Marguerite Kaye - Forbidden in Regency Society - The Governess and the Sheikh

‘Your daughter has an affinity with wildlife.’ ‘You will explain, if you please?’ ‘Mice, snakes and a whole host of other creatures I’m afraid I don’t even recognise. Linah seems to be able to tame them, or mesmerise them in some way, it’s really quite amazing. Then she puts them where they should not be—you know, divans, chests, cupboards. She put a toad in the tea samovar. Really, one has to give her credit for being inventive.’ ‘And cruel.’

‘She’s not cruel—or rather, she is but doesn’t realise it, and once she realised that I was not alarmed—’ ‘Not alarmed?’

‘Truly, Jamil, it didn’t bother me at all. I was brought up in the English countryside where wildlife abounds. My sisters, you see, were wont to do much the same sort of thing to Celia and me when they were being naughty. I explained to Linah that she was frightening the poor creatures more than me, and she stopped.’

‘Explained?’ Jamil said ominously. ‘You should have punished her for her actions. By failing to demonstrate your authority, you are showing weakness. She will exploit that, one way or another, if not now, then later.’

‘She is not my enemy, Jamil. It was punishment enough for her to know that she had caused distress without realising it,’ Cassie explained patiently. ‘And as I said, she hasn’t done it since.’

‘Can you be certain these unorthodox methods of yours will work?’

‘Not entirely, not yet.’ Cassie looked up from the intricate pattern she’d been weaving with her fingers in her lap. ‘She is only eight, Jamil.’

‘Old enough to understand right from wrong. Old enough to exert some control over her temper.’

‘You expect too much. At her age, I am willing to bet you had a considerable temper.’

‘By her age, I had already learned how to control it.’ Or to suffer the consequences.

‘At eight!’ Cassie exclaimed. ‘I don’t believe it. Why, you must be at least twenty-eight now, and I have seen you lose your temper several times.’

She was smiling, meaning only to tease, but Jamil’s lips thinned. It was true, Cassie seemed to bring out extremes in him that he had not thought himself capable of, but it was not anything of which he was proud. ‘It may surprise you to know that I rarely lose my temper,’ he said curtly. ‘In fact, the only time I have lost it has been in your company. And that is not a compliment.’

‘I didn’t take it as such. Why are you so touchy? All I meant to say was that, as a little boy, you probably had just as many tantrums as Linah, only you don’t remember.’

‘You are quite mistaken,’ Jamil said with an air of finality.

She opened her mouth to contradict him, saw the implacable look on his face, and something darker in his eyes, which gave her pause. He had not been a happy child, that much was obvious. She decided, wisely for once, to change the subject. ‘I’ve been thinking, it would be a good thing for Linah to have more company her own age. She’s lonely, she doesn’t seem to have any friends. Children need the stimulation of others.’

‘That is why she has you.’

‘It’s not the same. Surely you are not so old that you cannot remember what it was like to play with your friends?’

‘I did not have any friends,’ Jamil said starkly.

Cassie’s mouth dropped open. ‘What? Don’t be silly, you must have. At school, and—’

‘I did not go to school. It is the tradition with princes of the royal blood in Daar-el-Abbah to be kept in isolation so that others may not witness their early mistakes, their growing pains. That is why our motto is Invincible.’

‘That must be hard to live up to.’

‘A prince is the ultimate role model for his people; his behaviour must be beyond reproach.’

‘But you are human, for goodness’ sake, you’re not flawless. No one is. I would have thought your people would see a few signs of mortality as a good thing.’

‘You know nothing of the matter. That is not our way.’

Cassie stared at his bleak profile in astonishment. He had not be exaggerating, then, when he said he had no friends as a child. The isolation he mentioned, it was the literal truth. Aghast at the very idea of such an upbringing, she also felt an immense pity for the lonely little boy Jamil must have been. No wonder he had no idea about how to treat his own daughter. ‘Is that what you wish for Linah,’ she asked, trying desperately to keep the emotion she felt from welling up into her voice, ‘to be raised in isolation, to be chastised when she shows any signs of normal, everyday emotion—what you call weakness?’

Jamil stared off into the distance, giving no sign that he had heard her. ‘Jamil? Is that what you want?’ Cassie demanded, in her anxiety to get through to him, once again forgetting all about restraint. ‘Do you want your daughter to become just like you—cold-hearted and apparently incapable of showing affection even for her own children? Well? It’s not right and it’s not fair, Jamil. She may be a princess, but she’s also a little girl.’

At some point in her last speech, Cassie had grabbed Jamil’s sleeve in an effort to make him listen. At some point in her speech, it had worked. He was no longer staring off into the distance, but right at her, and he did not look happy. She tilted her chin defiantly.

Jamil carefully detached her hand from his arm. ‘Once again,’ he said stiffly, ‘you overstep the mark. You talk about things which you have no understanding of. None! ‘

She flinched at the vicious tone in his voice, but refused to give ground. ‘Linah—’

‘Linah will not endure what I did. I will not inflict such a regime on her, but—and you will listen most carefully here, Lady Cassandra, for I do not wish to have to repeat myself again—she is of the royal blood, and though as a woman she is not required to be seen as invincible, her behaviour must be superior to all others. She must learn to take control of her emotions. Do you understand me?’

‘Yes, but she will learn how to do so much more easily if the discipline is inflicted by her peers. Little girls can be quite ruthless, you know, far more so than boys. If Linah misbehaves among her friends, she will be ostracised. She will learn quickly enough that she cannot do as she pleases.’ Seeing that Jamil was struck by this, Cassie pushed home her advantage. ‘As a princess, she must learn not just discipline, but kindness. Surely you agree she will be a better princess for having some understanding of her subjects?’

‘I don’t know. It is not the custom.’

‘You keep saying that, but traditions are only traditions for as long as they are maintained. You are the prince; if you wish to change something, you can do so. Set your own traditions.’

Jamil’s expressions softened into one of his near smiles. ‘My Council—’

‘You said yourself, your Council need to be brought into the nineteenth century,’ Cassie pointed out quickly. ‘Or at least,’ she amended conscientiously, ‘I think that is what you meant.’

Jamil’s smile widened. ‘I see now that you are indeed Lord Henry Armstrong’s daughter.’

‘I will take that as a compliment,’ Cassie replied with one of her irrepressible smiles. ‘A compliment from you is as rare an event as a rainy day in the desert. I shall cherish it. But seriously, will you think about it, Jamil. Please? For Linah’s sake? You know it—’

‘What I know, Cassie, is that a wise strategist knows when to retreat as well as when to advance,’ Jamil interrupted. ‘Your point is well made and I will reflect on it, but you should stop now, before you lose the advantage you have gained.’

She did so most reluctantly as she had still not broached the subject of Jamil’s contact with his daughter. Proud of her restraint, for it did not come at all naturally to her, Cassie nodded, fastening her lips together primly.