Page 19 of The Royal Governess
“This is not necessary with me, Profesora.” One final assessing glance and Marco returned to the desk. I managed to walk forward the rest of the way without falling.
“Please.” He motioned to one of the ornate high back chairs.
Did dust poof up as I sat? Must have been my imagination. I folded my hands over the stack of notes in my lap.
“So, did your class go well?” Flicking his eyes from my notes to my ponytail, he leaned across the desk.
“Yes, very well. At least I thought so.” How much should I tell him? One class and already I was feeling protective of my student. His math homework would tell me where Gregorio stood in that area.
“So you are still…interested?” Those intense eyes bored into me.
“What?” I squirmed in my seat. “Am I still interested?” Was this a test? If I didn’t make the grade, would he have us packed up and returned on the next boat?Oh no you don’t.
Getting rid of me wouldn’t be that easy.
Tapping the papers in my lap, I faced off. “We have a contract. And that contract applies to more than one day, more than one month.” Good heavens, if I went back home in June, it would be too late to get my summer school position back. My heart raced with panic.
Feeling like a serf brought in to defend the crops I wanted to plant for the summer season, I licked my dry lips.
His eyes followed. Marco had fallen back into his kingly chair.
I’d had enough of his overbearing attitude.
Time to jump to another topic. “It's about the wireless.”
“Wire less,” he said, breaking it into two words.
“The wi-fi.” I spiraled one hand into the air. “We need to be hooked up to the Internet so that we can …order books from Amazon.”
There. That sounded a lot better than admitting that I wanted to be able to dig up more information about his family and this island.
The back of his chair was probably as stiff as his spine. “What kind of books?”
My mind scurried ahead like one of the squirrels foraging through the trees. Outside was a beautiful day. I had to keep my mind focused on that prize. I hoped to enjoy many days like this here this summer. If I got my act together. “History books. They are very big. Too heavy to be bring on the plane. Too heavy to send here in that box.”
Hands steepled in front of his lips, he seemed to turn my words over in his mind.
“Yes. I suppose so.”
“Definitely.” I seemed to be gaining credibility.
“And Harvard would expect this?” Dropping his hands, Marco drummed his fingers on the arms of his chair.
“Yes. Most certainly.” My throat was so dry it was almost painful. “And there’s something else.”
His brows rose. “There is more?”
“Yes, there is more. I need to be able to email a guidance counselor, a friend of mine who works in placing students in universities.” Mary Carmichael, one of our guidance counselors, had been such a help in placing my students in the right academic environment. “I cannot do that unless I have access to wi-fi.”
Now that caught his attention. Marco’s expression became very, very serious. “You know such a person?”
“Yes, I work with such a person.” Good grief, I was beginning to phrase my sentences like his. If I didn’t watch it, my students wouldn’t be able to understand me when I returned.
“I would pay her much money for such information.”
My mouth fell open. “What?” Let my thoughts wander for just a minute and it was all over. “Forgive me, but I don't believe I heard you correctly.”
“I do forgive you. Although I don’t know for what.” He nodded with understanding, as if he were accustomed to forgiving people on a daily basis. As if every day he held their lives in the balance, and maybe he did. “Back to your friend. If you have such a connection, I'm glad to pay for this information. Anything to further my son's education.”
