Page 50 of Dubious about the Duke (Second Sons of London 5)

“And ride,” Charlie reminded her.

“Yes. We can go to the stables today and talk to the head groom about mounts for you.”

Fortunately, Uncle West had insisted that Minta and she learn to ride. Though he preferred town life, he loved horses and instilled a love for them in both girls. She would enjoy teaching these boys how to ride.

“Finish your breakfast. The sooner you do, we may start our indoor lessons before moving outside.”

“Will His Grace come with us, Sera?” Charlie asked innocently. “To see the horses?”

“No. His Grace is a very important man and has a large estate to run. In fact, he owns several estates and has all kinds of business to attend to.”

“He knew our father,” Charlie told her.

“Then I suppose that is why he decided to take care of you after your mama passed,” she said lightly, her throat thickening with emotion.

“He’s nice,” Charlie said. “Isn’t he, Freddie?”

The other boy shrugged. “He did buy us meat pies.”

“And he brought us here and gave us clothes and our own beds,” Charlie pointed out.

“He gave us to them Birdwells—and they gave us right back. He didn’t really want us,” Freddie said.

“You are here now. Let us take advantage of His Grace’s kindness—and always be grateful for it,” Sera said.

She had them write out the alphabet and they said the letters together several times. Charlie confused B and P, saying they looked and sounded alike. They also wrote out their names. Charlie’s penmanship needed a little work. Sera thought Freddie deliberately wrote messily to test her and said nothing to correct him.

They wrote out the alphabet a second time and she taught them a song, repeating the tune until they had it down. Both boys had high, clear voices and they seemed to like to sing so she taught them a few ditties, which had them laughing. She decided she would need to mix academic work with other endeavors if she were to hold their attention.

Giving them the slates and chalk, she decided to start with simple, rhyming words. On her own slate, she wrotecatand had them sound it out. They copied her word on theirs and she asked what else sounded like cat but started with a different letter. Soon, they were writing rat and bat and sat and fat on their slates.

She tried other words which rhymed, keeping things simple. When Charlie suggested they usego, she agreed.

“But English is a peculiar language,” she noted. “That means odd. We take words from several other languages, which had different rules, and added them to our own. Because of that, sometimes things are spelled in an odd manner.Gois easy. As isso.”

She wrotesoon her slate.

“But there is alsosew.” She added that to the slate and told them its meaning.

Charlie frowned. “So two words sound alike but you spell them different ways?”

“Exactly!” she praised. “What else rhymes withgo?

“Mow,” Freddie said. “Row. Bow. Low.”

They added each of those words to their slates before Sera had them take parchment and make a list of the various rhyming words they had talked about. She thought writing down the words again, as well as having them practice their handwriting, would reinforce their learning.

Their attention began to wane, however, and she knew she might lose it so she said, “Let’s go exploring. We’ll go through the house first so you can learn all about it.”

Charlie looked guilty. “We went around it some. But we got in trouble, Sera. We broke a vase in a big room and knocked a hen to the floor in the kitchens. A lady said it was supposed to be for dinner.”

“Were you running either time?”

“Yes,” Charlie admitted.

“Well, there’s no running in a house because those kind of accidents can happen. Running is for outside and we will do lots of that.”

“Can we go outside now and run?” Freddie pleaded. “We can see the house later.”

“All right. Good thing I wore my boots.” She stuck out her foot and hiked her skirts so the boys could see.

“They look old,” Freddie said.

“I have had them a long time,” she admitted. “They’ve been patched up three times because I am so fond of them and don’t wish to give them up.”

“Perhaps you’ll need new ones after you’ve traipsed about Kingwood,” a deep voice said.

Turning, Sera already knew who stood at the schoolroom door.

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