by Lucy Wild
Rose shook her head. She had absolutely no intention of telling them what had happened in the park. She had no intention of ever telling anyone. “I slipped in the garden,” she muttered after a long silence.
“Lies upon lies. One of the maids saw you come back in, she said you were in floods of tears. What happened to you?”
“Nothing, I told you.”
“You remember what I said would happen if you kept lying to us?”
“You’d hug me and tell me you forgive me? Oh, and buy me a new pony too. You definitely said that.”
“Nice try. I told you that a tutor would be hired to keep you in line.”
Rose smiled. The threat of a tutor had been made so many times, she had lost count. Let them talk of tutors and move away from asking about what happened last night. Every single time they threatened a tutor for her, they backed down, or they forgot, or she was able to bat her eyes at them and they shrugged and gave her one more chance. All she had to do was knuckle down, act as if she were sorry for a few days, and all would be well.
She was confident enough that no tutor would be hired that she was willing to go along with them when she was invited on a carriage ride the next day. Her parents never usually rode out on a Thursday. They had a solid routine of bickering in the morning, tennis in the afternoon, and then recovering in the evening. “We fancied a change,” Mrs. Winter said when Rose asked about it. “Nothing wrong with that, is there?”
“No,” Rose replied, wondering why her mother wouldn’t look her in the eye. “Nothing at all.”
The carriage rolled away from the house with the three of them inside. They had barely reached the end of the street before her father coughed and turned to look at her, taking her hands in his. “I want to tell you something, Rose, and I don’t want you to get cross, all right?”
“What is it?” Rose asked, feeling trapped all of a sudden.
“We are not just going for a drive out.”
“Oh, really?” she asked, pulling her hands away from his. “And where, pray, are we going?”
“We are going to meet a gentleman by the name of Titus Burlingham.”
“Are we indeed?”
“I think you’ll like him. He has a superb reputation.”
“Stop the carriage.”
“Excuse me?”
Rose lowered her voice to a whisper, putting emphasis on each word. “Stop. The. Carriage.”
“Oh, Rose, please don’t do this,” Mr. Winter said, a hint of panic in his voice. “It is for your own good. You need a tutor.”
“Do I?” she replied, lashing out with her hands, her voice rising to a scream. “Stop this carriage right now. I will not hear of it. You treat me like some kind of slave, as if you can do what you want with me. Well I won’t stand for it. I’m getting out and going home. You can go meet this man on your own. I want nothing to do with him.”
Mr. Winter turned to his wife. “My dear, perhaps we should…”
“Obadiah, we are not letting her win. Not this time.”
“But look at her, she is upset. You know I hate to see her upset.”
Rose managed to squeeze out tears as she continued to beat on her father’s chest with her clenched fists. “You hate me,” she sobbed, attempting to push past him to open the door.”
“Stop it,” Mrs. Winter snapped, grabbing Rose and pushing her back into her seat. “We warned you about lying to us. You continue to do so. I have had enough. So has your father.”
“Father?” Rose asked, widening her eyes and looking at him in the most plaintive way she could manage. “Say you won’t let her do this to me. I don’t need a tutor, do I?”
“Oh for heaven’s sake,” Mrs. Winter snapped. “Don’t fall for it, Obadiah. I don’t know why you’re making such a fuss, Rose. It is not the sky falling in on your head to have a tutor. Many a respectable girl has a tutor. Some have several.”
Rose scowled across at her. She knew all about tutors. They were all seven hundred years old with bad breath and bald patches. Either that or scowling sour faced women with a ruler ready to rap you over the knuckles if you forgot to conjugate the verb. “You think I’m an idiot don’t you? You must do if you think I need a tutor. You think I’m a dunderheaded fool, a dunce with no brain in my head. That’s right, isn’t it?”
“No, Rose, of course not. But you must admit you can act like a child at times.”
“I do not!”
“You are a nineteen-year-old girl and you are currently having a tantrum in front of your parents. What part of that seems grown up to you?”
Rose didn’t want to do it but she couldn’t resist. She stuck her tongue out at her mother and blew a raspberry in her general direction. “Fiddlesticks,” she said, folding her arms and scowling at both of them. “I don’t even care if I have a tutor or not. I don’t care a fig.”
Chapter 5
Titus was not quite prepared for the whirlwind that entered his office a little after three that afternoon. The letter had hinted at a girl on the brink of womanhood, in need of a few short tweaks to perfect her for marriage. It had not mentioned an overgrown child in a red dress, stomping into his room with tearful eyes and clenched fists, refusing to so much as look at him as she stood by the bookcase, diligently tipping one volume after another to the floor. Why had she sent him the letter if she didn’t want a tutor?
“Don’t do that, Rose,” Mrs. Winter said as she took one of the seats by his desk. “She is not in the best of moods, I am afraid,” she added, turning to Titus and smiling weakly.
“Mr. Winter, Mrs. Winter,” Titus said, raising himself briefly to shake their hands before sinking back into his chair. “Glad you could come. I presume you have read my terms?”
“Indeed.” Mr. Winter glanced across at his daughter who had moved from the bookcase to the windowsill and was drawing patterns in the condensation that coated the glass. “I have brought the first payment with me. When can you start?”
“I think you misunderstand,” Titus said, waving away the banknotes as soon as they appeared. “I did not agree to take on your daughter. I merely agreed to interview her.”
“Oh, I assumed when you sent a contract to us that you were willing to take her on.”
“Tell me a little about Rose,” Titus said, ignoring the desperate look in the man’s eyes. “Cigar?”
“No thank you. What is it you want to know?”
“Well, let me put it another way. Why exactly do you want me to take her on?”
Mr. Winter sighed, glancing across at his wife before speaking. “We wish to get her married, for one.”
“I am not looking for a wife. Perhaps try the local hostelries, I’m sure you’ll find a willing groom there. Perhaps more than one.”
“I do not find that amusing.”
“I apologise. Please continue.”
“She is too wilful to marry, too disobedient, too… well frankly, she needs to grow up. I was led to believe you might be able to help with that.”
“She lies,” Mrs. Winter added, glaring at Rose. “Lies all the time.”
“I have a letter here which purports to come from your daughter. Begs me to assist her in learning the skills needed to survive in this modern age. What made her change her mind between the time of writing and today?”
“Ah, well,” Mr. Winter said, pausing to cough and pass a guilty look across to his wife. “We heard you weren’t taking anyone else on and we thought that perhaps a letter from her perspective might catch your eye where one from myself would not.”
“A subterfuge I do not appreciate. Have you considered your influence on your daughter? A lying parent can lead to a lying child.”
“Sir?”
“I would like a moment alone with Miss Winter. If you would wait outside, my secretary will take care of you.”
Mr. Winter stood up, looking across at Rose who was fiddling with the curtains. “If you are sure,” he said, taking a step towards the door, looking as if his daughter was
a wild beast, one that might tear him to shreds. To think how scared of his own child he was, it was amusing really. The man who had built a business so large, most of the county was terrified of his name. There he was, edging towards the door with fear flashing across his eyes, his hands shaking uncontrollably.
“That’s better,” Titus said as they left. He turned and looked at Rose, waiting to see what she did. She stared back at him, defiance emanating from her every pore. “Time to get to know each other, don’t you think?”
“No, I don’t,” Rose replied.
Titus was surprised, her voice was softer than he had expected. It contained all the petulance he had come to know in his students but there was something more in her, a fear perhaps, or maybe an anger? He would find out the root of her problem soon enough, let her keep her secrets for now. “What do you want, Rose?”
“To go and play.”
“Don’t you want to grow up and get married?”
“I can get married without growing up, can’t I? What’s so good about being a grown up anyway? Why would I want to end up like them?”
“Your parents? You don’t like them?”
“I hate them. They enforce the most petty rules, they never let me have any fun. They have ruined my life.”
“I see. Well, if you go through that door, you will find a playroom that should keep you occupied for a while. It’s not a trick; there is no need to look so suspicious. You go and play whilst I have a chat with your parents, all right?”
Rose nodded slowly, her eyes mere slits of suspicion as she crossed to the door in the far corner of the room. Easing it open, she glanced through before looking back at Titus, a grin spreading across her face. “I can go and play in there?”
“You can,” he replied. “Off you go.”
Once she ducked inside, Titus stood up and closed the door on the sound of a happy sigh. He crossed the room and leaned out into the waiting room, beckoning Mr. and Mrs. Winter back into the office. “Where is our daughter?” Mr. Winter asked as he took his seat once more. “Don’t tell me she has run off again.”
“She is safe and sound in the next room. Now, tell me a little about her childhood. Was she spoilt?”
“No, not really.”
Mrs. Winter barked out a laugh. “Oh, come on, Obadiah. You might as well be honest with the man.”
“I suppose she was a little spoilt. But then she was an only child. A sickly one too. What would any parent do in such circumstances?”
“Indeed,” Titus said. The picture was becoming clearer all the time. Spoilt little rich girl refuses to grow up. Parents enjoy having a little girl to dote upon until they realise all too late the damage that they’ve caused. It was usually around the time the girl was supposed to make her debut. All of a sudden, those adorable traits of a little girl are an embarrassment to the family. He realised Mr. Winter had said something that he missed. “Excuse me?”
“I asked if you had made a decision yet. Will you take her on?”
Titus did not answer. Instead he stood up and crossed to the door in the far corner. Silently easing it open, he glanced through the gap at Rose, seeing her in the midst of play with the dolls in the far corner, arranging them neatly for a tea party. He pushed the door closed before turning back to Mr. and Mrs. Winter. “I think I might be able to help her,” he said, walking slowly back to his chair as he did so. “She seems a straightforward enough case. I should be done in a week.”
“Oh, Mr. Burlingham, I can’t tell you how grateful we are,” Mr. Winter said with a smile. “Thank you so much.”
“Hold on one moment. My conditions are these. She moves into my house for the week and you do not visit her until I allow it.”
“Well, we had better check with Rose. She has never stayed away from home before.”
“Of course.” Titus turned back to the playroom door, pushing it open and beckoning Rose. “I am sorry to interrupt,” he said as she looked up at him from the corner. “Would you mind coming out for a moment?”
“I suppose,” Rose muttered, her voice suggesting she was annoyed at being pulled away from her game.
“Your parents have something to tell you,” Titus said as she emerged into the room. “Go on, Mr. Winter.”
“Rose, dear,” Mr. Winter began. “We would like you to spend a week with Mr. Burlingham. How do you feel about that?”
Rose immediately stamped her right foot on the floor, folding her arms and pouting at her parents. “I’ll tell you what I think about that.” She grabbed the inkwell off the desk and hurled it at the far wall. It shattered into countless pieces, shards of glass bouncing back into the room as the thick black ink began trickling down the wallpaper. “That’s what I think about that. Any more questions?”
Behind her, Titus smiled to himself. Let her have her fun. She would soon pay the price for her temper.
“Rose, dear, be reasonable.”
“Reasonable? You want to ship me off like some leper to live with him? And you talk to me of propriety! I swear if you try to make me leave again, I shall scream until I am sick.”
“I have an idea,” Titus said, stepping between Rose and her parents, arms outstretched to hold the feuding family apart. “You do not wish to leave home, correct?”
Rose nodded slowly, knowing she was walking into a trap but unable to see where it might lay.
“Then I will break with tradition and move into your home for the week instead. The work can be accomplished just as easily and you need not repaint any more of my walls.”
“I don’t want you to move in!”
“Titus leaned towards her, Mr. and Mrs. Winter unable to see his face. He dropped his pleasant demeanour, fixing her with his coldest stare, letting her see the real him, the him that was hidden behind the façade except in moments like this. The colour seemed to drain from his cheeks as he narrowed his eyes, his lips a mere inch from hers. “I am moving into your house,” he whispered, watching confused fear flash across her face. She was going to be the easiest job he ever had. “Is that understood?”
Rose nodded frantically, swallowing hard as he brought the smile back to his lips before turning to face Mr. Winter. “There, that’s settled. Make up a room for me. I will arrive tonight.”
Chapter 6
Not an issue, Rose thought as she watched his carriage rolling down the street. She was sitting by her bedroom window, looking out at the world outside. It seemed indifferent to the fact the devil himself was about to enter her abode. That look in his eyes, that inhuman coldness to him when he had whispered to her in the office, there was something about it that chilled her blood. He had suddenly become a man impervious to debate, invulnerable to tantrums, to shouting, to tears. He had the look of a man who would get his way with the use of brute force alone. The look in his eyes had terrified her.
The entire situation was farcical, of course. He had a playroom and he’d used it to distract her, a sleight of hand whilst he got her parents on his side. All of this was his doing. For some reason he wanted to spend time with her. Not an issue, she thought again. He would soon change his mind after he saw what she had planned for him. No matter how threatening he might be, he would not dare to strike her in her own home, in front of her servants and her parents. He would be up at the Assizes soon enough and he could explain to the magistrate why he thought it was acceptable to strike a woman of means.
The carriage came to a halt outside the house and out he came, marching straight up to the front door. The sound of the bell echoed up to Rose and she made her way downstairs moments later, ready to put her plan into action. It was simple enough. Misbehave until he could stand it no more. Teach her parents a lesson in trying to get round her.
It wasn’t even the fact that her parents had hired a tutor that irritated her so much. It was that they thought they knew what was best for her. Why couldn’t they leave her alone?
“Good evening, Mr. Winter.”
Titus’s voice reached her even before she saw
him. By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, he was being ushered into the drawing room by her father. Well, it was like that was it? The men getting together to decide her fate. They’d soon learn that she could not be so easily tamed.
Spinning on her heels, Rose ran back up to her room, muttering to herself as she went. “I see no reason to stay here any longer. There is no love here for me.” The idea had not occurred to her until she heard his voice downstairs but then it came to her mind as clearly formed as if it had always been there. Run away, it said. Just pack a bag and go. They’ll be so upset that by the time you come back, they’ll agree to anything you ask. They might even give you your own carriage. Wouldn’t that be something?
The idea of misbehaving to send him away had been a good one but whenever she thought about that look in his eyes back in his office, it made her wonder. It was one thing to think of him being taken away by the law but before that, he might strike her, he might do anything to her. Her mind flashed back to the park, to Jonathan on top of her. She shuddered at the thought of Titus doing such an awful thing.
She grabbed a case from under her bed, laying it out on the floor and cramming underwear into it with fumbling fingers. She felt certain if she did not leave at once, something would happen to her, something she would not be able to control. The thought filled her with dread. Pulling open another drawer, she reached in and pulled out one pair of stockings after another.
“Going somewhere?” a voice said from the doorway.
Rose yelped in shock, dropping the stockings and spinning round to find Titus standing on the landing, his arms folded. “What are you doing here?” she asked as he walked slowly towards her. “Get out of my room.”
“If you’re planning to escape by the window, you might want to avoid the park.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“You don’t remember me, do you? Did you also forget to wash the grass stains out of your dress?”
“You? You’re the man from the park, the man who saved me from Jonathan.”
“I am indeed. Thought I should pop up here so we could get to know each other a little better.” He pushed the door closed behind him. “Seeing as we’re going to be spending the next week together.”