“Yes, Miss Darrington,” Eleri said, and Ffion nodded.
“And, Ffion, is it pretty there?” Georgette said, smiling at the quiet twin and hoping to draw her out just a little.
“Oh, it is verrry pretty, Miss.” Ffion’s voice was so tiny and her accent so pronounced that Georgette smiled. To hear so small a girl roll her Rs was a joy to listen to, and Georgette felt a sudden wish to gather Ffion up and hold her tightly.
“It is near a big mountain, is it not?” Georgette had never been to Wales but hoped that her reading on the country would be enough to hold the girls’ interest.
“It is near Mount Snowdon, Miss Darrington,” Eleri said, clearly finding herself at ease just a little before her sister.
“And have you walked all the way to the top of Mount Snowdon?” Georgette said, her eyes wide and her face bright and interested.
“No, Miss Darrington. Ffion and I are too little yet, for it is such a big mountain. You can see it from our house in Beddgelert!”
“How wonderful. What a lovely sight that must be to see every day.” Georgette almost laughed as she thought of the view from her old bedroom window in the heart of Mayfair.
“Beautiful,” Ffion said so quietly that Georgette could hardly hear her.
“And should you like to walk up the mountain when you are bigger?” Georgette wanted to keep their little conversation flowing.
“Yes, but I do not think we are going back,” Eleri said sadly. “And we need to be much bigger to walk up it. Our mama walked up it before we were born, she said, but she was grown up then. She walked up it with our Nain and Taid when she first arrived. That is what she told us.”
“Nain and Taid?” Georgette said, never having heard the words before.
“Our grandparents,” Eleri said and Ffion nodded.
“Grandmother is Nain and Grandfather is Taid,” Ffion said, and Georgette was pleased to see that she seemed to be growing in confidence.
“What lovely words. I have never heard them before.” Georgette smiled and found herself captivated by the adorable little girls.
What a dreadful thing it would be for them to have their heritage stolen from them by an uncaring guardian and a nurse who was all too quick to agree to his unreasonable demands. Already, Georgette was wondering how she would manage to bring a book of Welsh words and phrases into Draycott Hall without being caught out.
She was also wondering where the children’s mother was; the woman who had walked up Mount Snowdon with the children’s grandparents before the little girls were born. In truth, she could do no other than fear that the woman was deceased, for why else would the children be living in a Duke’s mansion in England and not in Beddgelert where they could see the beautiful mountain from their house?
And were their Nain and Taid the parents of their mother or their father? If their mother was, indeed, deceased, what had become of their father? And why could they not have stayed in Wales with him or their grandparents?
The tiny girls were so young and fragile that Georgette knew she could not press them any further in an attempt to discover more. She would simply have to find out the rest of their story by other means.
“So, are you pleased to have a governess again so that your lessons can begin properly?” Georgette changed the subject altogether and did so in a bright and cheerful manner.
“Yes, we were sad when Miss Quentin left,” Eleri said, and both girls looked down at the top of the great table.
“Did you like Miss Quentin very much?”
“Yes.” Eleri nodded.
“She was nice,” Ffion said, her voice a little tremulous. “But she went away.”
“I am very sorry to hear that. Was Miss Quentin here with you for long?”
“Not really, Miss Darrington. Just a little while, but it was nice,” Eleri said.
“And there was another governess here before Miss Quentin?” Georgette knew that she was digging for information again but rather thought talk of the previous governesses put her on much safer ground than talk of the children’s parents might.
“Yes, that was Miss Erskine,” Eleri said, squinting in her effort to draw the memory of the woman to mind.
“She was nice too,” Ffion said, looking sad once again.
“Was Miss Erskine here with you for long?”
“I think it was a shorter time than Miss Quentin was,” Eleri said. “And the lady before was here an even shorter time than that.” She paused for a moment, her chubby face wrinkled in concentration. “But I cannot remember her name.” She looked at Ffion who shook her head. Clearly, Ffion could not bring her to mind either.