“Well, they would be better accepted here if they stopped speaking the way they do. It would not take much effort for them to speak properly, would it?” Mrs Wells looked entirely satisfied with herself, and Georgette grew ever more furious.
“And how would you like it, Mrs Wells, if I passed comment upon the way that you speak? After all, you and I sound very different, do we not?”
“You think you are better than me, and that is the truth.”
“That was not the point I was trying to make, Mrs Wells. But you have rather proved it for me nicely. You have taken complete offence at the idea that I think myself better than you because I have a better education and speak differently. Well, how do you think it is any better for you to make the children feel as I have just made you feel now? And they are children, let us not forget that.”
“Mrs Griffin was right about you,” Mrs. Wells said, clearly intent to nurture her own offence and think nothing of the offence and upset she herself had given. “Well, you will come to regret the day you ever agreed to work here, and that is the truth.”
“Do not dare to threaten me. Get out of my sight,” Georgette said furiously.
“You cannot tell me what to do. You are not above me.”
“In terms of the care of the children, I am very much above you,” Georgette said, standing her ground firmly.
“Well, we shall just have to see what His Grace has to say about that, won’t we?”
“Indeed, we shall, Mrs Wells,” Georgette said. She was most determined not to crumble before such threats.
In truth, however, Georgette did not feel at all keen about the idea of taking the latest outrage before the Duke himself. She had no doubts at all that he would simply dismiss the whole thing. Perhaps it was a good thing that he was not currently at Draycott Hall. At least in his absence, things might well have the chance to settle down somewhat. Of course, now that she had argued so violently with Mrs Wells, Georgette rather thought she would be in for very much worse than burnt toast and cold water.
Without another word, Mrs Wells marched away down the corridor; her robust and rather lumpen frame seeming quite ungainly at speed.
Georgette took a few moments to steady herself but, rather thinking she ought to get back to the children, she put her hands to her hair to straighten it and then walked happily back into the schoolroom.
“Bore da, Ffion,” she said brightly. “Bore da, Eleri.”
“Bore da, Miss Darrington,” Eleri said with a broad smile brightening her tearstained face.
“Good morning, Miss Darrington,” Ffion said, with much less certainty.
Hearing Ffion quietly refusing to speak in her own language gave Georgette the curious feeling of being heartbroken and furious in equal measure. These girls were not simply losing their heritage, they were having it bullied out of them, and she would not stand for it a moment longer.
“Well, my dear little girls, shall we start our lessons today with a little nature walk?” With both of them tearstained and shaken, Georgette knew that she must do something to lift them just a little.
It was a beautiful day, and a walk in nature might well help to restore a little balance to their lives. In truth, Georgette rather hoped that it would restore a little balance to her own life. However, even if the walk was of the very most fortifying, Georgette was most determined that, when the day was done, she would write off a letter to Henrietta and beg that she secretly sent her a little Welsh phrasebook.
With every attempt to remove the little that Eleri and Ffion had left, she would counteract it with a silent and secret fight of her own.
Chapter 14
“I realize that this is our first meeting to discuss the children’s progress since you have arrived here, Miss Darrington,” the Duke said, peering at her from the other side of his desk.
Georgette, standing in front of his desk with her hands clasped behind her back, rather felt like a naughty child and found herself shuffling a little from foot to foot.
“It ought really to have been days ago, Miss Darrington, but I had a rather unavoidable trip to London.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” Georgette said, feeling curiously exposed as she was left standing in front of him.
She realized, of course, that this was the lot of the servant. They were not invited into a room and shown to a seat, after all, were they? And yet she was not serving him tea. She was due to give him a very thorough detailing of the progress she had made with the children for whom he was guardian.
“Please do sit down, Miss Darrington,” he said, nodding towards a hard-looking wooden chair directly opposite him.