Edie crouched down, balancing on her toes, and held out the doll she’d brought all the way from London. “I brought you a present.”

For a moment they both looked at the doll. She was very stylish lady, with painted yellow hair and a frock trimmed with real lace. Susannah did not reach out for the doll. Instead she looked away, to Gowan. “Is she my sister?” she demanded, pointing to Edie.

“She’s your new mother,” Gowan stated. “And ladies never point.”

Susannah’s chin firmed. “I wanted a sister. I told you. I said I wanted a sister. I don’t need a mother.” Her voice rose higher with each declaration. “I told you to bring me a sister smaller than I am.”

“And I informed you that I could not bring you a sister.” Gowan was clearly in danger of losing his usual imperturbability.

“I don’t need a mother because I’ve already had one of those,” the girl said, turning back to Edie, who was frozen in place. She came a step closer, so close that Edie could see a faint pattern of freckles on her nose.

“I’m sorry,” Edie said awkwardly. “I certainly don’t wish to replace your mother.”

Susannah’s eyes darkened. “No one can replace my mother because she’s dead. She’s gone. I don’t like you very much. And that doll is ugly.” She reached out and gave it a push.

Edie was still balanced precariously on her toes, and Susanna’s shove sent her tumbling backward, landing on her bottom in the gravel. Edie was so startled that she didn’t move, even though her legs were inelegantly splayed before her.

A murmur arose from the surrounding servants. They likely hadn’t witnessed such an interesting family drama since the death of the former duke. Not to mention a lady’s ankles, albeit ankles clad in lacy white stockings.

“Blast,” Layla muttered.

“Susannah!” Gowan bellowed. He bent down and helped Edie to her feet.

At the same moment, Miss Pettigrew stepped forward and grabbed the little girl by the elbow with one hand, giving her a hard whack on the bottom with the other. “You will apologize this moment,” she hissed. The nanny had red patches in her cheeks, and she was so furious that her eyes looked like black currants.

“It was just an accident,” Edie put in, not liking the way that Susannah’s body had jolted forward when she was spanked.

“No, it wasn’t!” Susannah retorted, her voice as strong as ever. “I don’t need a mother, and I told him. I don’t like you. So you can just go back where you came from. And take that ugly doll with you.” She tried to pull free of her nanny but couldn’t manage it.

Gowan stepped forward, his eyes kindling.

Edie quickly stooped down before the small girl. “I expect you are very sorry for hurting my feelings, aren’t you?”

“No.”

But something about Edie’s gaze must have sunk in. “I’m sorry,” Susannah said sullenly.

“If you don’t wish for this doll, I’m sure that someone here has a little girl at home who would love her.” Edie held out the doll again.

Susannah’s eyes went from the doll’s golden head to Edie’s. “I don’t want it,” she said, her tone hard. “You can throw it away.”

Edie straightened and handed the doll, rather blindly, to Bardolph. She felt as if she’d been kicked in the stomach.

“Edie, would you introduce me to Miss Susannah, please?” Layla asked gently.

“Susannah, this is my very dear stepmother, Lady Gilchrist.” Edie put a steel undertone in her voice. “Please make your curtsy.”

Susannah bobbed a curtsy.

Layla knelt down with no regard for her skirts. “Hello, Susannah.”

Edie was battling a sharp sense of utter failure. She looked down, trying to see Layla’s tip-tilted, smiling eyes and sweet mouth through a little girl’s eyes. Sure enough, Susannah’s shoulders softened a bit. “Hello.”

“I’ve brought you a present as well, though it’s not as nice as that beautiful doll.”

A cautious light shone in Susannah’s eye. “Really?”

Layla nodded. “It’s something I loved when I was your age.”

Susannah stepped closer, enough so that Layla could take her hand. “What is it?”

“A gingerbread princess. Have you ever eaten gingerbread?”

“No. Where is it?”

“She’s in the carriage,” Layla said, standing up. “Shall we find her?”

Miss Pettigrew moved forward. “I regret to say that it is time for Miss Susannah’s French lesson. Because she was extremely misbehaved this morning—which I am sorry to tell you is not uncharacteristic of her—she will have a double lesson, followed by an hour practicing deportment, after which she will lie on a board for an hour. Her posture is deplorable.”

Susannah slanted her nanny a look that was far too worldly for her age.

“Susannah!” Gowan thundered.

That scowl must also be a family trait, like the ability to look down one’s nose. And yet Edie thought she could see a heartbreaking vulnerability behind Susannah’s frown.

Layla said, very quietly, “Edie.”

Edie knew exactly what Layla wished to convey with that one word: to wit, that Miss Pettigrew wasn’t a suitable person for the nursery. If Edie didn’t dismiss her, Layla probably would, despite having no authority. Edie squared her shoulders. She had to take responsibility; this was her household now.

“You must be polite to your nanny,” Gowan was saying. “And to the duchess.”

Susannah bobbed up and down in her version of a curtsy, looking like a cork thrown into the water. “I apologize, Miss Pettigrew.” At the age of five, she had mastered a perfectly expressionless tone.

Miss Pettigrew lowered her chin in a gesture that bore no resemblance to a nod, and turned back to Edie. “As you can see, Your Grace, the child has been sorely spoiled. She has no languages, no music, and no understanding of polite comportment of any kind whatsoever.”

Edie didn’t think that Susannah looked spoiled. She looked like a person who had learned very young that it was better to be scornful than to cry. Frankly, Edie agreed with her.

“I myself speak no French,” she told Miss Pettigrew.

The nanny’s thin lips tightened. “As the daughter of a duchess, Miss Susannah ought to be fluent in at least three languages. Given her questionable paternity, her behavior must be exemplary. As you can see, much work remains to be done.”

After that speech, Edie needed no further prompting from Layla. She looked the woman squarely in the eye and said, “Miss Pettigrew, I thank you for your service to the family, but I am terminating your employment, effective immediately. Bardolph, make all due arrangements. Miss Pettigrew shall have a generous severance and transportation to wherever she wishes.”

Shockingly, the nanny opened her mouth as if she might argue, so Edie fixed her with a look. “As I said,” she repeated, “a generous severance. But there will be no letter of recommendation.”

Bardolph seemed rather stunned, but snapped to attention and drew Miss Pettigrew to the side.

Susannah’s eyes widened, though she didn’t move or say a word.