A Nanny For Keeps

“Perhaps,” Rebecca had said. “But he might not be interested in them.”

“I suppose only time will tell.” And she really didn’t want to think about that possibility. His daughters had enough to adjust to as things were.

She’d been relieved when Rebecca had changed the subject and suggested they take the girls on an outing. They made plans to take them to Central Park, and after they’d told the girls, that was all Polly and Lilly could talk about on the way home.

“Nanny never wanted to take us to the big park,” Lilly had said. “We asked, but she just was too afraid.”

“Well, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Perhaps she was a little nervous being in a new country and all,” Georgia said.

“But we aren’t nervous. Papa said America was a wonderful place and where Mama was born. What is there to be frightened of?” Polly asked.

Oh, the innocence of a child. “One should always be cautious when going out, but when people are in a place they’ve never been before, it isn’t uncommon for some to be quite apprehensive. Your English nanny was raised in a smaller place than New York City. So was I, and it takes getting used to going out and about in a place this large,” Georgia said.

If it hadn’t been for living at Heaton House and going in and out with the other boarders, she would have been quite fearful. It hadn’t taken long to understand why Mrs. Heaton always insisted her female boarders had male escorts, or went in a group if they went out of an evening. But Polly and Lilly were too young to understand that now. And there was no need to make them fearful. “But I soon got used to it and I’m sure your nanny would have, too, had she stayed long enough.”

“I miss her,” Polly said, “but I’m glad we have you.”

“Thank you, Miss Polly. I appreciate you saying so. Now rest a bit before you see your papa. He’ll want to know about your day when you see him.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Polly said, then yawned.

They’d played hard with Jenny, and Lilly’s eyes were closing as Georgia pulled a light cover over her. She pulled the shades on the windows and went downstairs to ask Mrs. Biddle for a cup of tea.

She wasn’t expecting to run into Sir Tyler in the foyer. “Miss Marshall. You’re back. I was just going to see if Tate had seen you come in.”

“Oh, we’ve been back awhile. I’m sorry—did you need me or the girls?”

“No, I was a little surprised that you weren’t here for lunch—”

“Oh! Should I have asked if it was all right to—”

“No, I gave you freedom to plan their days. And it’s fine. I wasn’t actually here at noon, either. I had lunch with Michael Heaton. I’ve decided to lease an office in his building, but maybe I should have waited a while longer. Do you think it will be too hard for them to have me working away from home with all the changes I’ve put them through?”

“I don’t know. Are they used to having time with you during the day? And how far is the office from here?”

“The office is on Third Avenue in Michael Heaton’s building. I usually see my daughters in the morning and check in on them at lunchtime. Then, of course, there is teatime, when Nanny brought them in. And I... Things have been different since their mother passed away and we don’t really have a schedule. I’ve been hoping you’d help with that.”

“I can try. And if the girls aren’t used to spending a lot of time with you during the day, I doubt that setting up your office a few blocks away will upset them too much. If you were needed, you’d be able to get home quickly. I suppose we’ll just have to see how it goes.”

He visibly relaxed and Georgia breathed a sigh of relief. Sir Tyler wasn’t angry with her. He seemed to be trying to find his way through the painful adjustment of raising his daughters without his wife. And as Georgia’s heart melted in compassion for the man, she prayed she’d be able to help him.

* * *

By the end of the first week, Georgia felt as if she might be able to handle the nanny position. The girls seemed to like her and they were well behaved—at least so far.

They were very close and whispered between themselves quite often, and they seemed to get along with each other exceptionally well. Of course, that was most likely due to the loss they shared. Her heart hurt for them each time she thought about how much they’d been through.

But she was still having a hard time adjusting with the way Sir Tyler parented. Evidently wealthy English parents didn’t spend quite as much time with their children as American ones did. Or maybe that wasn’t quite fair. It could be that the wealthy of both countries did things differently. Even among her friends in Ashland, not all of them had parents like hers.

Still, she knew Sir Tyler loved his girls. He’d made that very plain from the beginning. She could see it in his eyes when he watched them together. But he just didn’t seem to have any idea how to really interact with them.

She almost hated to leave them on Friday evening, but she’d promised Polly and Lilly that she’d be there early Monday morning and that seemed to satisfy them.

Georgia headed downstairs to let Sir Tyler know they were ready for him to listen to their prayers. It was something she’d begun to do each evening, hoping to give them a bit more time with him.

Mr. Tate was at the bottom of the stairs and must have been waiting for her, for he nodded and said, “Sir Tyler asked me to tell you he is in his study, Miss Marshall.”

“Thank you, Mr. Tate.” He led the way and Georgia was left to follow.

“Miss Marshall, Sir Tyler.”

“Please come in,” Sir Tyler said, getting up from his chair and motioning to a chair adjacent to his. “Would you like some tea before you leave?”

“No, thank you.”

Georgia took the seat as he turned to his butler. “Thank you, Tate. That will be all for now.”

He then sat back down. “I suppose my girls are ready for me to come up and hear their prayers.”

“They are. They were giggling with each other before I got out of the room.”

“I can’t tell you how that warms my heart. They’ve always gotten along well, but I haven’t heard many giggles lately—not until you came to us. I wanted to be sure and let you know how much I appreciate whatever it is you’ve done to bring that about.”

“Oh, I’m not sure I can take credit for that, Sir Tyler. I—”

The expression in Sir Tyler’s eyes when he shook his head and smiled at her had her heart skittering in her chest.

“Oh, I believe you can. At any rate, thank you.” He slipped his hand into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out an envelope. “This is your first week’s pay.”

“Oh, I wasn’t expecting to get paid so quickly. Thank you.” She took the envelope from him and their fingers brushed, making her catch her breath. She hoped he couldn’t tell how flustered she felt.

“You’re welcome.” He stood and so did she. “I suppose I’d best go listen to those prayers. They already pray for you, you know.”

“How sweet,” Georgia said as they walked out into the foyer. “I pray for them as well. I’ll see you all on Monday or at church on Sunday, I suppose.”

“You will. Have a good weekend, Miss Marshall.”

“You, too, Sir Tyler.”

He gave another smile and turned to the stairs while Mr. Tate showed her out.

“Good night, Miss Marshall,” the butler said.

“Good night, Mr. Tate.”

She heard the door shut behind her and hurried over to the steps of Heaton House. Happy as she was to have the weekend off, she felt a little guilty for leaving Sir Tyler and Mr. Tate.

Then she scolded herself. She wasn’t indispensable, after all! She heard the boarders in the parlor as soon as she opened the door and hurried inside to join them.

“Georgia! How nice it is to have you home for more than a few hours!” Julia exclaimed.

“Oh, it is!” Emily added.

“I’m glad to be here. I’ve missed evenings at Heaton House. What have you got planned for the weekend?”

“Your favorite meal, for one,” Mrs. Heaton said from behind her. “It’s good to know we have you for the whole weekend.”

“Mostly we’re going to enjoy spending time with you,” Julia said. “But remember, Matt and Millicent’s housewarming is next Saturday.”

“Oh! I’d forgotten about that. Are we going in together on a gift?”

“We were just talking about that. Mrs. Heaton suggested we get a brass bowl similar to what we got for the other couples. We can go down tomorrow morning and pick one out together, if you’d all like,” Julia said.

“Oh, I’d love to help.” And hopefully it would take her mind off of Sir Tyler and his daughters. The girls should be asleep by now, but what was he doing? She always wondered about that once she left. The first night, she’d stopped at the window of the upstairs hall that looked out on Mrs. Heaton’s garden. She’d seen a glow of lamplight on the courtyard next door and thought it must be coming from Sir Tyler’s study window.

And as she went up for the night with the others tonight, she was drawn to that window once more after the other girls went to their rooms. Sure enough, a splash of light shone on the yard. She hoped Sir Tyler was working, for the thought of him just sitting all by himself in his study late at night saddened her deeply.

Dear Lord, please help them to have a good weekend. I do feel so bad about leaving them. And yet the girls are asleep and Sir Tyler is doing whatever it is he does of an evening. I’m sure he has his own routine, and besides, it’s none of my business at all! I must stop thinking of him so much. Please help me to put him out of my mind and remember that my job is to see that his daughters are well taken care of in my charge. And that is all. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.

Chapter Five

The weekend passed quite pleasantly for Georgia. She’d gone with Julia and Betsy to Macy’s to look for the brass bowl for Matt and Millicent on Saturday morning, and then the group went to the ice-cream parlor for sodas that evening after dinner. She did get to see Polly and Lilly the next day at church and they seemed as glad to see her as she was to see them, as they ran up to her as soon as the service was over.

She also remembered to broach the subject of their wardrobes to Sir Tyler once the girls ran off to talk to Jenny. “I did want to speak to you about something and I kept forgetting last week—”

“You aren’t going to give notice, are you?” he asked.

The concern in his eyes had her rushing to reassure him. “Oh, no! I’m sorry to have given you any cause to worry. No, it’s about the girls’ wardrobes. I think they might need some new things and—”

His laughter was a sound she hadn’t heard before and it warmed her heart to know she’d evidently relieved his mind.

“Their wardrobe? Of course. I’m glad you brought it to my attention. We’ll decide what to do tomorrow.”

“Thank you. That sounds good. I know you want them to—”

“Look like proper young ladies. And you’re right about that. In fact, their nanny mentioned something about it when I took her to the ship, but I was so upset about her leaving, I’m afraid I didn’t pay much attention.”

“That’s understandable. We’ll take care of it.”

“We will. I’m sure they could use a few new things,” Sir Tyler said.

They needed more than a few items, but she’d wait until the next day to go into detail about all that.

As the girls had waved goodbye to her, Georgia had almost wished she was going with them. She feared she’d become attached to them much too quickly, but how did one keep from doing so when they had no mother to turn to?

Still, she had to remind herself that she was only their acting nanny and that she would be replaced one day. She couldn’t let herself become too fond of them—or their papa.

He’d been very kind to her, but she really knew little about him other than he was part of English gentry and had been married to a wealthy American, according to Mrs. Heaton. Besides, she just could not trust her instincts where men were concerned. Otherwise she wouldn’t have believed that she would marry Phillip for all those years. She still thought he’d led her on. But at the same time, Georgia felt she should have seen the truth. It was her sister that Phillip was truly interested in and he was only using Georgia as a reason to visit and see Meredith.

Georgia still felt a little pang remembering the day they’d announced their engagement. It’d been all she could do to stay in the room and congratulate them instead of running up to her bedroom to sob as she’d done later that night.

If she couldn’t trust her intuition with someone she’d known all her life, how could she ever trust it with a man she barely knew? And why was she even thinking about any of this anyway? She believed Sir Tyler was still mourning his loss. And even if he wasn’t, she’d vowed never to lose her heart to another man. No matter how kind and handsome he was.

Now, on Monday morning, as she let herself into the Walker home and greeted Mrs. Biddle, she shored up her resolve and turned her attention to the job she’d been hired to do.

She hurried upstairs to find the girls still asleep, which surprised her, for they’d been up waiting for her all last week. It looked as if they might be hiding under the covers and she grinned. They probably thought they’d jump out and give her a scare when she approached. “Polly? Lilly? Are you being sleepyheads today?”

She gave the small mound in Polly’s bed a little shake, but it felt very soft, and when she pulled off the covers it was to find only a pillow all punched up.

The mound in Lilly’s bed looked suspiciously the same and Georgia didn’t bother with a nudge. Instead she threw the covers off to find the younger girl’s pillow pretending to be her.

Maybe they were in their bathroom hiding from her. She hurried across the floor and knocked on the door. When there was no answer, she threw it open only to find it empty. Her stomach felt as if she’d just swallowed a heavy rock as she hurried to the playroom. Surely they were there. Only they weren’t.

Where could they be? And why would they be hiding from her? She hurried back downstairs, heart pounding, praying that they were just pulling some kind of prank and hadn’t run off.

She stopped in the morning room and looked out into the yard, but they weren’t there. Then she heard a little giggle and then another. She followed the sound into the breakfast room, where they were sitting at the table, all dressed—if not properly—and grinning from ear to ear as she entered.

“Surprise!” Polly said. She was smiling but Georgia could tell she was a little apprehensive about her reaction.

She tried to keep her voice normal and not give away how concerned she was at their actions. It didn’t seem like them at all, but then, she’d known them only a week. “Girls, you know you’re supposed to wait until I get here and help you get dressed to come down to breakfast. Mrs. Biddle hasn’t begun yours yet. Let’s go up and get you dressed in something a little more becoming before your papa sees you. Unless you want him to fire me?”

“Oh, no, Miss Georgia!” Polly said. “We don’t want that!” She jumped up from her chair. “Come on, Lilly, hurry. We don’t want to get Miss Georgia in trouble.”

“But I thought you—”

Georgia saw Polly shake her head at her younger sister. “Hurry, before Papa or Mr. Tate see us!”

Georgia hurried behind them and let go of a relieved sigh when they made it back to the girls’ room without being detected. Something was going on here, but she didn’t know what it was, at least not yet. However, now was not the time to question them—they needed to get back downstairs. But she had to find out what caused the girls to act in such a way.

She quickly got them changed into something more presentable and brushed their blond hair up and tied it with ribbons that matched their dresses. Then they headed back downstairs, the girls whispering in front of her.

They slipped into their chairs just before Mrs. Biddle brought in their breakfast and Georgia could see the relief in their eyes. Evidently they knew she was disturbed by their actions, for they were more subdued than usual.

“My goodness, it’s quiet in here this morning,” Sir Tyler said from the doorway. “Are you all feeling all right?”

“Good morning, Papa!” both girls said in unison. But they flashed Georgia a look as if begging her not to tell their father of their actions.

“I believe we’re all well, Sir Tyler,” Georgia said. “But they do seem a bit quiet this morning—did you overdo things at the park yesterday?”

“I don’t think so. Do I need to summon a doctor?”

“No, Papa,” Polly said. “We’re fine.”

“I believe it’s taking them a bit of time to fully wake up this morning.”

“Hmm, Lilly didn’t have a bad night, did she?” Sir Tyler asked Polly. “You promised to call me if she does.”

“I slept good last night, Papa,” Lilly said.

“I’m glad.”

Georgia didn’t realize that Lilly sometimes had trouble sleeping. Perhaps she should ask Sir Tyler about that when they were alone. She needed to speak to him about their wardrobes anyway.

As if he read her thoughts, Sir Tyler turned to her. “Miss Marshall, could you come to the study once you get the girls settled down after breakfast? There’s something I’d like to speak to you about.”

“I’d be glad to, Sir Tyler.”

“I’ll see you then. Girls, you mind Miss Marshall and don’t give her any trouble, you hear?”

“We won’t, Papa,” Polly said.

“We will, Papa,” Lilly said. “Will mind, of course.”

Did he know about their trick this morning? Georgia didn’t know how he could have—unless the maid or Mr. Tate saw something. With Sir Tyler’s invitation, it appeared she’d soon find out.

* * *

With pleas not to tell their papa of their mischievous behavior that morning still ringing in her ears, Georgia headed down to Sir Tyler’s study. She’d promised the girls that she wouldn’t tattle on them, but if their papa asked, she’d have to tell the truth.

She left them with the assignments she’d given them and was sure they’d do their very best. They’d apologized several times and she’d accepted, but when she asked why they’d pulled such a prank, they clammed up.

Mr. Tate seemed to know the minute she came downstairs and was there when her foot hit the last step.

“Miss Marshall, Sir Tyler said he was expecting you. Come along and I’ll let him know you’re here.”

“Thank you, Mr. Tate.” She followed him to the study, although she could have got there on her own. But Mr. Tate truly did seem to run this household and she wondered again if he knew about the girls coming down early.

“Sir Tyler, Miss Marshall is here,” he said.

“Please show her in, Tate.”

The butler motioned her in and then seemed to disappear, although Georgia had a feeling he was camped just outside the door.

Sir Tyler had stood when she entered and motioned her to take a seat in one of the chairs flanking the fireplace. When she sat down, he took the other. “Now, before we get to the subject of the girls’ wardrobes, I must ask you something. Have my girls been giving you any trouble? Tate seems to think they were up to some mischief this morning.”

Georgia’s promise to his daughters was fresh in her mind and she wasn’t sure how to answer. She didn’t want to get Polly and Lilly in trouble. She wanted to help them—and their father.

“They haven’t really—”

“Miss Marshall, did they send you hunting for them today?”

At his point-blank question, she could answer only one way. “They did. But I believe they thought I might think it was funny.”

“Are you sure? I doubt it was fun trying to find them.”

Mr. Tate must have seen much more than she thought he had. “It wasn’t. But they didn’t seem themselves this morning and I wondered... Did anything happen this weekend that I should know about?”

She felt impertinent even asking and waited for Sir Tyler to put her in her place, but instead he let out a sigh.

“No, not that I know of. But my daughters don’t always confide in me. It’s something I’d like to change but I’m not sure how to.” He seemed to think he’d said too much as he stopped and shook his head.

“They seemed fine this whole weekend and were looking forward to seeing you today,” he continued. “They were a little upset I hadn’t asked you over yesterday afternoon, though. I suppose they thought that since you came over the Sunday before, you’d come again. But I explained that you had things you needed to do on weekends. They seemed to understand, but then, I sometimes wonder if I expect too much comprehension from them.”

“Perhaps. They’re still very young. I hope you won’t punish them for this morning. They begged me not to tell you and I know they don’t want to upset you.”

Sir Tyler rubbed a hand over his chin and shook his head once more before smiling at her. “I agree not to mention it, if you promise to tell me if they pull any more shenanigans. And please, if they do tell you why they hid from you today, let me know.”

“Of course I will.”

“Good. Now, about their wardrobes. What is it they need?”

“Well, I’m afraid it’s more than just a few things. They’ve outgrown many of their outfits and the styles are always changing. I’m not sure how you expect them to look.”

“Why, like other young girls their age, I suppose.”

“Sir Tyler, there are those who set style in this city and those who try to get as close to it as they can. But the very wealthy do often have more and better clothing than others.”

“I see. I think. But I admit to not knowing much about feminine attire. Or what is in style at any given time. I want them to look well dressed, but not necessarily on the same scale as royalty in England or those in league with the Vanderbilts and the Astors. While my daughters will inherit some wealth, it will not be on that scale.”

Georgia understood what he was saying, but there were many degrees of wealth and most tried to keep up with the style of the very wealthy. Even the middle classes tried to dress in style, even if not having custom clothing made for them.

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