The Traveling Teacher Read online

  Taylor pushed her chair out to do it, thinking she would rather kick the girl in the teeth. She couldn’t be over twenty, and she seemed to think it was fine to boss everyone around her.

  “Wait,” Lord Twigg said, looking at Taylor. “If Jane wants to interrupt our breakfast and invite herself, it’s the least she can do to go to the kitchen and ask for her own place setting.”

  Taylor tried to hide a smile. Obviously, Harry wasn’t as enamored of Jane as she was of him. That was good news for Taylor, who wanted to already be a part of the family. She found she was extremely attracted to Harry. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes. She felt as if she could drown in his eyes.

  Jane reluctantly got up and walked to the kitchen. While she was gone, Harry took the opportunity to say something to Taylor. “She does not get to order you around. She doesn’t order the boys around. She is an unwelcome guest in our home every time she comes. Please don’t humor her by doing as she says.”

  Taylor nodded. “I will remember that.” And she would. In fact, she might help the boys devise new tricks on the woman if she proved to be as insufferable as she seemed she would be.

  James and Henry exchanged a look. “We don’t like her,” James finally said.

  Harry shook his head. “I think her real problem is that no one does. No one. Ever.”

  Taylor hid a smirk as Jane came back to the table, carrying her own plate, glass, and silverware. “Your staff wouldn’t even set my place setting down. You really need to find better help.”

  “I’ve instructed them not to cater to your whims, Jane. You upset the entire household when you come over, demanding whatever you want.” Harry’s voice was stern, something Taylor hadn’t yet heard from him.

  Jane smiled sweetly at Harry, and Taylor could see perfectly that the girl thought they were all but married. “I shall endeavor to do better. Imagine how things will be when we marry and the servants have to treat me as their mistress, then.” She shook her head. “They won’t know what hit them.”

  “We’re not getting married, Jane. I’m not ready to remarry.”

  “Oh, posh! You’ve been a widower for more than six years. It’s time you moved on and married again. Perhaps someone will strike your fancy soon.” When Jane said someone, it was obvious she meant that it would be her.

  Harry sighed before turning his attention to Taylor. “Have you determined what you’ll be teaching the boys yet?”

  Taylor nodded. “I have. I want to start our day with a healthful walk around the grounds. I do think walking is the best thing we can do to keep ourselves in our best shape. During the walk, I plan to discuss with the boys things they would like to learn about. We’ll do reading, penmanship, and arithmetic every day, but I would like to include some things that would interest them.”

  James looked at her for a moment. “Really?”

  “Yes, really.” Taylor smiled at the boy. It was obvious the boys’ preferences had never been taken into account by a governess. She wanted to change that.

  Their food arrived a minute later, which stifled the conversation, but they all filled their plates and began to eat. As soon as breakfast was over, Taylor jumped to her feet. “Let’s go for that walk, boys.” Taylor usually started her day with a forty-five-minute run on the treadmill, and she hoped she would have the boys running soon. As they walked, she asked them questions. “James, if you could choose one thing in the world you are curious about, what would it be?” She expected the answer to have to do with wildlife in the area, but she was happy to teach them anything.

  “I want to know why twins are born.”

  Taylor nodded, wondering how much the boys knew about how babies were made. She’d find some way to explain it without explaining sex to them. That might break her mind. “All right. That’s a very good question. What about you, Henry?”

  Henry shrugged. “I like to learn about birds and fish and stuff.”

  “We can make that happen.” Thankfully Taylor had remembered to wear her slippers that morning. She really hoped they didn’t run into anything she couldn’t walk through with them on. “What do you boys like to do in your spare time?”

  James frowned at her. “Why are you trying to learn so much stuff about us?” He seemed skeptical.

  “Because I care about your interests, and if I can find a way to incorporate them into our studies, then I will.”

  Henry looked at her. “We like to build things.”

  “Like from blocks?”

  James shook his head. “No, real things.”

  “Should we show her?” Henry asked.

  “Maybe.” James stopped walking in front of Taylor, and he looked up at her. “If we show you something, will you promise not to tell anyone? Even Father?”

  Taylor knew there was only one way she could answer that. “Yes, of course.” She needed the boys to trust her and like her so she could stick around long enough for Harry to notice her as something more than a means to an end, but more than that, she genuinely liked the boys. She wanted them to like her as well.

  “This way!” Henry said, leading her deep into the wooded area at the back of the property. He finally stopped in front of a small playhouse. “Here’s what we like to do.”

  Taylor looked over the playhouse, built from sticks and small scraps of wood. “Where did you get your building materials?” she asked, her mind already racing for a way to include building things in their schoolwork.

  James shrugged. “We found them lying all over the woods. I think people just throw stuff here when they’re done.”

  “You boys did a fine job! I wonder what you could do if you had decent materials to work with and not just cast-offs.”

  “We could build a mansion,” Henry said, straightening up. His eyes danced with the idea of doing something so exciting.

  “Would you mind if I asked your father for some materials for your schoolwork? We could spend an hour a day researching different building techniques and then seeing how they worked for you.”

  Looking at her with a wary eye, James asked, “Why would you do that?”

  “I want you to learn the most you possibly can. You’ll do better if you have an interest in the subject and a way to make it work for you. I can teach you to add two plus two, but what will it matter to you if you don’t see a way to use it in your lives? If I want to teach you two plus two, I need to ask you how many boards you’d have if you had two and Henry had two.”

  Henry nodded. “You can ask Father, but I don’t think he’ll like it.” He looked down at his feet, almost as if he was ashamed of his hobby.

  “Oh, I have a feeling he will.” Taylor looked over toward the house, wondering if Jane was still there with him. She hadn’t seen the other girl leave.

  When they got back to the house, it was already lunchtime. “I think after today, if the weather is nice, we’ll do half a morning outside and half a morning inside. Then in the afternoon, we’ll do the same. You won’t get quite so bored that way.” Mentally she added that the first quarter of the morning would be in, then half out, and then a quarter in. She could do the same in the afternoon, and the boys would do better with their studies that way. From her experience teaching boys, she knew she had to do everything she could to keep their attention.

  At lunch, they sat down with Harry.

  “How did your studies go this morning?” he asked the boys.

  “We just walked around outside and talked,” James told her. “It was fun.”

  “That won’t be your plan every day, will it, Miss Bally?”

  “Not at all. We’ll do that some, but the majority of our time will be spent learning. We’ll do as much learning outside as we can.” She avoiding looking at the boys when she said that, because she knew they would reveal how they were feeling if she did.

  After lunch, the three of them went up to the schoolroom. “I need to know how much you can read so far.”

  James sighed. “The other governesses wanted us to start learning
by saying our alphabet. We never went beyond that.”

  Taylor thought for a moment. “I know a song that teaches the sounds of the letters. Would you like to learn it?”

  “No, but we have to learn to read. Father said.” Henry seemed disappointed that they were back in the nursery.

  “You will. I promise. Let’s learn my song, and then we’ll walk around the grounds singing it.” She carefully taught them the song from the movie Letter Factory, which was a series of movies to teach children how to read. A friend of hers had let her son watch it, and by the time he was three, he was a strong reader. With no other work! She’d been amazed.

  After learning the song, she and the boys walked around the grounds singing. She found a small out-of-the-way place where there was a fallen log, and finally, she sat on the log. “I think this would be a good place for us to build a structure to learn in, don’t you?

  “But we don’t know how to really build,” James said. “How do you expect us to make something we can learn in?”

  “With proper materials and the things I’ll figure out about building for you, you’ll be able to do it in no time. I just need to talk to your father this evening.”

  The boys looked at each other before looking back at Taylor.

  “We agree,” James finally said.

  Taylor had heard many times about twins being able to communicate without words, but this was the first sign she’d seen it first-hand. “Hopefully by next week, a good portion of your day will be spent building,”

  James looked at her strangely. “Thank you.”

  “For what?” Taylor knew what she was doing was just being a good teacher, but the boys seemed to think it was more.

  “For learning about us and helping us do the things we want to do.”

  Taylor smiled. “Your interests will change as you grow, but for as long as I’m your governess, whatever those interests are, they will be part of your school day.”

  “No one has ever treated us like we’re real people except Father and Maude. I’m not sure why you are.” Henry looked at her curiously.

  “A teacher’s job is to adapt the lessons to the interest of the pupils. I’m only teaching two boys, not a classroom full of people. If I can’t cater to your interests, then I’m no kind of teacher at all.” Looking at the position of the sun, she could see that their school day was mostly over and it was time to return to the manor house. “Let’s sing our letter song one more time as we walk back to the house, and then we’re done learning for the day.”

  The boys both started singing without any more prompting than that, and she couldn’t wait to talk to Lord Twigg about what she’d learned about the boys that day. She’d have to be careful not to mention the house the boys had built for themselves, but she would definitely talk about getting materials for them.

  The boys went into their playroom while Taylor went to her bedchamber. She sat down on her bed and read one of her favorite Regency romances, where a lowly governess had ended up married to an earl. It just seemed fitting.

  Immediately after supper, Taylor went to Lord Twigg. “May I speak with you privately, my lord?”

  He nodded, leading her down the hall toward his study again. He couldn’t help but wonder what she wanted to talk about. The boys had seemed to really warm up to her as the day had gone on, and he’d been thrilled by her attitude toward them. After sitting behind his desk, he gave her his full attention. “What can I do for you, Miss Bally?”

  “I spent the day learning about the boys’ interests as well as teaching them the sounds of each letter.”

  “I heard you singing with them as you walked around the grounds. I’m pleased some learning was done, because I frankly wasn’t certain if the boys could be taught.”

  Taylor smiled. “I promise you they can be taught. They are bright boys.” She took a deep breath, trying to find the right words for her next request. “Your boys have expressed a real interest in learning to build. How would you feel about getting them some materials they can use to build us a schoolroom on the grounds?”

  “Back where you were sitting on the fallen log today?” he asked. He’d gotten little work done himself as he’d followed his boys and their governess around. “I supposed if I provide them building materials, they’ll be able to do better than the mess they made of their playhouse.”

  She smiled. “You know about that?”

  “Of course I do. They think they’re running all over the grounds with no supervision, but there is always an adult following them. Always.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. How would you feel about providing building materials?”

  He frowned, watching her. She claimed to be from the future, but there was nothing common about her that he could see. Perhaps she could suit him in another way. “You are certain you are not married?”

  “I don’t think that’s something I would easily forget, my lord. I have never married, and I supported myself as a teacher back in New York.”

  “You truly enjoy my boys, don’t you?”

  “Yes, of course, I do. I love children, and your boys are just rambunctious. They need an outlet for their energies, and I believe the building will help them. We’ll divide their school day up into inside and outside, when the weather is fine. Then they’ll be able to learn as they should when the opportunity presents itself.”

  “Why don’t you marry me?”

  Taylor’s jaw dropped. She’d known this would happen eventually, but they were talking about the way she would be teaching his children. Why would he propose in the middle of that? “I beg your pardon?”

  “I know this seems sudden, and it really is since I just met you yesterday. I have learned in the past few months that not just any woman will be able to put up with my boys, and I certainly don’t want Jane to keep coming around.” He shook his head. “Jane’s older brother and I were very close before he went off to war and died. For some reason, Jane now thinks I should marry her, and I have no interest. You marrying me would serve a two-fold purpose. We would get Jane to stay away, and the boys would have a mother who has the ability to relate to them and care for them.”

  “Would you hire another governess, or would I continue with that role?”

  “Everything would continue as it is, with you sharing my bed, of course.”

  She swallowed hard. He wanted her to share his bed just like that? The man had lost his mind. Still . . . she’d come back in time, planning to marry. Planning to share a man’s bed. Why not? It was a little sooner than she’d expected, but that wasn’t a bad thing. “How soon would you want to marry?”

  “Does that mean you’re considering my proposal?”

  Taylor nodded, wondering why she was even thinking of agreeing to his nonsense, but she was. She really was.

  “I would want to marry in three days. I’ll get a special license, and that’s the soonest it would be legal for us to marry with a special license. I’m not waiting the three weeks for bans to be read.”

  She took a deep breath, looking at him. “Yes, I’ll marry you, but only if the boys like the idea. If they’re against it, I won’t. I won’t have them upset just to make your life a little bit easier.”

  “A lot easier,” he said. “You’ll be in charge of the boys, and nothing other than that could make my life easier. It’s what I need more than anything.”

  She nodded. “All right. We’ll ask the boys tomorrow, and we’ll marry three days later if they agree.”

  He caught her shoulder as she stood to leave the room. “Don’t you think we should seal our engagement with a kiss?” His first wife had been chosen for him. This wife . . . well, he couldn’t think of anyone he’d rather spend his life with.

  “A kiss?”

  He nodded, moving closer to her and lowering his lips to hers.

  Four

  Taylor was startled by the feelings that washed over her as his lips met hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him. The man could kiss! She’d
of course been kissed before, but nothing had ever made her feel as she did in that moment.

  Harry grasped her hips, pulling her closer into the heat of his body, deepening the kiss.

  A knock at the door had them springing apart. “Enter,” he called, flushing slightly from the sheer heat of the kiss he’d just shared with his fiancé. The door opened, and both boys stood there looking at them.

  “Did he say yes, Miss Bally?” James asked.

  Taylor grinned and nodded. “He did. He’s going to get us some wood and other building materials, and we’re going to go through every step of the building process together.”

  Henry smiled. “Thank you, Father!”

  Harry nodded. “I’m happy you boys have come to talk with me. I have something to tell you.”

  Taylor backed away a little, feeling as if she shouldn’t be part of this discussion. She watched the boys’ faces carefully.

  “How would you feel if Miss Bally and I were to marry? Then she’d be your mother, and she could continue to teach you. No more need for a governess.”

  The boys exchanged a look, and James looked a little confused.

  “Would you like to marry Father?” he asked Taylor.

  Taylor nodded. “I would like that.”

  Harry smiled at her before turning back to the boys. “Then Jane won’t come any longer, and you boys won’t have to worry about getting another governess you’re unhappy with.”

  It took a moment, but both boys nodded.

  “I think that’s a good idea,” James said softly.

  “Me too.” Henry looked a little less sure of the situation, but he agreed because everyone else seemed to like the idea. “Maybe we could have more brothers.”

  “Or sisters,” Taylor said. She wasn’t going to have just boys. She was determined.

  James shrugged. “Sisters are good. We could practice scaring them.”

  Taylor couldn’t help but grin, and the grin quickly turned to laughter. The boys were crazy, but they were fun.

  Harry simply sighed. “No scaring your sisters. Go to bed.”