Anne Mather - Whisper Of Darkness

Joanna’s lids flicked back then, but he made no attempt to pursue this outrageous statement. As she moved out into the hall again, to escape the unavoidable intimacy he had provoked, he closed the door behind them and moved past her to the head of the stairs. Then, as if feeling obliged to make some explanation, he added:

‘Since her mother’s death, Anya has had no interest in girlish things; I imagine spending so much time alone with me has retarded her natural development. Perhaps you’ll be successful in changing all that. Who knows?’

His eyes challenged hers again, and this time she forced herself not to appear intimidated. It was the first time she had heard his wife mentioned since Aunt Lydia had explained she had died in the same crash which had disabled her husband, and even though Joanna would have liked to have pursued that topic, she shrank from the unenviable task. Evading such a personal issue, she said:

‘But she has been to school, hasn’t she, Mr Sheldon? And there have been other—governesses.’

He shrugged, an eloquent gesture, which seemed to dismiss her words as of no account. ‘As you are aware, Miss Seton, none of them had any success with her. Schools demand too much discipline, and the women I employed to teach her seemed to regard her as being mentally subnormal.’

Joanna reserved comment. If yesterday’s little fiasco was anything to go by, they might well have had reason to suppose the child backward, and she had yet to make any real contact with her.

‘I really think we should be on our way,’ Jake added now, starting down the stairs. ‘Don’t look so alarmed, Miss Seton, I don’t expect miracles.’ He paused halfway and looked back at her. ‘But nor do I expect you to treat the job as temporary, something with which to fill your time until a more appealing proposition comes along.’

Joanna held up her head. ‘I wouldn’t do that, Mr Sheldon.’

‘No?’ He regarded her sceptically for another disturbing moment. ‘Don’t you think you’re going to find it rather—boring here, away from the company of your friends?’

Joanna forced herself to begin the descent. ‘You don’t seem to want me to stay, Mr Sheldon,’ she remarked quietly, calling his bluff, and without another word he turned away, his grim mouth evidence of the opinion she was confirming.

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