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“Be… before dinner. Please, do you promise I can do this?” She saw his hesitation, and understood she was asking him for the impossible. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, you misunderstood,” Charles said quickly. “I have faith in you, Miss Furniss, but you must also have faith in yourself. I can only promise that I’ll do my very best.”
She smiled and looked down at the paper. “Then I can do nothing less. Shall we begin?” The two studied, but this time he concentrated on drilling only the formulas and rules into her mind. By the time Edward returned to the room, she had more confidence. Louisa was nowhere to be seen, and Lucy wished she could be there to show her support.
Edward saw her look behind him and he smiled. “Louisa hasn’t been awakened from her nap, Lucille. Are you prepared for your exam?”
Lucy was confused at his choice of words about her sister napping but was more concerned about her own bottom at this juncture. “Yes, sir, I’m ready.”
He nodded and held out his hand. “Shall we attend to your exam in the study, little one?” Lucy flushed hotly at the endearment but found herself standing and putting her hand in Edward’s. She couldn’t bring herself to lift her eyes, but instead concentrated on repeating the formulas in her head as he led her to the study. She was trembling as he opened the door and led her inside. He didn’t release her until they reached his desk.
“You may sit in my chair, Lucille, while you take your exam. I believe you will find the soft leather a comfort on what I am sure is still a somewhat aching little bottom. I only hope your answers are good enough to keep the strop behind closed doors.”
Neither he nor Lucy had been aware that her professor had followed them until he softly cleared his throat at Edward’s words.
“I’m sorry,” Charles said, holding out a sheaf of papers. “You forgot the quiz.”
“Ah, thank you,” Edward said, accepting the quiz and setting it on his desk’s surface.
Lucy had stiffened and then realized there was only one way to keep her professor from witnessing more of her humiliation. She simply sank down on the chair, praying she’d remember her lessons and that she wouldn’t soon be finding herself bent across this huge expanse of wood, her skirts raised and her bloomers parted or at her feet, her bare bottom lifted as she was forced to ask for additional punishment.
* * *
“Relax, Lucille. Take a deep breath.”Edward had spoken softly but knew his words were reaching his ward. She was being very obedient, and though she was trembling a bit, he was very proud of her. His eyes and ears missed nothing, and he was well aware of the impact his conversation was having on Professor Lloyds. Edward kept his mouth firm though he truly wanted to smile. The man was obviously trying hard not to react to what he’d overheard but he wasn’t able to hide the flush that rose on his cheeks that easily telegraphed the attraction he felt for his student.
“I truly hope to see marked improvement, Lucille.” She bravely nodded and he added, “You may begin.” She began to work through the problems one at a time. The only sound in the room was her pencil scratching across the paper’s surface as she worked slowly, flipping the paper over. Edward was puzzled a moment as he could see she’d skipped several problems, but when she worked a few on the back of the paper and then flipped it over once more, he understood she’d chosen to work through the easy ones first. He nodded his approval, leaned a hip against his desk and watched her as she returned to work on the problems that had given her pause. She’d occasionally close her eyes, her teeth nibbling on the end of her pencil as she gave thought to her answers. She finished the last problem only seconds before Edward called time.
She laid down her pencil and passed her quiz to her professor. She and Edward watched as Charles ran his pencil down the page ticking off each answer. He was smiling widely as he looked up and passed the exam to Edward.
“Excellent job, Miss Furniss. You’ve completed each problem correctly. I’m very proud of you.” Lucy beamed at him, even as she sank back in the chair.
Her euphoria didn’t last long as Edward said, “I believe this was an unfair quiz, Lucille. Wasn’t it simply a repeat of the one you failed this afternoon?” Lucy glanced at her tutor and then back at her guardian.
“Ye… yes, but I got them all correct this time.”
Charles’ response surprised Edward. “Miss Furniss, look at me.” Lucy turned to him, her face also revealing she was a bit shocked to hear him voice a command.
“Tell me, what happens when you multiply two negative numbers?”
“You get a positive number.”
“Correct. Tell me what is the proper way to divide fractions.”
“You turn the second number over and multiply across so you aren’t really using division at all.”
“Again that is correct. Can you work through this equation for me please?” He began to dictate a long string of numbers and she was about to panic when she saw Edward scribbling on a piece of paper.
“May I write it down, sir?” she asked and with his nod, Charles repeated the problem slowly as she wrote it down on a fresh piece of paper he gave her. He watched as she worked through the equation which contained several numbers in parenthesis as well as some fractions and smiled when she finished a second after Edward.
“What is the solution, Miss Furniss?” Charles asked.
“I believe the answer is… is zero.”
Edward asked sharply, “How positive are you of your answer, Lucille?”
She hesitated for a moment and then straightened her spine and said, “One hundred percent, sir.”
Edward’s face finally broke into a smile. “Correct. Tell me, what was the difference between this test and the last where you earned a paddling?”
