Chapter 34

“Miss Stella Desford,” announced the maid before stepping away from the door.

A young woman with chestnut hair stepped into the drawing-room. She wore a deep maroon, high collared and full-sleeved silk dress. There were golden buttons at the front of her dress.

“Good morning, Stella, I am so pleased to have you join me for breakfast,” Marceline greeted the young woman, who was two years younger than the women present in the room.

Eve watched Marceline stand up and walk towards the woman to greet her with an airy kiss on each side of her face.

“How could I refuse the invitation by you?” The woman softly laughed, her voice sounding sweet and her manners refined. “I hope I am not late.”

“Never too late. The seamstress is here, just as I promised. But she can wait until we finish our breakfast,” Marceline offered a warm smile.

The young woman’s eyes then shifted to look at Eve, whom she had never met or seen before. Stella asked, “Who is this?”

Marceline’s eyebrows rose as if she had forgotten about Eve’s presence and introduced them, “Stella, this is Genevieve Barlow, Allie’s new governess. Miss Barlow, this is Stella Desford. One of my dearest friends.”

Eve stood up from her seat and offered a polite bow, “Greetings, milady.”

Stella didn’t return the greetings, instead stared at Eve as if she had never seen a person before. She finally replied, “Greetings.”

The young lady then turned to Marceline and asked in a not so quiet voice, “Since when have you started to have tea with the governess?”

Marceline replied, “Miss Barlow is not feeling well, and I thought it would be right to have her drink some tea before she heads back to Meadow as it is far from here.”

“You don’t say,” Stella looked appalled by the mention of the town’s name. “I don’t think I have ever met anyone this close from there. I am so sorry,” she placed her hand on Marceline’s arm to comfort her.

“Don’t be! Miss Barlow is an excellent governess,” Marceline replied with a smile.

And though Eve was right there, the two young ladies didn’t stop discussing. In a whisper that still reached Eve’s ears, Stella commented, “No matter how excellent, how could you let her enter the mansion? If you need recommendations, I will be more than happy to assist you with it.”

Eve didn’t see any reason to stay back in the room, and she decided to step out so that Ms. Desford could discuss about her to the heart’s content.

Marceline internally smiled at Stella’s words but said, “Let us have breakfast. I am famished.”

“Please don’t tell me this is the breakfast,” replied Stella.

It took Eve a second more to realise what Stella was speaking about. Marceline laughed, “Of course not. Breakfast is being served in the dining room. We don’t drink from our governesses.”

“That is true,” murmured the woman, “You don’t drink from them but kill them,” she laughed in humour.

“Don’t be silly,” responded Marceline, before turning to look at Eve. For a moment, Eve believed that Marceline was about to ask her to join them, but instead, the young miss of the mansion said, “I hope you feel better now, Miss Barlow.”

Eve offered a slight bow and watched the two women step out of the room. Alone in the room, she let out a sigh of relief. Lady Stella’s words didn’t bother her.

As she hadn’t sneezed in the last couple of minutes, she decided to look at how Allie was doing. In Eve’s eyes, the job of a governess wasn’t just to teach etiquette or words from the books but also to make sure the child was doing well.

She walked through the corridors, but before she could reach the piano room, she heard Lady Annalise’s voice coming from one of the rooms.

Eve’s eyebrows knit together, and she was going to walk past the room when she heard,

“You cannot do one thing right, can you? Haven’t I told you not to come outside?” She scolded.

Through the door that was left slightly ajar, Eve saw Lady Annalise standing in front of her daughter, Allie.

The little girl’s head was bowed, her hands clutching the sides of her dress. Lady Annalise looked furious, glaring at her daughter, who didn’t dare to lift her head.

“I am sorry, mother,” came the meek voice of the girl.

“Are you? If you had listened to my words, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place. You bring such disappointment to me. Yet, here we are again. Was it you who asked Vincent to hire a governess?” Lady Annalise questioned angrily, and Allie quickly shook her head. “You better hope it is true.”

Allie looked like she was about to cry, but she was trying to hold it in.

“Vincent is busy spoiling the family name, and you are doing the same, Allie,” Lady Annalise gritted her teeth, a look of pure disappointment spread on her face. “If people were to know what happened, they would only look down at you. Do you understand why I ask you to stay in?” the woman raised her voice, and the girl shivered.

Eve, who stood outside, continued to hear Lady Annalise scold her daughter. Somewhere, she had turned worried that the woman would hit the girl, but thankfully she didn’t.

Allie nodded to what Lady Annalise said.

“Forgive me mother,” Allie sounded regretful, and it made Eve want to hug the girl.

When Eve heard light footsteps in the corridor, she decided to leave this place and head to the piano room.

“You are a Moriarty, and you should know how to deal with people. Especially ones who are beneath us,” the woman harrumphed. “Where is the governess?”

Allie shook her head to let her mother know that she didn’t know.

“At least the governess is smart,” remarked Lady Annalise, glad to know that the human hadn’t showed up at the mansion today. This only meant that the lowly human finally decided to accept her offer and wouldn’t be showing up here anymore. “I will find you a better governess, someone who will suit not only our standards of the Moriartys but also teach you to stay away from people we don’t mix with.”

At her mother’s words, the little girl stood quietly without raising her head.

In the piano room, Eve stepped near the studying table where books had been placed for reading. A book was opened, and the quill had been left to dry, which hadn’t been placed back in the ink bottle.

She walked up to the rack of books that covered an entire side of the wall. She pulled one book out of the lot, flipping through the pages, when she heard the room door open.

When Eve turned around, she noticed Allie enter the room.

Allie’s eyes slightly lit up on seeing Eve standing in the room. Because of Eve’s absence and her mother’s words, she believed that the human had quit being her governess.

“Did you not receive my note, Miss Allie? I asked your sister to pass it earlier as I was feeling a little under the weather,” Eve explained to the little girl, who shook her head. “I am feeling much better now. How are you doing?” She asked, only to receive a stare from the little one.

Little children who belonged to the wealthy families often were not allowed to express their emotions openly. They were taught to grow up quickly. Eve noticed how Allie controlled her emotions, where the pain of rejection and sorrow didn’t surface on her face.

Eve looked at Allie with a bright smile and asked, “How about we do something different today, Miss Allie? After all, you don’t learn everything from the books.”

The little girl blinked, not knowing what Eve meant.

“Let us go out,” Eve proposed, and the little girl quickly shook her head. “I mean step in the back garden and not into the town. I am sure that we will have less viewers there. Could you show me the way, Miss Allie?”

Allie gave it a little thought before nodding.

While Eve and Allie headed towards the back garden, back inside the mansion, Lady Annalise walked in the corridors in an excellent mood. With the thought that she wouldn’t have to deal with the matter of the lowly status governess.