For the next several sessions, the children continued lessons on table manners. Each night Jeanne and Robert focused on a different part of the meal. They taught the students how to hold the utensils while they cut their food and how to lift pieces of meat and vegetables with their forks. They practiced eating smaller bites and chewing with their mouths closed. Since they’d changed the routine to serve the food at the beginning of the session, Jeanne took the last part of the instruction time to teach a few Christmas songs.
“The duchess loves these songs, so when you sing them, this will be your gift to her,” she explained.
Since the little Peartree’s arrival was imminent, the duke and duchess rarely left the townhouse. Amelia spent much of the day in her sitting room, writing or reading. Phillip, when not at Parliament, spent his time with his wife, reading or pacing.
That left Robert and Jeanne with more free time than usual. Jeanne, wanting to keep her hands busy, began knitting an assortment of gifts for the new baby. She noted that Robert often left the house in the mid-afternoon for a few hours. He would return, his face flushed from exertion. and his coat open, despite the chilly December temperatures. Where did he go that he would become so warm as to not need to bundle up?
With each lesson, Robert seemed to be more comfortable with the idea of the children coming to the house. Jeanne noticed he didn’t act so distant and actually listened to the children when they asked questions. He addressed them by name rather than young man or young lady and even cracked a smile from time to time.
On one particular evening, the students had just settled in their seats. “Where’s Andy?” someone asked.
“I’m here,” a small voice responded. When he stepped out from behind one of the wide columns separating the chapel from the main sanctuary, Jeanne hardly recognized the poor boy. His left eye was swollen shut, and he walked with a limp. His breathing was labored, and blood ran from his lip. With a cry of distress, she ran to him.
“You poor, dear boy.” She brought him to where Nancy waited with the napkins. Taking one, she wet it and gently washed his face. Behind her, she heard Robert talking to the rest of the students. He stopped abruptly when the church doors slammed open.
Everyone froze, except Andy. He raced to the side of the room where the parents watched and hid under a bench where a large woman sat with her knitting. The woman quickly arranged her skirt so that the boy was completely hidden.
A dirty, ill-kept bear of a man stumbled into the chapel. “Where’s me son? I know he’s hiding out ’ere. His mum tries ta hide ’im but I figured it out. He’s ’ere somewhere.” His slurred speech and rancid breath indicated a recent visit to a tavern.
Jeanne made a move to confront the intruder, but Robert was faster. He planted himself in the man’s path. “Sir, you are disrupting this class, and I’ll thank you to leave,” Robert informed him.
“Ye’ll thank me?” the man mocked in a high voice. “Thank me to leave, will ya? Aren’t you the fancy little gent.” His tone changed back to the menacing howl. “Where is he?”
“Since you haven’t given me a name, I can’t tell you. Our lessons are not over, so unless this is an emergency, you will need to leave now.”
“Since when does a wee bit of a man tell Archie Sommers what to do?” the man roared. “Nobody orders me about. Not my good-for-nothin’ wife, not my worthless son, and not you.” He reared back and brought his fist toward Robert’s head.
Robert dodged it easily and delivered a blow to the man’s abdomen.
Jeanne gasped and looked about for something to hit the man with, but soon realized her help wasn’t needed. Archie doubled over from the first punch, leaving himself open to several well-placed blows. Howling in pain, he lashed out blindly, but failed to connect with his target.
Concerned for the children’s safety, Jeanne herded them toward their parents, who quickly moved to shield them against the intruder. A few of the men came forward, ready to assist, but Robert deftly avoided Archie’s fists while landing several solid punches. Finally, the larger man gave up and scrambled out of the chapel and through the main sanctuary, screaming for help.
Robert, on the other hand, seemed hardly winded. He simply straightened his collar, pulled his vest down, ran a hand through his hair, and cleared his throat. “I apologize for the disruption. Let’s resume our lesson.”
Jeanne clamped her gaping mouth closed. Realizing Andy still hid, she went over to the bench. “It’s all right, Andy. He’s gone.”
The little boy crawled out and stared with big eyes. “Someone fought my papa?”
“Er, yes. Mr. Townley got him to leave.”
He stared at the valet. “How?”
“It were a sight, it was,” declared the knitting woman. “Archie came in swingin’, but Mr. Townley stopped ’im and delivered a few blows to the gut. Archie didn’t like it one bit and tried ta fight back, but between the drink and Mr. Townley’s punches he weren’t no match. I never thought I’d see the day when a man in a fine suit would get the best of him, but Townley ’ere did a fine job.” She looked at Jeanne. “You’ll be safe enough with ’im as yer escort.”
Jeanne had nothing to say, so she simply nodded. “Come, children. Let’s go back to our seats.”
She held Andy’s hand and noticed he still limped. “Did your father… hurt you today?”
He looked up at her with sad eyes. “He was hitting Mummy. And I tried to stop him. She begged me to go but I didn’t want to leave her alone with him…” He started to cry and she knelt, wrapping her arms around him.
~~~~
Robert watched Jeanne comfort the little boy, and his heart ached. For the rest of the evening, he listened to his pupils with half an ear. Andy’s face showed the power of his father’s fists. How could a father do that to his own son? When Archie had taken a swing at him, he’d instinctively hit back. He’d surprised the man, who was apparently used to being the powerful one. And if he’d been sober, he might have been a formidable foe. Thankfully, drink had diminished his skill, and it had been easy to defeat him. This time.
But who would protect Andy when he wasn’t in school?