to tend to your precious children?”
Ah. It seems that she does remember.
“I would not call what she was doing yesterday morning eavesdropping, Louisa,” Lady Eponine said gently. “You were speaking so loudly that the entire estate could have heard you if they were so inclined. Perhaps if you do not wish to have people hear you, you should work on softening your voice.”
Anne had to bite her lip to stop from laughing, but when she and Lady Eponine caught each other’s eyes, there was a small chuckle that escaped each of their lips.
Lady Louisa looked quite frustrated that none of her comments were hitting their mark, and so she simply sat in silence for a short time and speared the remaining vegetables on her plate with a great deal of force. Anne jumped a little each time she heard the sharp tink tink! that Lady Louisa’s fork was making against the plate.
In the momentary silence that followed, Anne let her guard down for only an instant, and her worries began creeping in. She looked up quickly at Lord George and Lady Eponine and was quite relieved to see that neither of them was watching her.
What do you think Robert told them of our courtship? How much were they able to discover after I ran away yesterday? If they do know, how do you think they feel about you being with Robert? Is there any chance they might feel happy at the prospect of the two of us ending up together? Or maybe they’re really sitting there absolutely furious that you seduced Robert, and they’re going to fire you any day now!
With that last thought in her head, Anne started getting herself very worked up and concerned, so she knew that she had to stop thinking about that. All she had to do was get through the rest of tonight, and then she could go, escape to her room and think through everything that she needed too. She had been too overwhelmed yesterday to do much of anything.
There was suddenly a quiet bang coming from the children’s direction. Anne looked over and saw that poor little Amelie had got herself so tired that she’d nodded off and hit her head on her plate in front of her. When the little girl pulled her head up, she looked surprised for a second, but Anne immediately knew what was coming.
She rose from her seat and quickly said, “I think it’s time I take these three to bed.”
As soon as those words were out of her mouth, Amelie opened her mouth, scrunched her eyes closed tightly, and let out the saddest wail that Anne had ever heard her make. Eponine rushed to her daughter and picked her up, kissing her on the forehead where it had met with the plate. But the little girl just kept wailing, and Anne knew the only thing that she could do to get her to stop crying was to get her into bed.
The governess came up beside Eponine, the two women shared a knowing look and a small smile, and then the mother handed her daughter over to Anne. She began bouncing Amelie gently in her arms, and then she turned to the other children and said, “Come along, Margaret, Andre.”
“But I’m not tired yet!” both of them protested at the same time. They looked at each other and then started laughing, which was a welcome release for everyone at the table, except for Louisa.
“You don’t have to fall asleep; you just have to be in bed. You can read, write, do whatever you’d like, it would just help your sister greatly if we all went together,” Anne said gently.
Andre and Margaret seemed to understand now, and they got up from the table without so much as another word. Margaret trotted along in front with her nose in her book, and Andre walked right along beside his governess.
“Goodnight loves!” Lord George called expectantly after them.
