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Oh, Lord.“I did not say that.”
“But you think that.”
Isabel let out a frustrated breath. “All I think is what I say, Vane. She needs to start her education immediately. And unless you want to be the one to teach her etiquette and watercolors and pianoforte, there is no one else to do it but me.”
Vane studied Isabel’s resolute features, making her shift uncomfortably under his perusal. “Very well. When do you wish to start?”
Isabel licked her lips. “Immediately.”
Vane sputtered a laugh. “You want me to just leave her with you tomorrow, without warning?”
Isabel shrugged. “You can warn her in the morning.”
One side of Vane’s mouth lifted in a smirk. “You have not spent much time with children, have you?”
“Contrary to what you might think, I am quite capable around children. I have bonded with the children from our village nicely. And I have two younger siblings to whom I was like a mother.”
Vane pursed his lips. “You are this confident that you will get along with Millie. Just like that?”
“I think delaying it will do us no good. As it is, we lost a lot of time. It will take us a few moments to bond, but the sooner we do it, the better.”
“And you realize that Button will be with her. She won’t let him leave without her.”
Isabel faltered. She could deal with a six-year-old girl, but what of the dog? “I shall have a couple of footmen around to catch him if he acts out.”
Vane scratched his jaw in thought. He looked at Isabel through narrowed eyes and finally said, “No.”
“No?”
“I cannot in good conscience leave you three alone here. It will end in a catastrophe, whether for you or this house. And I am not willing to wait and find out which. Find her a governess, and once you’ve done that, I will start leaving Millie in the house.”
Isabel felt that response like a slap. He did not trust her with his daughter. And he did not trust her ability to keep the house in control. Despite his brief show of trust in front of the servants, he was not willing to trust her with anything else in his life. Yet he was ready to leave his daughter in the care of a governess. “You are willing to leave your child alone with a complete stranger over your own wife?”
Vane looked at her queerly. “First off, how are you any different from a complete stranger? I do not know you at all, and neither does my daughter. At least the governess would have recommendation letters.”
Isabel gasped. She wanted to smack the smug marquess so much her palm itched. But she was a lady. And ladies did not hit people. They got what they wanted by other means. So she smiled at him sweetly. “Very well. If you don’t want to leave her with me, then I am coming with you tomorrow.”
She turned, entered her room, and closed the door right in front of his still astonished face.
