Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Yvette found herself standing outside the Duke’s office. The door was closed, but she knew the Duke to be sitting on the other side, waiting for her. Just as she knew that the conversation they were sure to have would not be a pleasant one.
Do not let him push you around, Yvette. Do not let him make you feel small. He is the one who forced you to be here, and if he does not like how I do things, then he can find somebody else!
The words sounded brave in her head, but the thought of saying them terrified Yvette to her core. All day, she had thought back to their previous interaction, and every time that she did, her heart beat so loudly that she could hear it.
Some of it was fear, which was understandable. Lucinda, the cook, might have claimed that the Duke was a kind man, but Yvette had yet to see the proof. As far as she knew, he was mean and cold and a brute of the worst kind. If there was a softer side, he did well to hide it.
The other cause of her trembling body and her heavy breathing had nothing to do with terror.
When she thought back to the fountain, when she remembered his arm around her, Yvette’s heart rate spiked, excitement washed over her, and while it was not a sensation that she had ever felt before, that did not mean she failed to understand its meaning.
It is absurd! Likely, it has everything to do with my confusion around my new life… not knowing my place… my worry for Hugh also. Yes… it has nothing to do with the Duke. Why would it?
The words rang false, and even Yvette did not believe them.
Nonetheless, she pushed those thoughts down as deep as she could and then, with nothing to stop her, she knocked on the door.
“Come in,” the Duke’s deep voice rumbled from the other side.
Carefully, she opened the door. It creaked loudly, and she grimaced as she stepped inside. The office was darker than she expected, and with a lantern by the desk being the only source of true light, it added an ominous feeling to the small room; one that was weighted in tension.
The tension grew worse when she found the Duke sitting behind his desk.
He had his hands folded before him. His back was straight.
His expression was neutral and void of emotion.
The light from the lantern reflected in his blue eyes, and Yvette’s heart started to race as it had done by the fountain…
“You… you wished to see me?” she stammered.
“Come in,” he said. “And close the door behind you.”
She did as she was told. After which, she turned to face him.
“Closer, thank you,” he said simply. “There is no need to hover by the doorway. I won’t bite.”
A lump appeared in her throat, and she swallowed it as she edged closer to the desk. With each step taken, she could feel the Duke watching her, studying and assessing, no doubt judging also.
She needed to be strong. She needed to be assertive. And most of all, she needed not to do or say anything that would make things worse than they already promised to be.
“The reason that you are here.” He looked right at her, and those eyes burned with the reflection of the lantern’s flame. “Do you care to explain to me what you were doing with Hugh today?”
“We were playing a game of hide and seek.”
“Perhaps I need to be more specific. Why were you playing games? As I recall, I hired you to be my son’s governess, not his friend. Unless I am missing something.”
“You certainly are,” she said before she could help herself.
“Care to enlighten me?”
Yvette took a deep breath and looked right at the Duke, refusing to blink or look away. “I thought it was best for Hugh. We spent the first hour together reading, but I could tell that he was nervous, even frightened, and –”
“Frightened?” he cut her off. “What does he have to be frightened of?” She might have imagined it, but it looked to her that the notion of this upset the Duke. As strange as that was to consider.
“Everything,” she said. “This world is new to him. He does not understand it, just as he does not understand what you want from him. I thought –”
“I want him to be raised as my son,” he cut her off again, an edge to his voice now. “And I would expect you to help him understand this. What is confusing about that?”
“And I plan on it…” She controlled her breathing, already sensing the Duke’s frustration. “But I could tell this morning that he was on edge, and try as I might, I could not get him to concentrate.”
“Is that not your job?”
Yvette ground her teeth with anger. “Would you like for me to explain? Or are you going to keep interrupting me?”
The Duke’s eyes narrowed and Yvette held her breath. Again, she had spoken out of turn. As she was starting to learn about the Duke, he did not take well to being spoken down to or contradicted.
“Continue,” he said eventually, although she heard the edge to his voice.
“I need for Hugh to trust me,” she continued carefully.
“More than that, I need him to trust that I have his best interests at heart. He is not comfortable here. And why should he be? This world is new to him, and I want him to understand that there is nothing to be afraid of. I thought that for today, we would play games, just so he might understand that this is his home, that it is not a punishment but something he should enjoy and take comfort in.”
“And how long will that take?”
“I am not sure.”
The Duke studied her silently. She stood tall, trying her best not to look intimidated or frightened… even if she was. With the darkness of the room, with the intensity of his stare, she was once again reminded of the power of this man, and how little she had herself.
“I did not hire you to play games,” he said evenly. “I did not hire you as a babysitter. I hired you to instruct my son in the ways of the peerage. And if that is something that you are not able to do, perhaps I made a mistake asking you to be here.”
“You seem to forget that you did not hire me at all.”
“Excuse me?”
“I was not asked to be here,” she said, letting her anger grow through her. “I was told to be. This is not exactly a dream of mine.”
He scoffed. “Is that how you see it?”
“What is more, I do not appreciate being treated so… so rudely.” Yvette’s heart raced, and despite her best efforts, she could not stop herself from speaking.
“I am doing as I think is best for your son, and if you cannot see that, well…” She furrowed her brow at him.
“Then maybe this isn’t going to work how you hoped. ”
It was subtle, but a hint of a smirk touched his lips. “Are you threatening to quit?”
“Is it a threat if you so clearly want me to?”
He groaned and rubbed his eyes. “I do not have time for this, Miss Norleigh. And please, if you could stop acting like a petulant child, that would be greatly appreciated.”
“Excuse me!”
“The way you are behaving right now,” he said.
“Unable to take criticism. Unable to admit fault. Hugh is…” He hesitated.
“He is my son, I have asked you to teach him only, and rather than agreeing to my orders, you see fit to deny them. It is immature, and it makes me wonder if you are the right person to teach him at all.”
There was a flame burning deep within Yvette’s subconscious.
She had been able to control it until that point, knowing that to let it build and then explode would only lead to trouble.
But the Duke’s words… they were tinder to the flame, and it erupted and burst free from her before she considered the implications.
She had been told that the Duke meant well. She had been assured that he was kinder than he let on. So far, she failed to see it, and nothing he did or said suggested that he was anything more than the cold, uncaring, even cruel man that she had seen.
Yvette cared for Hugh. She wanted what was best. But she also refused to be spoken to like this. Especially when she had never asked for it in the first place!
“You are…” She clicked her tongue. “I cannot believe that you think it is fine to speak to people this way.”
“With the truth?”
“Ha!” She scoffed and then sneered. “Clearly, this is not going to work.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that if you want a governess to do your bidding, then hire one yourself. I am done.” With that, she turned and stormed from the room.
At least she meant to.
“Wait!” he called after her.
She ignored him, striding for the door. Her body shook from anger and adrenaline both, such that when she tried to open the door, she struggled to grip the handle properly.
It slipped in her hand, she cursed under her breath, and it was just as she finally managed to open the door that a hand snatched at her.
It took her free hand, and she was spun about.
“Oh!” she gasped.
The Duke stood right in front of her now. His hulking frame, so large that it blocked out the room entirely, seemed to smother her where she stood. Her eyes widened, she gasped, and when she realized that he still held her hand in his, her arm began to tingle.
She looked down at his hand, how big it was wrapped around her own, and while she knew that she should have felt afraid in the moment, that was far and removed from the shiver that ran down her spine…
“I’m sorry,” the Duke said, his voice softer now. “I should not have… please, do not go.”
She tore her eyes from her hand and looked up to meet the Duke’s eyes. When she did, she gasped at what she saw. Every time that she had looked at the Duke since meeting him, those eyes were distant, even cold. Now, for the first time, she saw something new in them.
It might have been her imagination, but she could have sworn that she saw… was that fear? Perhaps even piety…
“Let go of my hand,” she said with little real conviction.
“I should not have questioned you,” he said, his voice still soft, even unsure. “Nor should I have been so dismissive of your methods.”
“And yet you were.”