The Final Storm

07. Confrontation

Adaira felt sweat trickle down her forehead as she waited in little Berty's room—or at least what she assumed to be little Berty's room. It wasn't like she could actually see anything through that infernal getup Lilly had stuffed her into. Still, she didn't say a peep of complaint. Any moment now, her brother would enter the room. The boy who had (reluctantly) played with her when she was little. The boy who had (under protest) given her shoulder rides. The man who knew her best in the world. A few seconds from now, he would step into this room. And everything depended on him not recognizing her.

Please, please, please, don't let him recognize me! Don't let him recognize me! Don't let him—

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the sound of someone stepping into the room.

"Why, hello there, darling!" Lilly piped up from beside her in a totally unsuspicious manner. "Welcome back!"

"Who," Adaira heard someone reply who, just judging by rudeness, could only be her brother, "is that?"

"Oh, that?" Footsteps approached and, a moment later, Adaira felt a hand on her arm. "This is the new governess I hired."

Adaira swallowed. It had arrived. The moment of truth. The biggest difficulty in her plan. She stood stock-still, trying her best to seem as inconspicuous as possible, or better yet, pretending she wasn't there at all. If she could just keep him from recognizing her, she would get her chance to go to India! But he was her brother after all. Was it really possible that he wouldn't recognize his little sis—

"You hired the grim reaper as a governess?"

Adaira felt her fingers twitch.

Apparently, she had been wrong before. The biggest difficulty wouldn't be to prevent her brother from recognizing her. The biggest difficulty would be to prevent herself from trying to strangle the bastard, thus revealing her identity.

"Mr Ambrose! She's not the grim reaper!"

"Indeed? Too bad. With a skeleton as governess, we could have saved money on meals."

Adaira's fingers twitched again.

Resist. Resist the temptation. New employees do not punch their employers in the face. New employees do not punch their employers in the face.

Especially since it would probably hurt her hand more than his face. Stupid, hard-headed idiot brother!

"Hm..." Footsteps approached. A moment later, they veered off their former path and started to circle around her. Despite not being able to see a thing through the thick, black veil in front of her face, Adaira could practically feel the chilly gaze boring into her from all sides.

"Why is she dressed like that, then?" he demanded. "Wearing a veil, and all in black? I will not have some crackpot looking after our child!"

It was quite impressive how he could make her feel both pissed off by being insulting and warm in the heart for showing so much care for his son. A unique big brother talent, probably.

"No, no, you've misunderstood," came Lilly's swift response. "It's not that she has strange preferences in fashion, she is a widow in mourning. That's the reason she is dressed like that, and that's also the reason she wants to leave England." She gave a sigh worthy of a Shakespearean actress. "Apparently, everything here reminds her of her dear, departed husband. It's so sad."

"Hm." The monosyllabic reply showed Rikkard Ambrose's boundless capacity for sympathy. It was truly amazing to have such a kind older sibling. "Why doesn't she say anything? Is she dumb?"

Truly amazing indeed.

"I would hope not. Only smart people deserve to take care of my little Berty." Adaira could practically hear the suppressed hilarity in Lilly's voice, and she did not doubt at whom it was directed. Deep inside, she swore she was going to get her revenge for this! As soon as she could get out of this darn costume and be herself again!