Chapter 15 #2
“You will never get a warning with those two.” Henrietta shook her head as she looked back down at her book. “I swear Uncle Joseph is more like a child than Gwen is. It’s probably why they get along so much.”
Caroline couldn’t argue with that. Joseph had always been young at heart and liked to play the fool.
It made everyone laugh, and he was certainly popular with children.
No matter who the child was, Joseph was willing to play with them just to make them laugh.
It had resulted in him returning home soaking wet or covered in mud, which his parents weren’t impressed about.
Caroline thought it was amusing; he was braver than she was.
Picking up her gum elastic, she rubbed out the line that was out of place and corrected it. Then she settled back under her parasol, secured to the back of her chair, and sighed.
“I swear it’s warmer today than it was last week. I’m beginning to think we should go inside.”
“I don’t think we’ll be able to get Gwen to sit down if we do that,” Henrietta pointed out. “It’s hot in the house, even with the windows open.”
She was right. While they were doing their lessons earlier, the schoolroom had been stifling.
Caroline had opened the curtains, but it just made them grumpy and sluggish.
So they had given up on what they were learning and went outside.
Maybe it would be cooler later in the day, and they could return to it.
Although Caroline was getting hot and bothered watching Joseph chase Gwen around the pond.
How neither of them had fallen in was beyond her.
It just had to be Jennifer’s day off as well, so Caroline had to keep a closer eye on the younger sister.
And it felt like she had to have eyes in the back of her head when there wasn’t another person helping her out.
She was beginning to appreciate Jennifer’s help even more now.
“When is David going to get back?” Henrietta asked, turning a page in her book as she shifted further into the shade under her parasol. “He went out earlier, and I forgot what time he said he would return.”
“I have no idea. He just said he was going out to lunch with someone but didn’t give any extra details.” Caroline shrugged. “He’s not going to be telling me everything. I’m the governess, not his wife.”
Henrietta giggled, and Caroline frowned.
“What was so funny about that?”
“You said ‘wife’.”
“And how is that amusing?”
Henrietta winked, giving her a mischievous grin.
“Well, you two do interact like husband and wife at times. It’s quite sweet to watch, actually.”
Caroline sat up.
“What? I don’t interact with your brother like that!”
“Are you sure? If someone mistook you two for a married couple, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised. And you do look like a good-looking pair.”
Caroline could feel her face getting warm, which wasn’t from the sun.
Had she and David been behaving in a manner that could be misconstrued?
Nobody else had said anything about it. Then again, the only people they had come into contact with since Caroline started working for David six weeks ago were her parents, Joseph and Eleanor. Nobody had said anything about it.
Now Henrietta had made her paranoid. She felt like she wanted to squirm and covered it up by glaring at the girl.
“You shouldn’t be saying things like that, Henrietta.”
“Well, it’s just what I see. It might look completely innocent to everyone else.” But from the sly look on Henrietta’s face, she believed otherwise. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’s not that bad.”
Caroline didn’t know about that. She was glad they hadn’t actually been out to see many people, mostly because David had been away looking after his other estates.
There hadn’t been much opportunity to go and visit their neighbours, although there was a pile of dinner invitations piling up in the foyer.
Hadleigh had decided to leave them be, and they would be dealt with eventually, and Caroline wasn’t about to look through them all, either. That was something David needed to do.
It made Caroline wonder what was going to happen when David started bringing his sisters around other people. Of course, there were social settings where they wouldn’t be invited, but the few that allowed Henrietta and Gwen to be there would be a place where they were looked at with great scrutiny.
Neither of them would be very comfortable; Caroline recalled them from when she was the same age. You could get into trouble for breathing incorrectly at a particular person’s party.
Thankfully, Caroline wouldn’t need to go with them.
David had mentioned before that if she didn’t wish to chaperone his sisters, then he would find someone else, mainly Jennifer Drew.
Caroline appreciated that; while she was proud of what she was doing for herself, she didn’t like being looked down on.
And there would be plenty of whispers about how she became a servant.
She was glad to be out of Society’s eye and happy that she had found something worthwhile with her time that made her feel like she was doing some good. Plus, she was fond of Henrietta and Gwen. The two of them brightened her day.
Just like David. Being around him brightened her day as well.
A movement out of the corner of her eye had Caroline looking around, and she sat up when she saw David coming out of the house. He was back and looked like he was in a good mood, his smile warming when he caught her gaze. There was something different about him, and she couldn’t quite place it.
What had he been up to?
Before she had time to think about it, there was a squeal and a splash. Caroline turned and saw that Gwen had fallen into the pond, Joseph jumping in after her.