"I'm happy with whatever hours you give me, my lord," she replied sweetly, feeling that anxiousness stir inside of her. Even though she had begun to settle, she couldn't get completely comfortable until she knew the job was hers. If it was hers. "I will do whatever you need, whenever it's needed."
"Good," he murmured, and his lips quirked into another little half-smile. "You’ll have a room on the premises if offered the position, of course, but be advised that my brother is due home from his travels soon." His eyes flickered to the door as if expecting him to appear. "We don't always get on, but I assure you he isn't any trouble. He never stays long anyway..." trailing off, Lord Arvill uttered a sigh. He seemed to snap back to himself, though, blinking at Alicia as if only just remembering she was there. "Anyway, I have a few more questions and things to discuss before making any decisions."
Her chest lurched, and Alicia nodded perhaps too vigorously, her bun tugging loose. A strand fell in front of her eyes, and she hastily swiped it away. Hopefully, she at least didn't look too disheveled after practically running the entire way here. Although her breathing had long since returned to normal, she still felt the uncomfortable cling of sweat despite the chill.
"I don't wish for details, because it simply isn't my business, but I need to know if there's anything in your life that could impact your ability to do this job." A deep breath, his eyes fixed on Alicia. "I won't stand for drama or excuses, nor will I allow my staff's personal lives to get in the way of their job." His earlier smile had vanished, and Lord Arvill was all business once again.
Alicia winced under his harsh gaze. She bit down on her lip but forced herself to meet his eyes. There was nothing in her life that could influence her. Since the death of her parents, the days had begun to stream into one. There was nothing to break up the monotony. Her life was, suffice to say, dull. She didn't say as much, of course, only murmuring, "No, my lord. I am happy to dedicate myself to these children, and I will keep my personal life completely separate."
Another scribble on the parchment, although Alicia noticed that no other papers were lying around. It suggested that he was taking notes on her alone, and truthfully, she didn't know what to make of that. Was it a sign that she did better than the other candidates? Or was it simply just a matter of looking professional? For all she knew, he wasn't writing notes at all, and it was simply for appearances.
Wincing, Alicia cast her gaze outside instead. The gray clouds were slowly drifting past, having cleared enough to give the barest hints of the blue sky. What sunlight managed to filter through was weak, but it still cast a beautiful glow across the garden. The garden itself was magnificent, stretching on for miles and miles in every direction-
"Miss Sempill?"
Head snapping towards Lord Arvill, Alicia felt her cheeks heat up. "Oh, I'm sorry - I was simply admiring the gardens. They're beautiful."
His expression softened, shoulders slackening. "They are, aren't they? The gardeners do most of the work, of course, but in the past, my father used to enjoy tending to the flowers in spring."
"That sounds lovely," Alicia replied - and she meant it. She had fond memories from before the death of her Mama, gardening together. They had spent hours in their little patch of land at the back of the house, planting flower seeds and vegetables and all sorts of things. Neither of them were good with plants, though, and most died by the end of the year. Still, it had been nothing if not exciting to watch the flowers grow.
"If you get the position," Lord Arvill said cautiously, as if too afraid to tell her outright that it was hers, "then you'll have free rein of both the manor and its land. However, the children aren't allowed to go alone; there's a lot of space for young children to get lost, even if they insist that they know the gardens as well as the house. Which brings me to my next point," he continued, his intense blue eyes fixed back on Alicia, "Expected duties. You will be expected to know where they are at all times, even if they insist it isn't necessary. They are to have arithmetic lessons in the morning, reading and writing after lunch, and exercise in the afternoon. Following that, they are to wash and change for dinner, after which you will be dismissed. I would appreciate it if you could teach them history as well; is that something you can do?"
Her education wasn’t as sharp as it could have been as she had only attended public school for the first few years. Papa had decided when she was seven that homeschooling was the way to go; after which, she had picked up learning tremendously fast. "I believe I can teach them the basics of English history, yes."
"What about geography?"
Alicia deflated, feeling disappointment fill her chest. "I'm afraid not, my lord."
His frown was gentle but still enough to make Alicia wince and shrink back into her seat. There goes my chance, she thought bitterly, and I tried so hard, too.
Except he didn't end the interview then, just like she expected. Instead, he simply shrugged his broad shoulders and said, "Well, never mind. I can always hire a specialist teacher for geography lessons. I don't expect you to know everything, Miss Sempill."
She tried to utter thank you, but all that left Alicia's lips was a drawn-out sigh of relief. Perhaps things weren't so terrible after all. In fact, she could almost let herself believe that things were going well.
"One last question," Lord Arvill said after a moment. He pushed the papers away and folded his arms, leaning across the desk to look her directly in the eyes. Alicia couldn't look away, and his intense expression never wavered. "Would you like to meet the children now?"
Oh. That was all? She thought that he was going to berate her or ask an impossible question that she couldn't answer. This, she could deal with. "I would love to," she replied, putting every ounce of false confidence into her voice. It didn't hurt to try, did it?
Lord Arvill stood, brushing invisible creases from his trousers. "They're upstairs in the playroom, which is coincidentally next to the room you will be using for lessons." He gestured to the door. "Now, they've never had a governess or even a nanny before, so I can't say for sure how they will react. I hope you understand that this will decide whether I hire you or not."
Alicia nodded as she scrambled to her feet, almost tumbling over her skirts in the rush. She was only trying to impress - but perhaps she was trying too hard, and only making even more of a fool of herself in the process.
Chapter Four
Lord Arvill led her up the enormous grand staircase, which had so many steps that Alicia lost count after twenty-two. The sound of their footsteps echoed throughout the entire entrance, eerie in the otherwise complete silence.
When they reached the top, Alicia was greeted with the sight of two long, dark hallways. It was probably too much effort to keep the entire house lit all at once, but she didn't particularly fancy the idea of wandering in the dimness. At either end of the hallway were windows that provided a thin stream to light the way.
"Jenny and Samuel are twins," Lord Arvill said as he led her down the leftmost hallway. "Nine years old, but they don't always act it. I would appreciate it if you could try to be gentle with them. Good impressions and all that."
Alicia only hummed in agreement, not trusting her words. She would treat them with the utmost kindness, of course, not least because they were the marquess' family but because they had lost their father. Perhaps it hadn't been an exceptionally recent loss, but Alicia knew from experience, that these things tended to hang around for years.
They finally reached a door unlike the rest; this one was cracked open just a touch so that when Alicia peeked inside, she saw a flutter of movement.
"Children," Lord Arvill announced, swinging open the door to stride inside, "there is somebody I'd like you to meet."
Laughter filled the room and filtered into the hall. "Who is it?" a childish voice asked, "A new friend?"
