The Impossible Governess Read Online Free PDF Page B

inquiring whether Marissa took ill, I must say the concern you show your niece is most touching.”
    He did not hide his annoyance at the sarcasm in her voice.  “I take offense at your presumptuousness.”
    “Then I hope you will excuse me.”
    She neither looked nor sounded contrite.  He noted Georgeanne’s pressed lips as she leveled a contemptuous stare on him.  He was of a mind to put her in her place, then remembered her remarkable success in controlling Marissa’s outbursts.  “Suppose you explain yourself, Miss Forsythe.”
    He watched her squirm slightly in her chair.  It was only correct she be ill at ease.  After all, she was the one in the wrong. 
    “I have found it does no good to fuss over Marissa’s tantrums.  She is less likely to carry on if left alone,” Georgeanne said. “She knows I refuse to listen to her screams or watch her thrash and kick about.  Once she understood that, she quit throwing fits.”
    Lord Raynor pondered her reasoning for a moment.  “But you threw a basin of water on the child?”
    “You left me little choice,” Georgeanne shot back.
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “I had no alternative.  Indeed, you demanded I do something.  I could hardly beat her—“
    “I should hope not,” he interjected forcefully.  “Though I suppose a judicious spanking once in a while may not be out of order.”
    She gave him a quelling look.  “I deduced if Marissa were distracted, she would quiet down.  Perhaps I should tell you how the idea came about?”
    Raynor sat down and gave her a nod. “Pray continue, Miss Forsythe.”
    “When I was a little girl, there was an incident one afternoon in the hamlet of Yattendon, where Mama had taken me to buy ribbons.  A boy was there, an idiot born to one of the farmers.  He was about twelve years old and usually did a decent job working on the farm with his father.  Anyway, it was market day, and he had come with his family to sell their produce.  I do not know quite what happened to set him off,” she said, a frown creasing her smooth brow. “But suddenly, he started stomping his feet and screaming obscenities right in the middle of the village square.”
    “Not surprising behavior from an idiot,” Raynor responded.
    “He really was a very good lad normally, you see.”
    “Yes, but I fail to comprehend how any of this concerns my niece.”  Raynor was impressed by her defense of the demented boy and liked her more for it.  But he saw no connection between Marissa and her story.
    “That is just it,” Georgeanne said.  “No one could do anything.  He was so big and strong.  But his father ran to the village pump and filled a bucket with water.  He tossed it on Judd, and the boy simply stopped.  There was no more yelling, or kicking, and he was his docile self once again.  Later, when I was telling Papa about the incident, he explained how some people lose control of themselves, and all they really need is a jolt to make them aware of their surroundings.  At any rate, it worked on Judd and Marissa.”
    “I take exception to you classifying my niece in the same category with a village idiot.”  His voice was low, indignant.
    “Oh, but I never meant . . . oh dear.  What I am saying is that Marissa only wanted one thing and she could think of nothing else.  All I did was make her, well, wake up.  It worked, did it not?” she asked in a tiny defensive voice.
    “Yes.  Yes, it did.  And I admit that somehow your unorthodox methods seem to be effective in curtailing my niece’s tantrums.  But in the future, I would prefer you leave Marissa alone in a room to tossing a basin of water over her.”
    “Of course, my lord, but you would not let me.”
    “I realize I was wrong to interfere.  It will not happen again,” Lord Raynor said irritably.
    She tried not to fidget, but her anxiety grew as the silence lengthened, and Lord Raynor still did not speak.  His intent study of her made Georgeanne extremely