by Jen Turano
To her dismay, she’d fallen head over heels in love with the children, something she’d sworn to herself she wouldn’t let happen, considering her time in America was limited. In an attempt to create some type of distance, she’d finally extended an offer of employment to Miss Dreyfus, the only woman who appeared somewhat capable. The woman had arrived for work bright and early that morning.
Disaster soon followed.
“Are you mad at Charlie?” Piper asked, pulling Eliza from her thoughts.
“Of course not, Charlie was only trying to protect Ben,” Eliza said, smiling when Charlie rolled to his stomach and plopped his head in her lap. “Miss Dreyfus shouldn’t have slapped your brother or kicked Charlie.”
“Ben shouldn’t have bitten her.”
“You’re right, but Ben is only a baby and Miss Dreyfus is an adult. Seeing that she is a nanny by choice, I would have thought she’d have been capable of calmly pointing out the error of Ben’s ways instead of completely overreacting.”
“She seemed nice at first,” Piper said. “I don’t understand why Ben didn’t like her.”
Eliza was fairly certain she understood exactly why Ben hadn’t taken a liking to the new nanny. He’d formed an immediate attachment to Eliza, and apparently seemed to fear he was going to lose all of his time with her when another woman entered the picture. She’d been hopeful he’d give Miss Dreyfus a chance, but that hadn’t happened. Tears sprang to her eyes when the thought came to her that Ben was going to be devastated when she went back to England.
“Are you going to start crying?” Piper asked.
“I’m not crying.”
Piper arched a brow in a manner far too old for her age.
“Oh, very well, I might have been about to cry.”
“Why?”
“I was thinking how sad I’ll be when I go home.”
“Won’t you be happy to see your family?”
“I don’t really have a family,” Eliza admitted.
“You should stay here,” Piper proclaimed as she ripped the dress off her doll and stuffed her into another outfit.
“I can’t do that.”
“Can’t do what?” Hamilton asked, causing a trace of something downright disturbing to run over Eliza as she turned her head and watched him come to a stop right before her.
“What are you doing here, Daddy?” Piper squealed before she abandoned her doll and rushed to Hamilton’s side, giggling in delight when he swept her up into his arms.
“I thought I’d come home to see how my girls are doing.”
It almost seemed to Eliza as if Hamilton was including her as one of “my girls.”
“Where’s Ben?” Hamilton asked as he set Piper down.
“He’s taking a nap,” Piper replied.
“Isn’t it late for his nap?” Hamilton asked.
“He had a traumatic morning and didn’t settle down until an hour ago,” Eliza explained.
“He bit Miss Dragon,” Piper said. “She left in a huff.”
A huff was putting it mildly.
“Miss Dragon?” Hamilton questioned.
“That’s not her real name, Daddy, but after she slapped Ben and kicked Charlie, I renamed her.”
“She slapped Ben?” Hamilton asked.
“Right after he bit her.”
“It’s my fault,” Eliza said as Charlie rolled onto his back and began to whine. She found she couldn’t meet Hamilton’s gaze, so she gave her attention to the dog, causing Charlie to wiggle in sheer bliss. “It was inexcusable of me to allow a woman of such uneven temperament into your house.”
“Miss Eliza set her straight in the end,” Piper said, addressing Eliza with the more informal name they’d agreed upon. Ben had wanted to call her “Mama,” but Eliza had remained firm even when Ben put up a good fight.
“I know I’ll most likely regret asking this, but how did she set her straight?” Hamilton asked.
“See, once the screaming started, Charlie raced into the room and jumped on Miss Dragon, barking and snarling, and that’s when Miss Dragon kicked him and then Miss Eliza ran into the room and . . .” Piper paused and looked at Eliza. “Is it all right if I tell him?”
“You might as well,” Eliza said glumly, lifting her head. “He’ll find out eventually.”
“It sounds dire,” Hamilton said with a smile.
“It is,” Eliza admitted.
“She smacked her,” Piper exclaimed.
“Miss Dragon, er, Dreyfus smacked Miss Eliza?” Hamilton asked.
“No, Daddy. Miss Eliza smacked Miss Dragon, and I think she pulled her hair, because it looked quite a mess after they were finished.”
“I only pulled her hair because she went for mine,” Eliza hurried to clarify.
Hamilton laughed, causing Eliza to frown. “It’s not funny,” she muttered.
“Of course not,” Hamilton agreed, his smile fading, but his eyes still twinkling entirely too attractively down at her. She dropped her head and settled her attention back on Charlie, her mind searching for just the right words to explain.
“I’m not normally a violent person, but when I discovered that . . . that . . . that woman,” Eliza sputtered, her temper flaring, “had touched my precious Ben, well, all I can say is that I lost complete control.”
Eliza forced herself to meet Hamilton’s gaze, and what she discovered there forced all the breath from her body even as her pulse began to race. He was watching her with what appeared to be tenderness in his eyes, as if something she’d said touched his very soul. Before she could even blink, the moment was broken when Gloria stomped her way through the garden and stopped beside Hamilton, clutching a piece of paper in her hand.
“We’ve been officially fired,” Gloria stated.
“Fired?” Hamilton asked.
“Yes, dear, fired. It seems that the employment agency”—she looked at the paper—“after careful consideration has decided they can no longer supply us with another nanny. We are”—she consulted the paper again—“‘unsuitable’ and have ‘unruly’ children.”
“What?” Eliza demanded, jumping to her feet and inadvertently dumping Charlie out of her lap in the process.
“Sorry, Charlie,” she said before turning back to Gloria. “The children are not unruly. That agency provided us with an unqualified nanny who was ill equipped to deal with a precocious boy.” She turned and began to stride toward the house.
“Where are you going?” Hamilton called.
Eliza stopped and spun on her heel. “I’m going to find that employment agency and demand they issue an apology at once.” She sent Hamilton and Gloria a nod and set her sights on the house.
“Eliza, you might want to reconsider,” Gloria yelled, causing Eliza to stop in her tracks and turn around.
“I will not. They have insulted Piper and Ben most grievously, and poor Piper didn’t even do anything.”
“Yes, but the letter also states if you’re seen anywhere in the vicinity of their office, they’ll have you arrested,” Gloria said.
“On what charge?”
Gloria peered at the paper and then lifted her head. “Assault.”
“That’s preposterous,” Eliza snapped. “Did they mention anything regarding Miss Dragon?”
“Dreyfus,” Hamilton corrected.
“Same thing,” Eliza muttered with a wave of her hand before moving back to peer at the letter over Gloria’s shoulder. “She’s on her way to the country to recover from her ordeal?”
Gloria nodded. “Did you get to the part where it says she’s considering entering a convent?”
“As if that woman has the temperament required to become a nun,” Eliza scoffed. “Instead of traveling to the country to settle her obviously high-strung nerves, she should be residing in jail, contemplating her lack of compassion. She slapped Ben.”
“You rose to his defense quite admirably,” Hamilton replied.
“She kicked poor Charlie,” Eliza continued, ignoring Hamilton’s s
tatement.
“He appears fine,” Hamilton said, gesturing to the now-snoozing Charlie.
“Charlie was whimpering right after she kicked him,” Eliza said.
“Eliza, Charlie’s fine, Ben’s fine, and Miss Dreyfus is on her way to a convent,” Hamilton said. “I think what you and the children need is a good distraction. I’m going to ask Cook to prepare us a picnic lunch, and we’ll take it to Central Park.”
“You want to go on a picnic?” Eliza questioned, her temper cooling instantly.
“I love picnics,” Piper exclaimed, “almost as much as I love shopping.”
“We’re not going shopping,” Hamilton said firmly. “You have dragged Miss Eliza and Grandmother all over the city these past two weeks, and I’m certain there are no shops left that you haven’t visited.”
Eliza smiled. What Hamilton said was indeed the truth. After he had pressed on her a more than generous loan, she’d taken to the streets of New York with Gloria and Piper and had been pleasantly surprised regarding the quality of the shops available in New York. It had become a favorite pastime for them, but as her wardrobe was sufficiently restocked, she preferred the idea of a picnic over shopping.
“Piper, your father’s right. I believe we’ve had our fill of shopping for the moment,” she said.
“A girl can never have her fill of shopping,” Piper proclaimed.
Eliza grinned. “True, but Ben doesn’t enjoy shopping.”
“He liked it when he went with us the other day,” Piper argued.
“Only because we bribed him with ice cream and extended trips on the steam elevator.”
“I guess a picnic would be fun,” Piper said, “but a ride on the El would be even better, and Ben loves the El.”
Eliza suppressed a shudder. Although she found the city of New York fascinating, the El was not her favorite mode of travel. It was dirty and, to be honest, a little frightening as it rattled around the elevated track, but she would never admit that to Piper.
“We can ride the El another day,” Eliza said, “and we can return to that department store with the steam elevators. Ben would like that, even though I will admit I do wonder what would happen if it ran out of steam.”
“I bet it would fall right back down to the ground,” Piper said, looking as if she would love nothing more than to plummet rapidly in a steam elevator.
“Yes, well, thankfully we don’t need to worry about that today,” Eliza muttered. “If everyone’s in agreement regarding the picnic, I’ll run up and fetch Ben.”
“I’d offer to get him for you, dear,” Gloria said, “but I know he prefers you, even though I am his grandmother.”
“I’m sure that’s not true,” Eliza said.
“It doesn’t upset me, Eliza. I’m quite delighted by the fact that Ben’s finally opening up to someone,” Gloria said before one of those annoying gleams entered her eyes and she batted innocent lashes in Eliza’s direction. “Now that I think about it, though, the poor child did suffer quite the traumatic event today and probably needs his sleep, so I’ll stay here and watch over him while all of you go on the picnic.”
“Grandmother, we can’t go without Ben,” Piper exclaimed. “He wouldn’t like that at all.”
Gloria tilted her head. “You’re right, Piper. He would certainly miss you. You can stay here with me, and your father and Eliza can go on the picnic.”
It appeared as if Gloria was still intent on a bit of scheming. Eliza had known Gloria was up to something two weeks before when she’d insisted, completely out of the blue, on a shopping expedition, and the explanation for that little scheme came to Eliza a few days later when she’d realized how attached she’d become to Piper and Ben, which Gloria must have known would happen all along. The woman was tricky though, and over the past week had lulled Eliza into a false sense of security when no dastardly plots came to light, but now it was clear Gloria was ready to put another diabolical plan into action.
Eliza didn’t know whether to be complimented or insulted.
She was spared a response when Hamilton released a snort.
“Mother, everyone’s coming,” he said. “Piper, go get your coat. Mother, go ask for a lunch.” He stepped forward and offered Eliza his arm. “Do you mind if I come with you to fetch Ben?”
“Not at all,” Eliza muttered, ignoring Gloria’s dramatic sigh. She placed her arm on Hamilton’s and allowed him to steer her toward the house.
“Your mother’s up to something,” she said as they walked up the steps.
“My mother’s always up to something,” he said. “You’ll have to be ever vigilant around her now. She’s beginning to abandon subtlety, which is never a good sign, and I fear, even though she knows perfectly well I’m not looking to form an attachment with anyone, she’s set her sights on you as suitable candidate to become a mother to Piper and Ben.”
Eliza’s steps faltered and she forced a smile as he steadied her. Warring emotions roiled inside her, but she refused to allow Hamilton to see how his words unsettled her. Even though she was determined to avoid becoming attached to the gentleman, she was honest enough with herself to realize she was not quite being successful in that regard, and she’d thought, given the fact that he was continuously watching her with something warm in his eyes, that he felt the same way.
Apparently, she’d been mistaken.
12
Eliza was thankful for the distraction as she tried to remove the last remnants of their picnic lunch from Ben’s face while he squirmed on her lap,.
Hamilton obviously did not want to form an attachment with her, and even though she was of a like mind, given the fact that she was still determined to return to England, his words rankled more than she cared to admit.
She gave Ben one last swipe of the cloth and kissed his nose, her heart swelling when he kissed her right back, leaving a trace of slobber on her cheek. He grinned at her and scampered away, running as fast as his little legs could carry him to where Piper stood tossing a ball into the air. Her mood couldn’t help but improve.
“He adores you,” Gloria remarked as she chose another piece of chicken and took a dainty bite.
“The feeling is mutual,” Eliza admitted before she frowned. “Did it look to you like he has a bruise on his cheek where that woman struck him?”
“Ben’s fine,” Hamilton said, surprising Eliza from behind as he lowered his lanky frame next to her. She scooted away as casually as she could and ignored Gloria’s curious look.
“We can’t be certain he’s fine,” Eliza said. “He could very well be suffering an injury to his brain. Miss Dreyfus was somewhat hefty.”
Hamilton gestured to where Ben was now shrieking in delight as Piper tickled him on the ground. “Does that look like a boy suffering from anything other than the giggles?”
“He was fussy when he got up from his nap,” Eliza argued.
“I’m fussy when I get up from a nap,” Hamilton said, leaning closer to her, which had a prickle of something annoying rolling down her spine. “You seem out of sorts, Eliza. Is something the matter?”
She was spared a response when a voice rang out in the distance.
“Any food left for us?”
“Ah, look, it’s Zayne and . . . is that a young lady at his side?” Gloria asked.
Eliza swallowed a laugh at the telltale excitement in Gloria’s tone. She pretended not to notice Hamilton’s extended hand, struggled to her feet on her own, and noted in delight that Zayne was indeed with a young lady who just happened to be Agatha. She rushed forward. “Agatha,” she exclaimed, giving her a hug. “How did you manage to escape your house? I thought your father confined you to your room.”
Agatha smiled. “Mother convinced him I was looking peaked so I was allowed to visit the orphanage.”
“I hate to be the one to point this out, dear,” Gloria began, brushing the dirt from her skirt as she joined them, “but this isn’t the orphanage.”
“I know,” Agatha said. “I�
�ve already been there, stopped by the church to say a few extra prayers, and since it didn’t take up as much time as I thought, I decided to stop and check on Eliza. That was when I ran into Zayne at your house. It was a stroke of luck he’d just returned home and learned of the fact that all of you were having a picnic in the park.”
Gloria tilted her head. “May I assume you’re Miss Watson?”
“Mrs. Beckett, we’ve met before. Numerous times,” Agatha said.
“We have?”
Agatha rolled her eyes. “It’s fortunate I don’t suffer tender feelings because it’s become very clear to me that I’ve made little to no impression on your family.”
“I did apologize for my lack of observation,” Zayne pointed out.
“Yes, you did, and I very graciously forgave you,” Agatha said.
“Have you been acquainted with Zayne long, Miss Watson?” Gloria asked, her expression so calculating that Eliza had to turn her head and pretend to cough when a laugh caught her by surprise.
“It would seem I’ve been acquainted with him longer than he’s been acquainted with me,” Agatha grouched. “Do you know he actually thought I was only just out of the schoolroom until a few weeks ago?”
“Again, I did apologize for that,” Zayne muttered.
“How very curious,” Gloria said, swinging her attention from Agatha to Zayne and then back to Agatha again. She stepped forward, took Agatha by the arm, and hustled her toward the blanket. “You must tell me all about it, my dear.”
By the time Eliza took her seat, Agatha was speaking rapidly, explaining to Gloria what her latest article was about, and Eliza was hardly surprised to learn it concerned none other than ladies of the night.
“. . . and I’m hopeful the paper will encourage me to pursue the matter further,” Agatha said.
“I’m afraid I must have missed something,” Gloria said. “Am I to understand you’re a writer?”
“It’s a recent occupation,” Agatha said.