“There are always preparations to be made,” Martha said.
“Naturally, but we’ll want to wait for construction to finish, regardless.” Smith seamlessly transitioned the excuse from reason to another. “We’ll be in touch.”
We all rose and Smith showed her out of the room. When he returned, my eyebrow was etched into a question mark.
“Where did you find that battleaxe? I thought their type had gone extinct.”
“I think they were all simply banished to the countryside,” he said wearily. “Ready for round two?”
“Do you think they’ll all be like her?” I asked, wondering if our day would be full of disapproving Marthas.
“Let’s hope not.”
Our wish was granted, but not in the way we’d hoped. There were a few more stern, conservative governess types amongst the candidates, one former school-teacher, and an American college student clearly looking for a quick visa fix. None of them quite fit the bill. They all wanted live-in situations and full-time. I could hardly blame them for that.
“Doesn’t anyone just want something on the side?” I grumbled.
Smith reached down and grabbed my ankle, pulling it into his lap, he popped off my slipper and began to rub my foot. A moan spilled out of me and he chuckled under his breath.
“Never stop,” I ordered him, my eyes rolling back as I relaxed into the massage.
“Not stopping is what got you into this trouble in the first place, beautiful,” he reminded me in a gruff voice that sent my thoughts to darker places only he could take me.
“Shut up and rub my feet.”
He obliged, his strong hands working away the stress that had plagued me the whole week. “Maybe, we need to consider hiring someone full-time.”
My eyes flew open, the spell broken. “What? No.” I shook my head. “I don’t want someone else to raise our baby.”
“I don’t want that either,” he said in a soothing voice. “But honestly, I don’t want a stranger around her either. How do you know you can trust someone with your child if you don’t know them?”
“We can have them to dinner,” I said. “We don’t have to live with them.”
“It was just a thought.” The concession was anything but. I could hear as much in his voice. He’d come back to the topic later with better ammunition for his side of the argument.
“Maybe we don’t need a nanny at all.”
“Beautiful,” he used my nickname like a warning. “We’ve been over this.”
“You don’t want to give up Bless, and I don’t want you to either. With my new office, I’m going to have my hands full.”
“What’s the point of moving to the country if we don’t slow down? It would be easy to find a sitter in London. Jane. Edward. Clara. They’d all do it for free—and we know them. Plus, Buckingham comes with its own army. She’d be very safe.”
I waited for him to contradict me. Instead, he continued to the next foot. He was buying time. The truth was that I’d made this point a number of times. Each time he’d managed to avoid answering me. But we both knew the reason he didn’t want to be in London. He didn’t want any of them watching the baby. He didn’t want them around. In a way, I couldn’t blame him. After everything that had happened there—to us and those we loved—staying in the city seemed like a dangerous move. But the city was full of allies not strangers. I didn’t know how to make them see that.
The door opened and an unfamiliar dark head poked through the crack. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I was knocking, but…”
“Come in, Miss…”
“Ms. Welter,” she said, stepping inside.
I pulled away from Smith pushing my foot back into my shoe as he stood. When I looked up, I did a double take. The woman walking into the room couldn’t be more than twenty-two years-old but she was stunning. Not in your typical girl from the village way, though. She radiated confidence, managing to look posh in an ensemble I might find in my own closet down to a pair of leopard-print flats. Her dark hair, the color of bottled ink, swung around her shoulders. She smiled at me. “I didn’t mean to interrupt, but Humphrey told me I could find you in here.”
“It’s so loud out there,” I said as she bent to take a seat opposite us, smoothing her black pencil skirt down. “We should be the ones apologizing. I’m Belle. This is my husband, Smith.”
“Nora,” she offered, glancing around the room. “Your house is beautiful. At least, the bits that are done anyway.”
“Thank you,” Smith said with a laugh.
“Will it be done before the baby comes?” she asked, eying my stomach.
“I hope so,” I admitted, even though I’d pretty much given up that dream. She could arrive any day and there was still the wine cellar to complete, painting to be done, and a dozen other small projects. “I’m not certain construction and infants go hand in hand.”
“Babies can sleep through anything,” she said with a wave of her hand, showcasing neatly trimmed and polished nails. “Of course, I’m sure you two are ready to be done with it. I imagine it’s not terribly peaceful to feel as though you’re on the verge of invasion all the time.”
“No, it’s not,” Smith said. “So, why are you interested in the job?”
“It’s going to sound cliché.” She rolled her eyes. “But I love kids. I was studying to be a primary school teacher, but, money is tight and I thought maybe I’d take a little time off, save up, and go back part-time in the spring.”
“So, you’re in school?” I asked.
“Yes. Well, no. Not at the moment, I mean,” she said, looking flustered for the first time since arriving. “I do want to finish, and I will. It is a part-time position, right?”
“Is that okay?” I asked, waiting for the disappointment I’d come to expect.
“Yes,” she said brightly. “I’ll be available a lot for those early months, when you might need me more, but I’ll be able to go back in the spring, too. The timing is perfect.”
Even I had to admit it was.
“Tell us more about yourself,” Smith said. “Your application doesn’t have a lot of history.”
“I grew up in the North. I watched kids a lot when I was younger, but it seems strange to tell prospective employers to ring up your neighbor down the street. I could get some names and numbers, though, if you’d like.”
“That won’t be necessary,” I jumped in, knowing my husband would say yes. I knew he’d run a background check on her, if he hadn’t already.
“Also, I have to confess, I googled you,” she said.
“Oh.” I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
“And I just love the idea of Bless! It’s such a good idea. I know I can’t afford to buy half the outfits I fall in love with at the shops. You’re a genius.”
“No, not really.” I shook my head, feeling put on the spot, but Smith didn’t let it slide.
“She’s modest. She is a genius.” Smith’s eyes met mine and for a moment, we were the only ones in the room. When I finally broke the spell, I discovered her watching us with a dreamy smile.