Page 39 of Aurelia
When dinner was over, Aurelia hung back. “May I have a moment of your time, my lord?”
She was once again reminded of his height as he gazed down at her, the frosty blue of his eye warm. “You may have as many of my minutes as you wish, Miss Burton. Would you like to accompany me to the library?”
“This should not take long. I just wanted to tell you that I suffered no harm this morning. I was only on Nesta’s Perch for a few hours.”
“It is kind of you to try and excuse my daughter’s behavior, Miss Burton. But this is not the first—or even the fifth—time that something like this has happened. While you were fortunate to return unscathed, that is not always going to be the case. My daughter needs to learn there are repercussions for her when she does such irresponsible things.”
“I understand. But—” she broke off and bit her lip.
“But?” he urged with a gentleness that sat strangely on his sharp features.
“Perhaps she would not do such things if—” she stopped again.
He cocked his head, his expression one of intense curiosity, although she saw something else just below the surface—annoyance? Amusement? “Please do not curb your opinions, Miss Burton. If you believe there is a way to stop my daughter from behaving callously and dangerously, please do share. I am all agog.”
Yes, there was definite mockery there.
“Walter told me about the governess who was stranded at the lighthouse, so I understand your concern. But today I was not discommoded beyond a few minutes spent looking at the lighthouse.”
“I am relieved that you did not have a miserable or dangerous experience, Miss Burton.”
She flushed at his slightly cutting tone.
“Did Walter tell you about the time my daughter left one of her governesses in a cove during an incoming tide? If he had not been watching and noticed that only one person returned in the skiff rather than two, the woman would likely have drowned when the tide came in.”
Aurelia swallowed, suddenly sick to her stomach. What if Lady Celsa had done that to her?
“No, he did not tell me that story, my lord.”
“Then there was the time she put a bur beneath my wife’s saddle. Only the fact that the countess was an excellent rider saved her from a very nasty spill.”
Aurelia was horrified. And desperately wished she had kept her mouth shut. “I didn’t know about that, either.”
“I thought not. And these are just a few of the pranks my daughter has pulled over the years. You may think I am unnecessarily cruel and harsh, but I break out in a cold sweat imagining the day when there isn’t someone there to rescue one of her victims.”
“I understand, my lord,” she said stiffly, feeling like a fool for getting involved in something that wasn’t her concern. She had come to Crewe to paint. Not offer parenting advice.
“Good, I am pleased to hear it,” he said, yet another unreadable emotion glittering in his eye. “If that is all, I will bid you good evening, Miss Burton.”
***
Aurelia was in her room looking over the sketches she’d done that morning when there was a rap on her door. It opened before she could say come in and Miss Hatchet bustled into the room, all but rubbing her hands in glee.
“Her ladyship has landed in the soup this time!”
Aurelia closed her book. “Er, what do you mean?”
“His lordship is sick to death with her tricks. It won’t be a mere restriction from riding. Oh no, this time there will be consequences. We can all hope that Lady Celsa will not be sitting comfortable for a week.”
“Good Lord! You are not saying that he will beat her?”
“Why do you look so horrified?” Miss Hatchet demanded. “If ever I met a child who required a proper whipping, it is Lady Celsa.”
Aurelia found the other woman’s enjoyment of the situation sickening. “Physical violence is never the answer.”
Miss Hatchet’s eyebrows shot up. “Why are you defending the little wretch? You are the one who was abandoned.” Her mouth tightened. “You would not be so sanguine if you were left in a dungeon for an entire day.”
“I thought it was only five hours,” Aurelia retorted, immediately wishing she could snatch the words back.
