Page 21 of One Night of Surrender
Seated in a chair angled toward a settee on which Isabelle sat between the girls, Miss Shipley opened a basket and pulled out three embroidery hoops fitted with fabric.After passing one each to Beatrice and Caroline, she returned to the basket and withdrew needles and thread.She looked to Isabelle.“I’m afraid I don’t have a fourth hoop.”
“That’s quite all right,” Isabelle said, feeling relieved.Perhaps she could excuse herself from this lesson entirely.
Caroline crossed her arms over her chest and sent Miss Shipley a mutinous glare.“I don’t want to embroider.”On second thought, Isabelle decided she should stay.
“Perhaps you can just watch today,” Miss Shipley said kindly.
Isabelle felt sorry for the woman.None of this was her fault.She’d been hired to do a job, and she was simply trying to do it.
“I’ll try it,” Isabelle said, hoping to bolster Miss Shipley’s confidence and show Caroline that embroidery wasn’t so bad.
Ten minutes and several stab wounds later, Isabelle revised her opinion.Embroidery had clearly been created by the devil himself.She could mend a tear or sew a button, but jabbing a needle into fabric for the purpose of creating a design was clearly beyond her.
Miss Shipley unraveled the second knot Isabelle had created and handed the hoop back to her.“Just take it slow.Once you master a single stitch, the rest will fall into place.”
Right now, mastering a single stitch seemed as achievable as sitting in the House of Lords.Still, Isabelle would persist.It was important for the girls to know they shouldn’t give up in the face of adversity.Or killer needles.
“I did it!”Beatrice exclaimed, presenting her row of perfect stitches to Isabelle.
Smiling, Isabelle glanced toward the new governess, who looked over at them with something akin to envy.“Show Miss Shipley,” Isabelle told Beatrice.
Beatrice presented her embroidery to Miss Shipley, but had lost some of the ebullience she’d displayed a moment ago.It was going to take time for them to welcome the new woman into their lives.Isabelle only hoped Miss Shipley would be patient.So far, she believed that would be the case.
Turning to Caroline, who was seated beside her, Isabelle asked if she wanted to try.
Caroline shook her head.“No.Embroidery is boring.And dangerous.Your finger is still bleeding.”
Isabelle looked down and saw there was now a small red dot on the fabric.She winced and sent an apologetic look toward Miss Shipley.
“How are things going this morning?”Lady Barkley swept into the library and glided to stand between Miss Shipley’s chair and the settee.“Embroidery lessons, how splendid.”As she looked over the settee, she frowned.“Why aren’t you sewing, Caroline?”
“I don’t want to.”Caroline didn’t even try to erase the bitterness from her tone.
“Caroline, you will cease that attitude this instant.”Lady Barkley turned her attention toward Miss Shipley.“Why is Mrs.Cortland sewing and Caroline is not?”
Miss Shipley stared up at the baroness and seemed to have difficulty forming words.Isabelle jumped to the rescue.“When Caroline demonstrated her reluctance to try it, I thought I would show her how pleasing it could be.”
“Only you didn’t because you keep making knots, and you’ve bled all over it.”Tears swam in Caroline’s eyes, and Isabelle had to stop herself from wrapping the girl in a tight hug.She would’ve done it if Lady Barkley wasn’t standing there staring at them in stern disapproval.
“It looks as though I’ve come at just the right time to suggest a walk.Come, girls, your hats and gloves are in the hall.”Lady Barkley pursed her lips at Isabelle, her gaze lingering on the bloodstained handkerchief in her lap.“Perhaps you should stay and work on your needle skills.”
Torn between wanting to spend as much time with Beatrice and Caroline as possible and relief at not having to suffer Lady Barkley—when had the woman become her enemy?—Isabelle succumbed to relief.“I’ll do that, thank you.”
“Should I come too?”Miss Shipley asked.
Lady Barkley looked at the new governess as if she were daft.“Of course.”
Miss Shipley stood with alacrity, and Beatrice followed suit.She cast Isabelle a sad look that squeezed her heart.
Lady Barkley delivered her youngest an expectant stare.“Caroline?”
Rising with great reluctance, Caroline pushed out a frustrated breath.Isabelle gave the girl’s hand a squeeze and offered an encouraging smile.Still looking dejected, Caroline marched from the room.
As soon as they were gone, Isabelle set her ruined embroidery on Miss Shipley’s basket.She had no intention of working on needlepoint when she needed to find a job.
Instead, she went up to her room, a beautifully decorated chamber with a four-poster bed, an armoire and a dresser, a wide, warm hearth, and the best part: a desk.She would draft more inquiries today.
As she traversed the gallery toward her chamber, she encountered Lord Barkley, who greeted her with a warm smile, as if he hadn’t just turned her world upside down the day before.“You didn’t accompany Lady Barkley and the girls on their walk?”
