The Traveling Teacher Read online

  “And you.” The other woman tilted her head in a slight nod, but that was the only real attention given to her.

  Harry wandered off to talk to his friend, leaving her in the company of Lady Black.

  “Thank you so much for inviting us to your party tonight.”

  Lady Black frowned at her. “You were only invited because your husband is a friend of my husband’s. I don’t approve of you in any way.”

  Taylor frowned. “I don’t understand. We just met. How could you not approve of me?”

  “Let me introduce you to the ladies.” Lady Black turned her back on her and led her to a small group of women, who were talking animatedly. As soon as they reached them, they all stopped talking. “Everyone, this is Lord Twigg’s new wife.” She went through the other ladies’ names quickly, as if expecting her to remember them all.

  Taylor couldn’t imagine why she was getting frosty looks and a cold shoulder from the hostess, but she smiled sweetly at the other ladies. “Please, call me Taylor.”

  “What kind of name is Taylor?” Lady Black asked. “It’s very odd, if you ask me.”

  Taylor wanted to disappear. “My parents were forward thinking. I’m sure my name will be all the rage in the future.”

  “I seriously doubt that,” Lady Black told her, shaking her head. Then she turned to the group of ladies and closed in the gap, leaving Taylor standing alone in the middle of the room.

  When it was time to go to supper, Taylor prayed she’d been seated next to Harry. She didn’t want to go through another uncomfortable experience. Thankfully, they were directly across the table from each other.

  Throughout the exceptionally long meal, she watched as the other women smiled at one another and were friendly, while she felt as if the women had given her the cut direct. She really wanted to hide under the table instead of continuing her meal.

  Finally, when it was time for dessert, Harry realized Taylor hadn’t spoken much. “Was the food to your liking?” he asked softly.

  “It was delicious.” Taylor didn’t know what else to say. All she could think about was feeling like a bug in a glass. All of the other women seemed to be studying her for a biology project.

  “Did you enjoy meeting the ladies?”

  Taylor nodded, feeling a tear ready to prick her eye. She’d never been treated so terribly by a group of women. Well, maybe when she was in junior high and the popular girls hadn’t liked her because though she was pretty like they were, she was a bookworm, and they couldn’t allow her to be one of them.

  “Are you feeling ill?” Harry asked, very worried about the look he could see on his new wife’s face.

  She nodded. “I have a raging headache.” It was a lie, but she was certain it was about to be true with the way she was being treated—or ignored, as the case may be.

  He frowned, turning to the man beside him. “I’m afraid I’m going to need to take my wife home. She’s not feeling well.”

  “Oh, that’s perfectly understandable, Harry. I hope she’s better soon.”

  Harry walked around the table and pulled her chair out for her. “Goodnight, all. I’m sorry we couldn’t stay longer.” He offered his arm to Taylor and led her quickly out the front door and to their coach. “What happened in there?”

  Taylor felt a tear fall to her cheek as she gave her account of what had transpired with the ladies. “I’m not sure what they think I’ve done, but they don’t think I’m fit to associate with.”

  “Well, I have no idea what that was about, but I will figure it out.” He shook his head in annoyance. “No one gets to treat you that way.”

  “Don’t make a fuss. We really don’t know what they’ve heard.” Though how anyone could have heard anything about her, she didn’t know. Then it occurred to her. “Does Jane have friends in town?”

  He closed his eyes for a moment. “Lady Black is her cousin. Oh, I should have realized how awkward this would be for you. I’m so sorry.”

  “I wonder what she’s said about me!” Taylor didn’t want to dwell on it, but she couldn’t combat rumors when she had no idea what they were.

  “I have no idea. It could be anything.” He sighed. “This is ridiculous. Why would she want to ruin your life? Just because you married me?”

  “People like her make no sense ever. Trust me.” It really did feel like she’d gone back to junior high, though. No one would talk to her for an entire year, and she’d finally made some friends the next year, but she still felt odd when she thought about it. Long walks between classes with no one to chat with. Lunches alone in a room crowded with people. It had been terrible.

  “I’ll find out what has been said, and I’ll squash any rumors. There is nothing about you that people should be discussing. You didn’t tell anyone else you came from the future, did you?”

  “Of course not! I had a hard enough time even telling you.”

  He reached over and covered her hand with his. “We’re not going to let people treat you badly. I promise.”

  “Thank you for worrying about my feelings so much.”

  He caught her wrist and pulled her across the coach to him. “It’s so good to be able to hold you.”

  She was on his lap and they were kissing when the coach stopped moving. She immediately jumped away from him and used her fingers to calm her hair. The door opened, and she was still fighting to put her hair to rights. She could see Harry laughing at her silently. She wanted to kick him but knew it wasn’t appropriate. Curses! She had to end up in the most rigid place for manners in all of history.

  He got out of the coach and held a hand out for her, which she gratefully took. It was amazing to her how women were able to move around in dresses like this without spending all their time on the floor on their backsides. She tripped over her hem constantly. She wondered vaguely if it got easier with practice, but she couldn’t imagine anyone getting used to dresses that long.

  Harry took her hand and pulled her toward the house and straight up to their room.

  “I promised the boys I’d kiss them when I got home,” she said, rushing from the room.

  “They’re sleeping! They’ll never know!”

  “I will.” She ran into the room the boys were both now sleeping in. Harry had been right, and it was less than a night before the boys were in the same room and the same bed. They weren’t used to being apart.

  She kissed James’s forehead first, and he smiled. “Goodnight, Mother.”

  “Goodnight, James.” Then she went to Henry, and he smiled in his sleep when she pressed her lips to his forehead.

  She hurriedly left the room and went back to her husband, who was already stripped to the waist. “Do you want me to give you some privacy?” she asked, her eyes twinkling.

  “No, I think I’m all right stripping in front of you.”

  She laughed, unfastening her own gown. He obviously wasn’t in the mood to wait for anything.

  When Harry arrived home the following day, he had a smile on his face and went straight to Taylor. “You were right. When I told him I wouldn’t pay that much, we were able to negotiate a fair price that was much closer to what I wanted to pay for the land. It’s mine now.”

  “Good.” Taylor grinned at him. She’d taken the boys to the park that morning, and they’d had a wonderful walk, until she’d run into one of the women from the party the night before. She wasn’t certain why people were against her, but it was obvious they were.

  “And I asked around about you. Jane came to town on Sunday, and she told everyone that you were a paid courtesan before you defrauded me into marrying you.” He’d debated long and hard about whether he should tell her or wait to see if she asked, but he’d decided she had a right to know.

  “Well, that’s lovely. And there’s no one who knew me before you did who can debate that with her. People will believe whatever they want to believe.” Taylor shook her head. “How bothered are you?”

  He shrugged. “If I was more active socially, it would
bother me a great deal. Right now, all I care about is whether this is hurting you or not.”

  “Well, I’m not pleased, but I’ve been lied about before. People will believe whatever they wish to believe. I’ll just keep being me.”

  “All right. We won’t fight it. But if we run into Jane, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to behave as a gentleman ought.”

  Taylor smiled at that. She was glad he wanted to protect her. “You’re sweet to me.”

  James ran into the room then, showing a wooden horse to his father. “I found this upstairs.”

  Harry smiled. “That was mine when I was a boy. If I remember correctly, there were six of them.”

  “There are more?” James ran out of the room again, obviously focused on finding the rest of the horses.

  Taylor smiled after her new son. “The boys are fine being mostly indoors everyday here. We’re taking a walk in the park each morning, and yes, we always take a groom. After that, they are happy to come back here and explore.”

  “Good! I’m glad they’re not making things too difficult for you.”

  “They’re truly not. I love the boys. They really keep everything interesting.”

  He laughed at that. “They certainly do!”

  They all had supper together that night, and Harry talked about his second purpose for being in town that week. “I wanted to get you some clothes and buy that land, and I also wanted to spend a little time with my broker. He’s a good man, and I want to learn as much as I can about a new investment opportunity.”

  “Do you play the ’change often?” She was thrilled she’d read a book mentioning playing the ’change and she knew what to call it.

  “I do. I’ve quadrupled the fortune I was left eight years ago when my father died. I feel like I’m ready for some riskier investments now.”

  To Taylor, the stock exchange was a modern thing, and though she’d known it was played in this period, she hadn’t really expected him to be talking about it much. “I’d like to know what you invest in before you do. There might be a different spin I could put on things.” Like knowing if a particular ship went down. She’d studied some of the economic disasters of the century, so she was ready to get involved if she could.

  She loved the idea of helping him any way she could.

  Eight

  The rest of their time in London passed fairly quickly, and they returned to the country, where Taylor felt freer. On their third day back, Jane came to the house and sat down at the table for breakfast.

  Harry took one look at her and said, “You are no longer welcome in my home after the way you spread lies about my wife in London.”

  “Are you sure they’re lies?” Jane asked. “Maybe your wife confided in me.”

  “She didn’t. Please leave.” Harry had wanted to say that to Jane for a very long time, and now he felt like he had the right to say it.

  Jane shook her head. “I can’t believe you’re choosing her over me! You were my brother’s best friend.”

  “And that’s why I’ve tolerated your intrusions into our home all of these years. No more.” Harry got to his feet and followed Jane to the door. “Please don’t come back.” He shut the door as she started to argue with him and went back to eating with his family. He would never again tolerate the presence of the girl who had told so many lies about his wife.

  Taylor hid a grin when he came back to the table. “Today is a learning day for the boys. What are you planning to do?”

  “I’m going to ride out over the new land I purchased and see if there’s anything untoward there. If not, I’ll hire some people to start clearing part of the land for a home.”

  “Already?” Taylor was surprised he was already thinking about building a home for James on it.

  “Well, I like to have everything in place. I will feel better if everything is ready.” He shrugged. “Mary’s death taught me that things can change in the blink of an eye.”

  Taylor looked down, feeling badly she’d asked. She didn’t ever want to make him think about his late wife. “All right. Sounds logical to me. Maybe the boys and I can design the house.”

  Harry frowned at her. “Do you feel like the boys are ready for such a grand project?”

  “I think we could manage it. At least let us toy with it, and then maybe you can get an architect involved. The house will belong to James someday, after all.”

  Henry and James looked at each other.

  “We’re just going to share a house when we’re grown,” James said after a minute or two.

  “No you’re not,” Taylor said. “I always thought when I grew up, I’d live with my two sisters and we’d run a business together. It never happened.”

  “Well, course not. Girls don’t have businesses,” Henry said, shrugging his shoulders. “Men do, though. And we’re going to be men.”

  “Where I come from, women run a lot of businesses.” Taylor stabbed a piece of sausage and ate it.

  “Women run businesses in London as well. You boys are just looking at life through your own small-town binoculars. You’ve never lived in a large city, and you really don’t know what it’s like.” Harry shook his head at his son. “Women are very strong.”

  Henry was already ignoring him by the time he was done speaking, but Harry was still glad he’d said it. At least his wife would feel like she was being supported.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Harry shook his head. “We should all go over and walk the land,” he suggested without really thinking it through.

  “Do you really want us to miss school to walk around the property?” Taylor asked. She was surprised he would condone letting the boys miss a day of school. She was torn because she wanted to spend time as a family, but she knew the boys had so much to learn in the years she had them.

  “I don’t think one day would hurt. You did your lessons in London, didn’t you?”

  Taylor nodded. “We did them while walking around Hyde Park. We got a great deal of odd looks.”

  “I can see that. It’s always a little strange to see people reciting math facts while you’re playing ball.”

  “Mother made arithmetic into a game with a ball. We had fun playing it.” James grinned at his dad. “Mother makes all school fun, and I’m still not sure how she does it. I think we should get extra marks for playing and thinking at the same time.”

  “You probably should,” Harry said, his eyes meeting Taylor’s. “Do you enjoy making up games to make learning more fun?”

  “I do! It worked for me when I was a kid, so I wanted to make sure the boys enjoyed learning as much as I did.” Taylor reached over and took his hand in hers. She loved being in physical contact with him.

  “All right, so we’re all going for a walk on the new property today. James, this land and the buildings on it will be yours as soon as you’re grown.” Harry looked at Henry. “Unfortunately, for you to get your land, I have to die first, and I plan on being very old when I die.”

  As soon as breakfast was over, the four of them set out for the new property. Taylor wore her boots, and she wished for a pair of jeans right about then. Walking the distance he was talking about wouldn’t be pleasant in her dress. She knew everyone would be scandalized if she wore a pair of pants, though. That was something she really missed about the twenty-first century.

  She walked beside Harry, the two of them holding hands. She knew the boys were dancing all around them. They showed her everything along the way. She saw a fish in the stream and flowers growing along the banks. There were pretty rocks, and each boy picked up one of them.

  When they reached the property, they walked around the perimeter, and then they explored the interior. “I don’t think my friend has been to the country in years,” James said. “I’m surprised the land is in as good of shape as it is. The wild seems to have reclaimed it, but it won’t always look this way. I promise.”

  “Where did they live?” Taylor asked, surprised there was no building on the property.

/>   “Oh, they have an ancestral home just beyond the trees, but the house and the land it sits on are entailed. He couldn’t have sold it if he’d wanted to.”

  “I see.” She’d read a little about houses being entailed, and she knew it meant it was part of the inheritance that goes with a title.

  The boys ran ahead to look at everything, and he stopped walking, grabbing her shoulder and turning her to him. “We need a few days where we can lay abed all day and just kiss and see where things go.”

  She laughed. “You know where they go, and that’s what you really want!”

  “This is true . . .” He leaned down and kissed her, not paying attention to the boys for a minute or two. When he raised his head, her eyes were glazed, but both boys were looking at them curiously.

  James looked at his dad. “Did you marry Mother just so she’d let you kiss her?”

  Harry nodded. “Yes. When I tried to kiss her when she was just your governess, she told me that her kisses were magic and I could only have them if I married her.”

  Henry nodded. “Her kisses are magic. She kisses me every night before bed, and it makes me sleep just right.”

  Taylor laughed. “I kiss all of you all the time. Now that I’m family, I’m allowed to share my magic kisses with all of you.” She grabbed James and kissed his cheek.

  James squirmed away from her. “Only on the forehead before bed! Ack!” He ran off, and his brother ran with him.

  “That worked better than I thought it would,” Taylor said with a grin.

  Harry started walking with her again, his arm around her. “Maybe we should put Maude in charge of the boys for a week, and we should go stay by the seaside in a little house that no one will ever find.”

  “Or maybe we should be responsible parents and take care of the boys. It’s not like you don’t get lots of what you want.”

  “This is true . . .” Harry sighed. “I do always want more, though.”

  “Good. Then you’ll keep me around.”

  When they caught up with the boys, they were taking branches and laying out where they thought the house should go.