“This will not do, Niece,” Claudia said. Her face was expressionless, but Eden could feel her anger. “We discussed the need for a governess. You cannot simply dismiss Miss Waterson on a whim—” Her gaze cut Hartley like a scythe through hay. “He must go.”
“We will discuss this further, Aunt, but not here. Please take Donal inside.”
To her secret amazement, Claudia acquiesced without further argument and reached for Donal. “Come, child. It is time for bed.”
Donal danced out of her grasp and wrapped himself around one of Hartley’s long legs. “Hartley and I are going to the forest.”
“You are going inside to sleep,” Eden said.
He clung all the more firmly to Hartley. “He teaches me things,” he said. “Not like the stick lady. Is she gone?”
Eden almost laughed at his name for the governess. She bit down on her lip. “Would you be very glad if she was?”
He gave a decisive nod. Hartley rested his hand on Donal’s head and met Eden’s gaze. He didn’t have to say a word.
Claudia appeared ready to speak, but she, too, contained herself.
“Go inside, Donal,” Hartley said. “It’s all right.”
“I will come to see you later, Donal,” Eden added. She nodded to her aunt, who took Donal’s hand and hurried him away. Claudia’s posture hinted at the discord to come.
All because of Hartley. Or was it?
“I will speak to you when my guests have left,” she told him.
“I look forward to it.” His eyes had the odd habit of glittering in the dark, as if they caught any stray bit of light. “I am proud of you, Eden.”
His praise was like a caress over the length of her body, stroking the anger away. Bereft of words, she left him and went to rejoin the dalesmen who were preparing to depart.
The mood among the people was one of peaceful contentment, utterly unlike that with which the day had begun. The curse had lifted; the folk of the dale had begun to accept her.
She waved the last cart down the drive and watched it disappear into the darkness. Armstrong and the maids she dismissed to bed, assuring them that they could clean up in the morning. Hartley was nowhere to be seen. She had little fear that he had left Hartsmere; she wondered if anything could drive him away.
Or if she could bear the thought of his leaving.
In spite of the unpleasantness that lay ahead, the evening’s triumph stayed with her for a few precious minutes as she walked back to the house and went upstairs to kiss Donal good night. Claudia stood to the side, waiting grimly for her to finish.
The door had scarcely closed on the nursery when Claudia began. “I have spoken to Miss Waterson, and she is willing to overlook what happened, on the condition that you dismiss Hartley Shaw immediately.”
Eden sighed. “I am afraid that is not very likely, Aunt.”
“Do you actually mean that you prefer that man to Miss Waterson?” She followed Eden down the stairs. “How is this possible? After all the trouble I took to obtain a governess of such high qualifications—”
“And such unpleasant habits,” Eden interrupted. She softened her voice to take the sting from her words. “Truly, Aunt—you saw how she spoke, as if she were the employer rather than the employed. How could you approve? And she admitted to punishing Donal.”
“All children require discipline,” Claudia said. “And as for Miss Waterson’s outspokenness, she addressed matters that required attention. I quite admire her for it.”
“But you don’t admire the same quality in me.”
“Not when it comes as a stubborn refusal to accept what must be!”
Eden stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “I cannot accept that her way of raising a child is what must be, Aunt. I have never been conventional; you used to encourage that in me. Why should a son not be like his mother?”
“But he is not like—” Claudia pressed her lips together. “Eden, I do not wish to quarrel.”
“Nor do I, Aunt. Especially not with you.”
“Then hear me out.” She folded her hands and became the wise, dispassionate mentor Eden had always known. “I concede that it is your decision whether or not to retain Miss Waterson. But I have only tried to help you, Eden. I have observed how you’ve worked yourself to the bone, and it hurts me to see you so.”