Sari Robins - [Andersen Hall Orphanage 05] Read Online Free PDF Page B

receding so neatly as if in harmony.
    Felix was panting; Miss West looked as if she could go at it all day.
    The sticks locked and Miss West gave a push that sent Felix falling backward. The lad regained his balance and glared daggers at Miss West.
    Steele wondered where Miss West had learned to fence so well.
    Her sword arm was still extended when, with her other hand, she motioned for Felix to advance. The challenge in her movement was clear even from the window.
    Raising his sword, Felix lunged once more.
    Miss West knocked his stick aside and spun around him, landing a loud thwack to the boy’s behind.
    “Ow!” Felix yelped, grabbing his rear and scowling.
    “Saucy,” Steele murmured with admiration.
    “Impertinent!” Benbrook huffed. “How dare she?”
    Smiling, Steele pointed. “Look.”
    Miss West had lowered her sword and spoke quietly to the boys. They listened with rapt attention. Then each boy nodded vigorously.
    With great solemnity, Miss West stepped backward and raised her stick to her forehead.
    Straightening, the two boys did the same.
    She bowed.
    The boys followed suit.
    Miss West tossed aside her stick and turned, with her hand extended. Seth bounced forward, grasped her hand, and the two headed toward the house.
    After a moment, Felix tossed aside his stick and followed quickly at her heels.
    Scratching his chin, Steele nodded. “Now that’s a governess.” Mayhap this crazy scheme would work out.
    Now if only he could keep the boys alive until their next birthdays.

Chapter 4
    A bigail shook her head, wondering if she’d heard right. “What do you mean, I’m going to be sleeping here?” Her eyes traveled the expansive room decorated in Chippendale furnishings and gilded splendor. “These chambers are for the mistress of the house!”
    Carlton, Lord Steele’s butler, stood in the doorway rubbing a cloth over the four silver spoons in his hand. Each spoon was given meticulous attention before he moved on to the next. “Cursed first footman,” he muttered to himself. “Doesn’t he know I’m too busy for him to break his arm? This isn’t a charity hospital. Everyone must carry his weight.”
    Carlton studied a silver spoon, holding it this way and that in the light. “And now I’ve a dratted governess to deal with,” he muttered. “Had to hire a porter with a horse and cart to haul her trunk from her lodgings…”
    Sure enough, Abigail spied her trunk in the corner by the window. The old brown luggage was scratched and shoddy, with a long strip of leather holding it together since the lock had broken. It was hardlyworthy of the elegant furnishings of the chamber. “I cannot stay here. These rooms are not appropriate for a governess.”
    “It’s your duty to do as you’re told, Miss West. The sooner you grasp that, the easier this will be on you.”
    Abigail straightened. What the blazes does he mean by that? “I don’t understand.”
    Stabbing a spoon at her, Carlton glared. “It’s quite simple. Don’t expect that what you signed on for won’t change. Additional duties can be tacked onto whatever you thought you’d be doing no matter how…unpleasant or… unorthodox .”
    “Unorthodox?”
    A look of distaste washed over Carlton’s thin face as he resumed his polishing once more. “We live at the whim of the master. Lord Steele gets what Lord Steele wants.” Peering at her from the corner of his eye, his contemptuous gaze traveled from Abigail’s face down to her breasts. “And you are subject to his every desire.”
    A terrible taste soiled her mouth. Abigail swallowed. Could Steele know about Phineas and somehow fancy that he’d gotten himself a plaything along with a governess? Lord Steele had seemed so nice, but clearly he expected a level of compliance beyond anything she’d ever encountered before.
    Abigail bit her lip. Mayhap she was reaching unwarranted conclusions.
    “Where does Lord Steele sleep?” she asked.
    Carlton waved a spoon toward the large