Page 13 of Duchess By Condition
“Margaret never taught you to read?”
“She said she would do it when I was ready,” Noah said. “But I always felt foolish. I thought…well, what if she laughed at me?”
“She would never have laughed at you for not knowing something, Noah.”
“I know,” Noah said sadly. “I should have let her teach me. Maybe now I’ll never know.”
Violet’s heart ached for him. She wanted to tell him then and there that she would help him learn to read. But he looked too dejected. So much progress had been made today. She didn’t want to risk pushing him away, and if she offered to help him learn to read, he might feel as if she were trying to replace Margaret. For now, it was enough that he was willing to open up to her about Margaret—that they could discuss what Margaret had meant to each of them when she had been alive. Even that was much more than she had expected to be able to share with Noah this early on in their relationship with one another.
Before she was able to say anything, though, the door to the library opened, and the duke entered.
He looked so severe that for a moment, even Violet felt nervous. Was he going to try to find something to argue about here? What if he told them that they shouldn’t have been in the library? What if he insisted that this library washisand that they had no right to use it? She would fight back if he tried such a thing, she promised herself. He wasn’t going to tell her that she couldn’t be in here.
“Noah,” he said, ignoring Violet altogether. “Did I hear correctly? You don’t know how to read?”
Noah stiffened beside Violet, and Violet forgot the nervousness she had been feeling. She got to her feet, angry, and put her hands on her hips.
“How is it you know what we were discussing?” she asked.
“I overheard you,” the duke said. “I was walking past the door, and you weren’t troubling to keep your voices down.”
“Well, that’s a mistake that won’t happen twice, I can assure you,” Violet said sharply. “I didn’t realize I was going to have to worry about being eavesdropped upon in my own home.”
The duke showed no signs of remorse. “Did I hear correctly?” he asked again. “The boy doesn’t know how to read?”
“If you were listening to us so studiously, you ought to know the whole context of that statement,” Violet said. “He doesn’t know because he was never taught. It’s hardly his fault.”
“Faultdoesn’t enter into the picture,” the duke said. “The fact is that the child doesn’t know how to read, and that isn’t acceptable—that’s something a young man must know. If he is to remain in this house and in our care, it falls to us to correct this oversight.” He looked at Noah. “I’ll be hiring a governess for you in the next few days,” he said. “She’ll correct the gaps in your education.” He turned to go.
Noah was still frozen beside Violet, as if the entire encounter had frightened him. To tell the truth, Violet couldn’t blame him. It had been so abrupt, and it had been a forceful reminder that they were sharing this house with someone they had no guarantee was at all friendly toward them. She thought Noah had gotten more comfortable with her today, but comfort with the duke was a much larger and more difficult proposition. Neither of them had achievedthatgoal yet.
She rested a hand on Noah’s shoulder briefly, hoping he would take comfort from the gesture—that it would remind him she was on his side. Then she hurried toward the door as well.
“Keep looking at the book,” she called over her shoulder to him. “Pick out some of your favorite pictures, all right? We’ll talk about them some more later.”
He settled back onto the chaise, looking slightly more relaxed. Perhaps he trusted her to take care of things for him. If he did, she knew, it was quite a gift.
She went out into the hall and found the duke standing there awaiting her arrival, his arms folded. So his eavesdropping hadn’t ended when he had come into the room—he must have gone on listening. That was how he had known to expect to see her come out after him.
He is such a difficult man!
But she squared her shoulders and faced him anyway. Noah had trusted her. He was relying on her to talk to the duke about this governess idea.
She was not going to let Noah down.
CHAPTER 8
“Icannot believe,” Jonathan said, “that you are here to argue with me about something as benign as getting a governess for the boy. Surely you think he ought to have one? Or do you mean to suggest that we should leave him without anyone to tend to his education?”
Lady Violet scowled. “You must know that isn’t what I came out here to talk to you about,” she said. “Why do you play the fool with me?”
“Speak, then,” he said.
“You haven’t already gathered it all by listening in on our conversation? I’m sure you could tell me everything I want to say to you.”
He sighed. “Lady Violet, I’m sure you’re able to see that what you’re saying right now is utter nonsense,” he told her, his voice heavy. “Are you even thinking about your words? If not, Iimplore you to do so. You are angry with me for hearing things that are taking place in my own house? Would you have me walk around with my hands over my ears?” He held up a hand. “I know what you want to say. You want to tell me that it isn’t my house. Am I right?”
She fumed, but did not answer.
