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Before Matilda could say a word for or against it, Lady Amy swept from the pianoforte stool and hurried across the room, narrowly avoiding the centre table with her little toes. She barrelled into the gentleman, who almost threw the books right in the air.
“Lady Amy, perhaps you might remember your manners and introduce us?” Matilda suggested, remaining standing beside the pianoforte with her hands clasped before her, her head and shoulders raised with a professional air.
With dark blonde hair and hazel eyes, the man was quite handsome with a charming smile that he turned on Matilda as soon as he had embraced Lady Amy.
“Forgive the interruption, Miss,” he said with a bow of his head, moving forward to place the books on the table between them before he moved around to offer her a proper bow. “I ought to have knocked first. My name is Heath Hayman.”
“Heath is a teacher!” Lady Amy exclaimed quickly before Matilda could respond and the young girl came hurrying up to his side, squeezing him once more as if she were mighty glad to see him. “Oh, Uncle Heath, where have you been all these weeks? I have missed you terribly.”
“And I, you, my little Amy flower!” Mr Hayman responded and in a moment, he had hooked his hands under Lady Amy’s arms and was spinning her around the room until she squealed with excitement and begged him to put her back down.
Matilda could not help but smile at the joy shared between the two of them and yet a part of her was wary. “Forgive me, Mr Hayman, but were we expecting you? The Duke did not forewarn us of your visit today.”
“Forgiveme, have I dropped in at a bad time?” Mr Hayman asked, glancing at Lady Amy as if hers was the final word he would have on the matter.
“No, no, you have come at just the right time,” Lady Amy protested. “Matilda and I were just finishing with our music lesson, and I think we could both use some refreshments after all the singing.”
Lady Amy turned a hopeful look upon Matilda and the governess knew that there was no way she could deny the girl’s request, nor could she ignore the opportunity to learn more about this relationship between the two of them. It might be one more thing to add to the puzzle of Lady Amy’s life and help her figure out exactly how to correct their problems once and for all.
“I do believe that you are right, Lady Amy. Why do you not pull the bell cord for Mr Burns?” Matilda said with a smile and watched as Lady Amy hurried quickly across the room to pull the large rope that hung down beside the fireplace so that they could call a servant up from the kitchens below at any moment.
“Please, Mr Hayman, do have a seat,” Matilda suggested, gesturing to the couches that sat on either side of the table where he had already placed his books.
Amy joined him on one of them almost immediately and asked, “Are these books for me, Uncle Heath?”
“How did you ever guess that?” he responded, ruffling her dark brown hair that was so similar to her father’s. Matilda felt a twinge in her stomach at the thought of him. She had not seen the Duke since their time in the garden the day before and the last she had seen of him he had looked to be in an utterly foul mood indeed.
“Is the Duke aware of your presence, Mr Hayman? Perhaps you would like me to go and announce you?” Matilda asked even as she came to sit on the couch opposite the both of them, watching them closely.
It was clear that the two of them had a great affection for each other, especially in that Lady Amy called him uncle, and yet as far as she was aware, the Duke did not have any brothers.Perhaps he is an uncle on her mother’s side,she thought.
“Oh, no need to trouble yourself, Miss Percival,” Mr Hayman responded, and Matilda was shocked for a moment that he already knew her name, feeling quite awkward at the fact she had failed to introduce herself properly.
“It was the Duke who asked me to come. He gave me your reading list and I have come to deliver a few of the titles you requested. The others may take a little more time to get my hands on.”
“So, they are for me?” Lady Amy practically cried with delight and hurried forth to grab the book from the top of the pile. Even as she did so, she ran her fingers down over the spines of the other books, seeming to take in all the titles. “Oh, this is marvellous! I have not read any of these.”
“Miss Percival has been quite thorough with picking the correct titles for you then,” Mr Hayman suggested and the way he looked at her out of the corner of his eye, a twitching smile upon his lips, made Matilda feel slightly unnerved. Of course, he was handsome and polite and clearly well-liked by Lady Amy but Matilda quickly reminded herself,I am governess here. I must remain professional.
“Matilda, did you know that my Uncle Heath is the best teacher in all of the country?” Lady Amy persisted even as she turned over the book in her hands to make sure she had seen every inch of it before she opened it.
“Oh, I am quite certain that is an exaggeration,” Mr Hayman responded, his cheeks flushing a little as though he was truly embarrassed by the girl’s high praise.
“Surely, you must have heard of him,” Lady Amy insisted, looking up from her book to look Matilda directly in the eye. “They talk of Mr Hayman from here to London from what my papa says.”
It was in that moment that Matilda realised that she had heard the man’s name before. Not only was Mr Heath Hayman a brilliant teacher, but he was also wanted for tutoring all over the country and Matilda had heard that although he came from a humble background such as herself, he had made quite the fortune thanks to his brains.
Trying to keep her cool, Matilda smiled and said, “If I had known we were expecting such fine company, I would have been more prepared.”
It was then that there was a knocking on the open door, and they all turned to see Mr Burns entering the room. “I beg your pardon, Lady Amy. Miss Percival, I came as soon as I could.”
The man was panting as if he had run all the way from the kitchens just to come and serve them. Matilda felt quite sorry for the old man.
“Oh, Mr Burns, you need not have exhausted yourself so!” Matilda said with a shake of her head, offering the man a moment to catch his breath before she explained, “We merely wished to request some refreshments for our guest.”
Mr Burns looked up from where he had automatically stopped to bow to Lady Amy and Miss Percival and the moment that he spotted Mr Hayman he looked quite horrified. Matilda wondered once again whether the man was meant to be there.
“Mr Hayman, forgive me, I thought you were still with the Duke,” Mr Burns exclaimed, and Matilda relaxed a little. At least the butler had been aware of the man’s presence in the house.I must have not heard the doorbell ringing due to Lady Amy’s playing,she thought. For all she knew, the man had been here for hours with the Duke. It was not as if she were aware of everything that went on in the nobleman’s life.
