Chapter 6
Chapter Six
“Master Aaron, I would like for you to meet Miss Finch.” Miss Spencer entered the morning room, her smile warm and gracious, her presence bringing with it an immediate sense of calm and comfort.
With her, she led a young boy of seven years old, Aaron Lockridge.
He had dark hair like his father, and sharp features for a boy his age.
A little taller than Henry, certainly built better, it was his eyes that Octavia focused on.
Where his father’s eyes were hollow pools that gave nothing away, Aaron’s were something else entirely…
Oh yes, I see it now. The child has not said a word, but those eyes tell me all I need to know. He is lively, mischievous, and just a little wild. Worse still, he knows it, just as he relishes the fact.
Octavia smiled warmly as Aaron was nudged into the room. He played at being nervous, with his hands folded before him, his head bent. But every few seconds, he would glance up, catch Octavia watching him, and his eyes would flash with a not-so-hidden menace.
“Master Aaron…” Octavia started across the room toward the child. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you.” When she reached him, she crouched forward to match his eyeline. “I have heard so many good things about you, and I cannot wait to see which of them is true.”
Aaron said nothing, still playing at being shy.
“Master Aaron,” Miss Spencer nudged. “Is there something you would like to say?”
“I – it is nice to meet you,” he said quietly. Miss Spencer cleared her throat, and Aaron sighed. “Miss Finch.”
“Now that we have that taken care of…” Miss Spencer clapped her hands together.
“I doubt that today is one where you might wish to start your lessons. With all that has happened this morning, the day already getting away from us, perhaps the two of you could use the rest of today to become better acquainted?”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Octavia agreed. “What do you think, Master Aaron?”
He said nothing, offering a hidden smile to show that he agreed.
That’s interesting… I have met enough scammers and tricksters to know a mask when I see one. No doubt, as soon as we are left alone, the mask will come off.
“I will leave you to it,” Miss Spencer said. “If you need anything at all, send for me. And Master Aaron…” She looked down at Aaron, waiting for him to turn and look at her. “Behave yourself, young man. Remember, your father is watching.”
Aaron grimaced and nodded his head.
With that, Miss Spencer left the two of them alone, and Octavia counted down the seconds until Aaron let that mask slip and began to act as she was sure he would do.
Why, if even half of what she had heard about the boy was true, she doubted this meek appearance was anything close to his true nature.
Not that Octavia was worried. She could handle a seven-year-old. Even if she could not, this opportunity was too good for her to waste, and now that she had been welcomed into this home, she would bury herself in like a tick. She had to, for herself and Henry.
“Right.” Octavia exhaled loudly. “How about we start with a game?” She turned and crossed the room, sitting herself on the couch.
Aaron eyed her skeptically. “What game?”
“It is one I used to play as a little girl, and I find it is a fun way to get to know one another. We’re going to be spending a lot of time together, Master Aaron, so best that we get all this boring stuff out of the way quickly. Don’t you agree?”
Still, he looked at her with extreme wariness. “Maybe…”
“The game is simple,” she continued. “It is a game of lies and truths. I am going to tell you three things about myself, and you have to guess which two are the truth, and which one is the lie.” She raised an eyebrow at him.
“If you guess correctly, I go again. If you fail, you have to do the same for me. How does that sound?”
Already, she saw his calm reservations starting to slip.
Fidgeting with his hands, he stepped back and forth on his feet, his eyes starting to flick about.
Excited energy began to seep from him, a devilish smile worked up his face, and before he said anything else, Octavia knew this game she had planned was unlikely to happen.
Here we go…
“No,” Aaron said.
“Excuse me?”
He flashed his eyes at her. “I don’t want to play.”
“Oh.” She looked at him flatly. “And what do you want to do?”
“I don’t know…” He walked across the room; his eyes trained on an antique vase that sat precariously on the mantle. “Something else.”
“That’s awfully vague.”
He reached where the vase sat, watched it for a moment, and then snatched at it. His little hands grabbed the vase and lifted it from its perch.
“Maybe you shouldn’t pick that up.” Octavia hurried across the room. “Here, let me – oh!” Octavia yelped as Aaron dropped the vase. Luckily, she was close enough to grab it in midair, her hands just managing to grab hold before it smashed to the ground.
Aaron giggled and then raced across the room.
Octavia breathed in deeply and placed the vase back on the mantle. By the time she turned around, Aaron was on the couch, jumping up and down on its cushions as if they were springs.
“I don’t think you should be climbing on there, Master Aaron.”
“Why not?” He continued to jump up and down.
“You might damage it,” she said simply. “I doubt your father would be very happy if he found out.”
“He doesn’t care.” Aaron kicked one of the cushions into the air. “He doesn’t care about anything.”
Octavia sighed and scooped up the cushion. “That’s not true.”
“It is.” He kicked another cushion.
She frowned at the comment as she collected the second cushion. The way that Aaron behaved was typical, rebellion for the sake of being a rebel. But what he said about his father… Octavia sensed a deeper meaning.
Ah, so that is why he behaves this way. How interesting…
“How about you climb down from there?” she said as she put the two cushions down on the edge of the couch. “Let us play my game.”
“No!”
“What if it is not a question?” She folded her arms and looked at him. “It is an order.”
“You can’t tell me what to do!”
“Do you want a bet?”
Aaron smiled wickedly, excitement flooding him. He ran to the end of the couch and kicked the cushions off the edge again, laughing with glee to see them fly.
“Make me!” he cried out.
Octavia glared at Aaron, even if she did not mean to. She had spent much of the last few years of her life dealing with men who treated her as less than nothing, simply because of who she was and what they knew they could get away with. If a child thought that he could do the same…
No, Octavia. This is what he wants. Think! How can you possibly make a child whose entire purpose seems to be rebel listen to you?
That was when she had an idea.
“Fine,” she sighed and turned away. “If you wish to jump around on the couch and cause chaos, so be it.” She started slowly across the room. “I am going outside.”
“What? Why?”
She reached the doorway and turned, making sure to look bored.
“It is too nice a day to be cooped up indoors. Just as it is too nice a day to spend picking up after you. When Miss Spencer asks what we did today, tell her whatever you wish. I do not care.” With that, she turned and walked from the room.
Once outside the room, Octavia stopped and listened. Sure enough, within seconds, she heard the patter of feet following her.
A smile found her lips; the smallest of victories, but it was a start. Aaron wasn’t a bad kid. He didn’t mean to be wicked or troublesome. What he was, was starved for attention, and denying him exactly that was a sure way to make him follow.
“Chase me!” he cried as he sprinted past her. “Chase me!” He ran through the house, screaming as he did.
Octavia did not chase him. Again, she wished to appear disinterested. She walked calmly through the house, humming a soft tune to herself, acting as if she did not even notice Aaron.
The back garden was rich and verdant. A maze of flowerbeds and trimmed hedges, with a stone path snaking through it.
There was plenty of space also, large patches of green grass for sitting and taking in the sun, and many stone benches peppered throughout.
While Aaron sprinted up and down the pathway, screaming his lungs out, Octavia made her way to one of the grassy patches.
“Chase me!” Aaron cried as he zoomed around the garden.
She did no such thing. She sat down, again looking bored. Or rather, disinterested. She stretched out, she looked about the garden, and she made sure not to give Aaron even a second of her attention.
“You aren’t chasing me?” Aaron came to a stop in front of her. “Why not?”
“Why would I?”
He scrunched his face into a ball, clearly confused. Then, another wicked shadow passed behind his eyes, an idea coming to mind. Octavia braced herself, no idea what he was going to do, just as she knew it would be troublesome.
“Stop me then!” He ran down the path to a flowerbed of red roses. “You better stop me!”
“Stop you from what?” she asked simply.
He pumped his eyebrows at her, then dove into the flowerbed, where he proceeded to start tearing the roses from the earth.
Octavia grimaced as she watched him. He laughed and shouted as he tore each rose up, tossing them across the garden, delighted by the anarchy he caused. Oh, how she wanted to stop him. Better, she wanted to punish him.
What good will that do? This child needs discipline, but that will only encourage him further to act out. What I need to do… he must be shown that such wanton acts of foolery do not affect me.
Another idea came to mind, and Octavia could not help but smile.
Silently, she stood and walked across the garden to where Aaron was still tearing up the roses. He saw her coming, grinning eagerly as he braced himself for retribution.
“Make room for me,” she said as she stepped into the flowerbed.
“What?” he balked.
“You heard me.” Octavia bent over, took hold of a gorgeous rose, and yanked it from the earth. Then, she did it again. “Once we finish destroying this flowerbed, we can move on to another. We have all day to completely deface this garden.” She pulled out another rose.
“You can’t do that!” Aaron cried.
She looked at him with confusion. “But you just did.”
“I…” He hesitated, bewilderment crossing his features. He looked from Octavia to the torn-out rose, utterly lost for words.
“What’s the matter?” she tore out another rose. “I thought you wanted to do this?”
“You… you’ll get in trouble!”
“From whom?”
“My father!” Aaron put his hands on his hips. “I’ll tell.”
She scoffed. “I thought you said he did not care? Besides, he put me in charge, remember? I can do as I like.” She put her hands on her hips and looked down at him. “Now, are we going to finish this or not?”
“I… the other governesses… they were different.”
“You mean boring,” she countered.
He laughed. “Yes. Boring.”
Slowly, Octavia noticed Aaron starting to relax. The initial urge to cause chaos, all that energy, left him, so what remained was a confused little boy who had no idea how to behave.
“How about this…” Octavia saw her moment and seized it. “Let us take a small break? We can play my game for five minutes, and then we can get back to tearing this garden apart.” She grinned wickedly. “Maybe the kitchen has some eggs we can toss at the house?”
“Really?” He brightened.
She shrugged. “Only if you beat me at my game. But I should warn you, I am a very good liar.”
“So am I!”
“Prove it…” She raised an eyebrow at him.
It was no surprise that Aaron took this challenge to heart. He hurried from the garden and rushed to the grassy patch where Octavia had just been sitting. Then he plonked himself down and looked eagerly at Octavia to join him.
She exhaled with relief. This would not cure Aaron of his disobedience.
Likely, come tomorrow, he would be back to right where he started.
But she was already beginning to get a better understanding of who he was and why he acted the way he did.
And now that she had him figured out, she was certain she could manipulate him.
“Fine,” she sighed as if upset. “I guess we can take a few minutes. You win.”
As she walked toward Aaron, Octavia got the sense that someone was watching her. She paused, tilted her head, and turned quickly. Her eyes rose up the house, finding a window on the upper level. And there, standing in the window, was none other than the Duke.
A cold shudder ran through her body. There was just something about the Duke that made Octavia feel…
uncomfortable. She was a woman who liked to be in control of her own life, to do as she wished and how she wished it, but the Duke’s presence was powerful and commanding and she felt relatively weak before him.
He owns me completely, he knows it, I know it too, and I am not sure how I feel about it… yet.
Nonetheless, she smiled and waved, which saw him quickly retreat as if it spooked him.
Octavia smiled to herself. Another small victory today, as she saw it. The son, the father, slowly she was starting to figure them both out.