‘The prophets? Er…J…Jeremiah…’
‘In order, if you please!’
‘I…I can’t do things like that, Miss Froom. It’s not the way Mama taught us.’
‘I see.’ Miss Froom’s tone suggested that she thought poorly of Mama’s methods.
‘Her lessons were fun, and we learned a lot!’ said an aggressive voice from above.
‘My methods of instruction are directed towards the acquisition of knowledge, not fun,’ said Miss Froom coldly. ‘Lady Ledbury fully approved of them. At the age of ten the Lady Araminta could recite all the…’
‘The Lady Araminta sounds a dead bore to me,’ muttered Pip rebelliously. ‘And so does the Marchioness of Ledbury.’
‘What was that, Philippa?’
‘Look, Miss Froom! Edward is coming! I think the carriage is ready,’ cried Lisette hastily. ‘Come down, Pip, dear. We shall soon be on our way.’
Mr Barraclough reported that the pin had been replaced, and they could now complete the last three miles of the journey to Wychford. ‘So, we’ll be off! Into the carriage with you! Miss Froom?’
They set off once again. But the silence was oppressive. Mr Barraclough looked sharply at Miss Froom’s pursed lips and pinched nostrils, and then at Pip. ‘Is there something wrong?’ he asked.
‘Philippa is a very rude, undisciplined, ill-mannered little girl,’ said Miss Froom sharply.
Pip sat upright, looking mutinous, and Lisette put a restraining hand on her arm. ‘She didn’t mean to be rude. She’s tired, Edward. It’s been a long day. I am sure she is sorry. Please forgive her, Miss Froom.’
There was silence. Mr Barraclough said, ‘Miss Froom?’
‘I do not mind so much for myself, though it is not what I am used to,’ said Miss Froom stiffly. ‘But when an ignorant little girl criticises the family of as great a nobleman as the Marquess of Ledbury, whose family goes back hundreds of years—’
Mr Barraclough, too, had heard his fill of the Ledburys. It was his private opinion that the Marchioness would have done better to pay less attention to her children and more to her husband. Ledbury’s amours were the gossip of London. But he said, ‘Yes, yes, it is absurd. You should not regard it, Miss Froom. In future you must try to guard that unruly tongue of yours, Philippa. Now, do you see the house?’
Chapter Three
They had just passed through some gates. Ahead of them was a long drive that wound round a lake. Pip leaned out dangerously and shouted with excitement, ‘I can see it, I can see it! Edward, it’s lovely! It’s got funny little windows—and look! Barley-sugar chimneys and a tower! Can I have a room in the tower? Please let me have a room in the tower!’
Lisette peered round. ‘What a beautiful colour it is in the evening sun,’ she said. ‘And just look at the trees! Green and scarlet, brown, gold—they’re glorious! I think we shall like living here. What do you think, Miss Froom?’
Miss Froom had not recovered her humour. She threw a glance at the house. ‘I doubt very much that I shall,’ she said repressively. ‘I know these old houses, though I have fortunately never had to live in one before. This one looks like all the rest—dark and damp. And those windows will let in the draughts.’ She stared disapprovingly at Pip’s lichen-stained skirt and tumbled curls, and surveyed Lisette with a frown. ‘I can also see that I have a great deal of hard work before me before I achieve the standards I expect in my pupils.’
Mr Barraclough observed the excitement in Pip’s face slowly die. He looked at the shadows in Lisette’s eyes and said abruptly, ‘I am sorry you find the prospect of teaching my nieces so repulsive, Miss Froom. They’ve had—we have all had—a difficult time of late. You were engaged to be responsible for their education, but until their aunt and uncle arrive from the West Indies I had hoped that you would see to their happiness and welfare as well.’
‘Discipline and hard work bring happiness, sir,’ said Miss Froom. ‘That has always been my philosophy, and children are the better for it.’
Mr Barraclough regarded her with a thoughtful frown, but said nothing as the carriage came to a halt in front of shallow steps that led to a massive oak door. He ushered the girls and their governess into a large stone hall, where Mrs Dutton, the housekeeper, was waiting to welcome them.
She took Miss Froom and the girls on a tour of inspection while Edward went into the library, but after a short while the two girls came back alone and joined him there.
‘That was quick!’ he said. ‘Where’s Miss Froom?’
‘She…she said she would lie down for a little,’ said Lisette. ‘She has the headache.’
Pip ran to her uncle and grasped his arm. ‘Edward! Edward, please, please send her away. I don’t like her! She’s horrid!’ she said fiercely.
‘What’s all this? Have you been rude to Miss Froom again?’ asked Edward sternly.
‘She deserved it! She said I had to sleep in a horridly poky room next to her so she would know what I was up to. But I wanted the little corner room! The one in the tower. Why couldn’t I have the tower room?’
Their uncle looked harrassed. ‘That’s not my sphere, Pip, and it’s a very poor reason for this tantrum! Or for being rude again.’
‘It wasn’t that! It wasn’t that at all! She…she’s cruel!’ Pip threw herself on the sofa and burst into tears. Edward swore under his breath and looked on with a frown as Lisette took the child in her arms and comforted her. What the devil had he done to deserve this? He had always prided himself on the ease with which he could handle any woman in practically any situation. But this one tired, lost, little girl defeated him. Confound Julia! Why the hell did she have to break her leg just at this particular time! And what was Henry thinking of to send the girls over without her? He looked at his nieces and his mood softened. With a sigh of resignation he sat down beside them and said, ‘What was it, Lisette? Tell me the whole. Is it true that Miss Froom was so disagreeable?’
Lisette said quietly, ‘I’m afraid so. Miss Froom isn’t at all a kind person. When she refused to let Pip have the tower room, Pip got angry and said that Mama would have wanted her to have it. Miss Froom said…she said she didn’t doubt it. That Philippa was a spoiled little girl and the sooner she learned who was now in charge of her the better.’
‘Miss Froom is tired after the journey. Pip can be confoundedly trying…’
‘She said more than that, Edward. She said that our mama…She said that our mama was dead and wasn’t coming back. And that if Pip carried on being such a naughty little girl she wouldn’t go to heaven to see her mother again.’
‘She said what?’
‘That Mama was dead. It’s true, of course.’ Lisette looked down at the child in her arms. ‘It was cruel of her, though.’
Edward Barraclough looked grimmer than ever and said with formidable calm, ‘That settles it. Your aunt and I have made a mistake. Take Pip into the morning room, Lisette, and stay there with her. One of the maids will bring a drink for you both. You needn’t concern yourselves any further with Miss Froom.’ He strode to the door.
‘What are you going to do?’
‘The carriage is still harnessed up. It can take her to Kingston tonight, and she can take the London stage tomorrow.’
‘No, Edward, you can’t send her off into the night like that.’
‘I can and will! I’ll have that woman out of the house before she says another poisonous word to anyone.’
‘No,