“No,” I said. “But looks can be deceiving.”
“My methods are unusual,” Bianca said. “But they work. You have to understand how children think and work with them.”
“Work with them how?” I said.
“You talk to them in a way they understand,” she said. “You tell them stories that engage their interest. Difficult kids are often very smart. They need to be taught differently to how most kids are.”
She was asking me to trust her with the son of my dead sister. But I couldn’t take that risk. He’d already seen three governesses come and go. He needed some stability in his life and I didn’t think she was the one who would provide it.
I got to my feet.
“Thank you for coming today,” I said. “We’ll be in touch.”
“Oh,” she said.
She scooped up her bag and shook my hand. She must have sensed something was wrong.
“If I said something wrong, I apologize,” she said. “If I could give you references, I would.”
“I know,” I said. “It’s just… he’s a very special boy. He’s had a hard time of it lately. Him acting up like this… It’s just a phase. He needs someone who’s going to be firm but fair with him. He needs to be forced into shape and I’m afraid your style of doing things isn’t going to do that.”
Bianca nodded but the look in her eyes was cold and hard.
“I see,” she said. “Well, thank you for your time. Don’t worry about showing me out. I know where the door is.”
She moved for it and froze when she reached it. She spoke without turning around.
“The governess you hired before me, the one who left abruptly? She was strict, wasn’t she?” she said.
“She could be at times, yes.”
“And he didn’t respond well to it.”
“No,” I said.
“And the governess you had as a kid, she was strict too? And you were a little wayward as a child and she straightened you out?”
I was gobsmacked.
“How did you know that?” I said.
She turned to face me.
“I’ve spent my life studying people,” she said. “I know them, understand them. I’ve seen how the experiences they had as children molded the adults they became. Maybe the approach that worked on you all those years ago isn’t the right approach to use with him. Maybe he needs more than just a governess.”
“What does he need?” I said.
“A friend.”
She let the word hang between us. I thought I was sizing her up for this position and instead she’d been the one sizing me up.
“Thank you for your time,” she said. “I hope you find the person you’re looking for.”
Her insinuation was clear: “It isn’t me.”
“Thank you,” I said distractedly.
She opened the door. Waev was there to escort her out. I watched her walk down the hallway and admired the way her skirt clung tightly to her hips and narrow waist.
Far too pretty, I thought. And far too smart. She would be a distraction. I needed to focus on my work, especially with funding my new mine.
I shut the door and hoped the next applicant would be more… typical for the role.
Dry, drab, strict, and unyielding.
Was that really what Cleb would react to?
Why not? It had straightened me out, hadn’t it?
For the most part.
I kept to my office for the next two hours, peeling through page upon page of dry legal documents. I ran a successful mining company and would open a new operation soon. But first I needed additional funding. I could put everything I had on the line to do it myself but it would be taking a huge risk.
I needed outside investment from trusted partners. I had to schmooze at various social gatherings over the next few weeks.
It was my biggest weakness. Socializing.
If only I could outsource it as I outsourced almost every other part of my business. But the investors wanted to meet the Titan behind the opportunity. I didn’t blame them. I would too.
I just wish it didn’t have to be me.
A scream.
I bolted to my feet and appraised it.
It wasn’t a scream of pain. It might have come from someone passing in the street outside the house. Sometimes people became overly excited.
When the scream didn’t repeat itself, I bent back down over my files.
Then it did come again.
Unless I missed my guess, I would have said it came from a young throat—from Cleb’s throat.
I was out of my chair faster than I could think. I ran to the door and threw it open. I peered up and down the halls but couldn’t see any of the servants.
Left, I thought. It’d come from that way.
I didn’t slow until I reached the glass doors that opened onto the broad garden. The sun was bright and caught the endless lawn and bushy woodland in the distance.
The other servants stood on the back patio, clapping their hands and grinning at the sight of Cleb running and turning, trying to escape from Bianca, who chased after him.
I stood there, slack-jawed. I had never heard Cleb smile before, never mind laugh. He’d transformed into a normal, happy little boy.
When the servants saw me watching, they immediately quietened down, lowered their heads, and stared at the floor. Some quickly hustled indoors.
Bianca brushed her hair back from her face and braced her hands on her hips. She panted when she looked up at me.
The world shifted on its axis.
Her face was fresh and red with exercise and filaments of hair clung to her sweaty forehead. She brushed it aside and didn’t seem concerned that she looked a bit of a mess.
I was, in a word, stunned.
Cleb took Bianca by the hand—another first—and led her toward the back door leading into the house. He drew up when he saw me.
“Oh,” he said. “Hi, Uncle.”
Uncle.
It was the first time he’d called me that. I realized with grim embarrassment that he’d never referred to me at all. Not by name, title, or otherwise.
How had I not noticed that before?
“Can I… have a word with you, please?” I said to Bianca.
“Sure,” she said.
