couldn’t quite read passed over Allinson’s eyes before he spoke again. “Very well. Prove to me your progressive methods will bear results, and I’ll revisit the matter after a period of a month.”
He continued to gaze at me as I registered I was being put on probation. I must
prove my worth by teaching the boys something measurable, quickly.
“You may go now,” Sir Richard prompted.
I leaped up from the chair. “Yes. Yes, sir. You can count on me.” I bobbed my
head and backed out of his presence as if he were royalty. “Thank you for this
opportunity. I won’t fail you.”
“That remains to be seen.” He stared at me even harder until it seemed impossible
he wasn’t looking right into my head and seeing the truth about who I was. “If you feel inclined to fall in with the savages again, I recommend you restrain yourself.”
The straight line of his lips trembled slightly. Was that a smile caught in the
corners? Just in case it was, I smiled back, though I continued to nod and agree. “Yes, sir.”
For a mere fraction of a moment, our gazes locked as if in a silent wrestling duel.
I felt the power of his presence invade me. A low throbbing in my groin coaxed my cock to stiffness. No. Not that. Not here.
I hurried out of the study, but those glowing eyes stayed with me. I couldn’t erase Allinson’s countenance from my mind. He’d been far easier on me and more forthcoming about his sons than I’d expected, while still maintaining an aura of reserve. This man of contradictions intrigued me, and I wanted to know more about him.
Not that I’d be seeing much of Sir Richard around the schoolroom. Even a lowly
slummer like me understood the aristocracy’s relationship to their children was different than that of the lower classes. Children remained in their own area and interacted with their parents only once or twice a day. Nothing like the sort of household where I’d grown up, in which we all piled on top of each other in a very confined space.
When my father and three of my siblings were felled by influenza in one grand,
crushing blow, my family had gotten much smaller and life became tougher and colder.
Years later, my remaining sister married and moved north, taking Mum with her, and I’d remained in London with the man who’d educated me above my station. No more slums and their diseases after I evolved into Graham Cowrie.
Now I’d moved up again, from my typesetting job at the print shop to a teaching
position on a grand country estate. I wouldn’t jeopardize that. From here on out, I’d do what was expected with the boys and not spare so much as a lascivious thought for the master of the house—no matter how much I’d felt a flash of something earthy shooting back and forth between us.
It was time to take my role of tutor seriously and earn my way to an even better
position in the future.
Chapter Four
By the time I returned to the schoolroom, I’d lost my students again, but Whitney
and Clive had left behind pages printed in childish hand. Whit’s letters were round balloons, Clive’s were cramped and spidery, and the stories contained in several paragraphs were as different as the twins. They might share some elemental bond,
perhaps even the ability to transmit thoughts to one another, but they were definitely two very different boys.
The corps reeched out skeltal fingers to grab the grave rober and pull him into the grave to meet his dume. The end! Whit’s just desserts to a man who’d planned to steal diamonds from a dead woman ended with a jaunty flare and a very fat exclamation point.
The teecher disaperred and no one ever new what happened to him. The pupels
rejoyced over tea. Clive’s sinister ending warned me what might be in store for me if I remained here.
“Lovely, children.” I gathered the papers and put them in a notebook. We would
have to work on correcting spelling at some point, but right then, since I’d missed breakfast, I was
He continued to gaze at me as I registered I was being put on probation. I must
prove my worth by teaching the boys something measurable, quickly.
“You may go now,” Sir Richard prompted.
I leaped up from the chair. “Yes. Yes, sir. You can count on me.” I bobbed my
head and backed out of his presence as if he were royalty. “Thank you for this
opportunity. I won’t fail you.”
“That remains to be seen.” He stared at me even harder until it seemed impossible
he wasn’t looking right into my head and seeing the truth about who I was. “If you feel inclined to fall in with the savages again, I recommend you restrain yourself.”
The straight line of his lips trembled slightly. Was that a smile caught in the
corners? Just in case it was, I smiled back, though I continued to nod and agree. “Yes, sir.”
For a mere fraction of a moment, our gazes locked as if in a silent wrestling duel.
I felt the power of his presence invade me. A low throbbing in my groin coaxed my cock to stiffness. No. Not that. Not here.
I hurried out of the study, but those glowing eyes stayed with me. I couldn’t erase Allinson’s countenance from my mind. He’d been far easier on me and more forthcoming about his sons than I’d expected, while still maintaining an aura of reserve. This man of contradictions intrigued me, and I wanted to know more about him.
Not that I’d be seeing much of Sir Richard around the schoolroom. Even a lowly
slummer like me understood the aristocracy’s relationship to their children was different than that of the lower classes. Children remained in their own area and interacted with their parents only once or twice a day. Nothing like the sort of household where I’d grown up, in which we all piled on top of each other in a very confined space.
When my father and three of my siblings were felled by influenza in one grand,
crushing blow, my family had gotten much smaller and life became tougher and colder.
Years later, my remaining sister married and moved north, taking Mum with her, and I’d remained in London with the man who’d educated me above my station. No more slums and their diseases after I evolved into Graham Cowrie.
Now I’d moved up again, from my typesetting job at the print shop to a teaching
position on a grand country estate. I wouldn’t jeopardize that. From here on out, I’d do what was expected with the boys and not spare so much as a lascivious thought for the master of the house—no matter how much I’d felt a flash of something earthy shooting back and forth between us.
It was time to take my role of tutor seriously and earn my way to an even better
position in the future.
Chapter Four
By the time I returned to the schoolroom, I’d lost my students again, but Whitney
and Clive had left behind pages printed in childish hand. Whit’s letters were round balloons, Clive’s were cramped and spidery, and the stories contained in several paragraphs were as different as the twins. They might share some elemental bond,
perhaps even the ability to transmit thoughts to one another, but they were definitely two very different boys.
The corps reeched out skeltal fingers to grab the grave rober and pull him into the grave to meet his dume. The end! Whit’s just desserts to a man who’d planned to steal diamonds from a dead woman ended with a jaunty flare and a very fat exclamation point.
The teecher disaperred and no one ever new what happened to him. The pupels
rejoyced over tea. Clive’s sinister ending warned me what might be in store for me if I remained here.
“Lovely, children.” I gathered the papers and put them in a notebook. We would
have to work on correcting spelling at some point, but right then, since I’d missed breakfast, I was
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