Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
The allure of the gardens had been dampened somewhat by Nathaniel’s presence. Charlotte had not intended to be goaded into such a personal conversation with him, but he seemed so convinced of everything she wanted to show him that he was wrong.
Still, he was so arrogant, he probably ignored everything she said.
She gently awoke Agatha, and the two of them returned to the house.
Agatha was surprised to see Brutus, but petted the dog happily.
Brutus was glad of the affection and walked in between the two women.
He peeled off when they reached the house, however, as he caught the scent of food being cooked in the kitchen.
Moments later, Agatha and Charlotte were greeted by Clara’s head peeking out of a doorway. She wore a mischievous smile and giggled.
“Can you teach me to play that game?” Clara asked.
“Of course,” Charlotte replied. They entered the side room.
“I’m going to visit Mary. I’d like to give her some words of wisdom,” Agatha said, leaving Charlotte and Clara alone.
Charlotte prepared the board and shuffled the cards while Clara inspected the pegs.
“Can we just start playing?” Clara asked.
“How can we start playing when you don’t know the rules?”
“I’ll learn them as I go.” Charlotte placed the deck of cards down. Clara reached out to pluck a card from the top of the deck, so Charlotte had to lay her palm on it.
“That will take longer. Just pay attention; otherwise, you’ll get confused.”
“But playing is fun!”
“I know it is, but it’s more fun when you know the rules. Then you can play properly.”
“Rules aren’t fun,” Clara pouted.
Charlotte sighed. “If you don’t want to learn the rules, then I’m afraid we can’t play at all.” She slid the cards closer to herself, as though she were going to pack them away. Clara’s face immediately twisted in panic.
“No, I’ll learn! I promise! How do you play?” She straightened her posture and blinked, adopting an innocent expression. She even drew her hands away from the cards until Charlotte felt confident to leave them uncovered.
But all this talk of rules did leave Charlotte with an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. It felt too close to the way that Nathaniel saw the world to be comfortable. She put this out of her mind, focusing instead on the game.
As Charlotte explained the rules, Clara’s gaze kept darting toward the card, but she kept her hands clasped together. They played a practice hand so that Clara could get used to things. She took a long time, for she had to remember her mathematics.
Charlotte did not spend as much time planning her hands as she did not want Clara to be disheartened. When the game began in earnest, Charlotte offered Clara help when she struggled. She also pointed out what Clara could have done differently, at least at first.
Clara’s attention drifted when Charlotte spoke about the different permutations of the hands.
“This isn’t as fun as it seemed,” Clara said.
Charlotte frowned. She thought back to when she had learned to play games with her father. What she remembered most wasn’t the rules explanations but rather the fun they had together.
“Very well, Clara, let us play. I won’t mention any rules again,” Charlotte said. Clara clapped her hands, and they continued playing. Charlotte bit her tongue whenever Clara made a minor mistake, and she did not try to educate Clara on how she might have played more optimally.
Clara enjoyed moving the pegs along the board best, and so she did this for herself and for Charlotte. There were times when Charlotte caught Clara attempting to move her own pegs forward more than she deserved.
“Clara,” Charlotte warned. Clara giggled and took her hands away, acting as though she hadn’t done anything untoward at all.
They managed to make it through an entire game, which Charlotte won of course. Clara didn’t seem to mind, however. It was refreshing to see that winning wasn’t what brought Clara happiness; it was the playing of the game. There was a lesson in that, Charlotte thought.
While Charlotte was shuffling the cards for another game, Clara jumped out of her chair when she heard scratching at the door.
“Hector!” she cried.
“Be careful,” Charlotte said as Clara seemed to fall from the chair. Clara reached up to the handle and groaned as she opened it. Hector slipped in, pressing his body through the narrow gap. Clara smiled widely and tried to hug Hector.
Hector was not in the mood to be hugged. He twisted away from Clara’s arms and darted toward the side of the room, which Clara took as an invitation to chase him. She turned her back on the door without thinking to close it.
“Clara, come back and sit down. I’m ready for the next game,” Charlotte said, but Clara had lost interest in cribbage now. What excitement could a cribbage board hold when compared to a cat racing around the room?
Clara was laughing so hard that it sounded like panting.
Her arms were flailing out, and she was so eager to catch Hector that her body tilted forward.
Hector seemed determined to remain free, and his legs scurried across the floor.
At one point, he slipped beneath a table, his eyes set on the door and freedom.
It seemed as though he regretted ever setting paw in this drawing room.
“Hector, let me catch you!” Clara cried out.
She ducked under the table, following him, but lost awareness of her arms. Either that, or she didn’t quite realize how big she had grown.
Her trailing arm caught the table. Charlotte heard the impact of Clara thudding into the wood, and then she saw the small table teeter.
It held a decorative vase, one that looked expensive. Then again, everything on the Duke’s estate would have been expensive. Charlotte’s eyes widened. She dropped the cards on the table, but it was too late. There was no way for her to get there in time. The vase smashed, shattering into fragments.
The loud crash startled Hector, who let out a high-pitched mew that sounded like a shriek.
His tail was upright, and he sprinted away.
Clara fell to the ground, looking over her shoulder, fear and shock etched on her face.
Charlotte was in the process of rising to comfort her when another presence entered the room.
It was Nathaniel.
“What’s going on in here?” his raised voice boomed with his expression sharp. He filled the doorway, and his furtive gaze darted about the room, quickly settling on the broken vase and Clara sitting on the floor.
It didn’t take a genius to deduce the recent events.
Charlotte could see Clara’s lower lip starting to tremble.
“Clara was chasing Hector around the room. It was an accident, and it’s entirely my fault. I should have kept a closer eye on them both.”
Nathaniel’s withering, disappointed gaze fell upon her.
“Yes, you should have. Games like that are not meant for rooms like this. Clara, if you wish to run around, then you should do so outside.” His words were clipped but controlled. There was a slight twitching in his eyes that suggested anger, but it was not unleashed.
He strode into the room and bent down to check on Clara.
“Are you wounded?” he asked, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. Clara, muted, shook her head, averting her gaze from him. Then, he turned toward the shattered fragments of the vase. He picked up two shards and sighed.
“I fear this is beyond repair. You really do need to be more careful.” He angled his gaze toward Clara. “I thought you knew the rules of the house. You are old enough to behave properly. You could have hurt yourself. Rules exist for a reason,” he scolded.
“I’m sorry,” Clara mumbled. Charlotte could see that the girl was close to tears. While Nathaniel wasn’t being cruel, his aura was imposing, and any child would have found him intimidating, especially when he returned to his full height. He must have looked like a giant to Clara.
“Now, I shall have to take you to your mother and have words with her. Behavior like this will not be tolerated in the future.”
“It’s not her fault. I think she knows that she made a mistake. She just got caught up in the excitement; that’s all. It’s no different from what Brutus did to me this morning.” Charlotte came toward Clara, holding out her hand. Clara shuffled behind Charlotte’s legs, peeking out beyond them.
“It is different. She is a child, not a dog. She’s capable of controlling her instincts.”
“She was only playing, Your Grace,” Charlotte said firmly but in a controlled manner, “and she has apologized. I don’t think there is a need to belabor the point.”
“I need to make sure she understands.”
“And she does. She was only playing with the cat as any child would. I don’t think it requires taking her to her mother. It was a simple accident, and Clara already knows not to do it again, don’t you, Clara?” Charlotte glanced down. Clara nodded, her eyes wide.
Nathaniel grimaced and then dropped to his knees. He righted the table and then picked up the broken pieces of glass, placing them on the table.
“I hope she does. I fear that some people might set a bad example for her.” His gaze flicked toward Charlotte, and he was happy to see her bristle.
“I think it’s only right that a child should have some freedom to play. This isn’t a school after all. It’s a home, and Clara’s liberty should not be restrained.”
“Her liberty is dependent upon the grace of her host, which in this case is me. If she does not learn to respect the rules of her environment, then it will only foster a rebellious spirit.”
“Giving her some leeway will not lead her to ruin.”
“Won’t it?” he countered with a savage raise of his eyebrow. “If she does not learn now, she never will. And then she may grow up believing in fantasies.”
“Clara can believe in anything she wants to believe in,” Charlotte replied, although it was clear that this argument was no longer about Clara.
“I believe I can talk to animals,” Clara said, but her voice was too weak to overpower those of Charlotte and Nathaniel.
“Would you have her running about the house without any care? The rules are in place to keep her safe.”
“If the rules are too strict, she will never learn to grow, and she will only end up resenting them. There needs to be some flexibility; otherwise, she will only want to push against it when she is older.”
“And we can both see how dangerous that is.”
Charlotte felt her throat tighten. Warmth simmered just beneath her skin. Every time she saw Nathaniel, there was a fuzzy sensation in her mind and a sense that nothing was quite right in the world. Her temper was quick to flare, and he seemed intent on stoking it.
The thought occurred to her that he might have been doing this purposefully, tormenting her and teasing her until she lost control of her emotions and responded in a most hostile manner. That would give him all the reason he needed to dismiss the family and prevent Mary from getting married.
Charlotte took a deep breath, feeling as though she had just worked out his plan. Everything was a test with the Iron Duke, and if he was so concerned with manners and propriety, then she would hold him accountable to the very standards he claimed to serve.
“I think we both want the best for Clara. We must remember that she is only a child and that any mistakes she makes are reflections of the way we care for her.” Charlotte bent low so that she met Clara’s eye level.
“Clara,” she continued, “I apologize for not looking after you better. I should have kept a closer eye on you. If I had, then I might have been there to catch the vase or guide you away from the table. But please try to be more mindful of your surroundings next time.”
“I will, and thank you. I’m sorry that we didn’t play another game of crib,” Clara said. Then, she turned to Nathaniel. “I’m sorry that I broke your vase.”
Nathaniel looked at the pieces he had gathered.
“You are forgiven. Just… don’t mention anything to mother. And don’t chase Hector into the house. Only do that outside,” he replied.
“Is there anything else you wish to add? Perhaps an apology of your own? You did raise your voice to her after all,” Charlotte asked, insisting with her eyebrows.
“I only raised my voice because I was concerned. I don’t believe I have anything to apologize for. Now, I suggest that you depart this room, so I can get someone to clean up this mess,” Nathaniel said.
Charlotte sensed that was the end of the discussion, and for Clara’s sake, she obeyed the Duke’s command. She placed her hands on Clara’s shoulders and guided her out of the room.
“I didn’t mean to make you upset,” Clara said.
“You didn’t. It was just an accident. These things happen all the time. Why, just today I fell over in the garden.”
“You did?” Clara asked.
Charlotte proceeded to tell her the story of Brutus. The girl’s worried face shifted to an amused expression as Charlotte described how she fell. Thankfully, she wasn’t as fragile as a vase.
Her mind turned back to Nathaniel, and she couldn’t help but wonder what he would be like if he allowed his control to slip just a little bit. After all, he did show genuine concern for Clara, and she believed him when he said he was only being strict in order to protect her.
The problem was that he took it to such an extreme. He seemed to mistake order for happiness. Would he laugh more if he allowed himself to relax? She tried to imagine what it would sound like for him to guffaw loudly, but failed.
It seemed like an impossible mission indeed. She feared for the woman who would eventually become his wife. If it was impossible to make him laugh, then how would anyone make him love?