Chapter Fourteen

 

Rachel groaned under the strict instruction of Madam Louvette, a stern, unyielding woman who drove Rachel through her lessons as harshly as a sheep dog trainer. They had been working for nearly four hours with few opportunities to rest, only allowing time for Rachel to stuff a bit of bread and cheese into her mouth and wash it down with a cup of tea. Then they were back at the work that was proving to be much more difficult that Rachel could have ever imagined.

“Tut-tut,” Madam Louvette said, though she kept her irritation covered with a forced smile. “You are slouching again, mon cher. You must always remain standing straight with your shoulders back,” she pushed at Rachel’s shoulders, “and your chin forward. Otherwise, you appear as if you carry a bundle of twigs on your back.” Her French accent made it even more difficult for Rachel to concentrate on practicing her walk, two books about using correct etiquette balanced on the top of her head. She had thought reading them was difficult...

“I’m trying, Madam, but I haven’t done this before,” Rachel said with a scowl.

“Ah, there it is again,” the woman said. “The correct usage is ‘I am’ not ‘I’m’, as is ‘haven’t’ is ‘have not’. Even I, as a speaker of French, use the correct formation of words when I speak English. It is your language, Miss Cooper, so please use it properly.”

Rachel sighed. “I am trying, Madam,” she said through clenched teeth just before the books fell to the floor for what had to have been the hundredth time. According to Madam Louvette, Rachel could not walk, talk, or even sneeze properly, and Rachel was becoming more and more annoyed at the woman. However, she had promised Lord Linfield she would do her best, and she had always been a woman of her word.

“We have spent enough time on your posture for now,” the tutor said tightly. “We will move on to something else.” She pulled the cord to call for the servants and waited with her fingertips together. Rachel studied the woman’s stance. She did stand straight and had a regal posture that made her appear more than a tutor. If this woman could do it, then so could Rachel.

Rachel reached down and picked the books up from the floor once again. She pulled her shoulders back, just as Madam Louvette had taught her, and then placed the books back atop her head. She took two slow, deep breaths and took a step forward. The books wobbled a bit, but they remained on her head. She took a second step and this time the books did not move. Concentrating on her breathing rather than on the books, she took yet another step. Soon she had made her way across the floor, the books still in place.

“Bravo!” Madam Louvette called out as she clapped her hands together. “You are capable of learning. I never doubted you once.”

Rachel had to stop herself from snorting at the woman, which was yet another feat of its own that pleased her. Perhaps she could carry this off. She turned, moving carefully so the books would not fall, but then the door opened, which caught her off-guard, and she caught the books just as they slid off her head. Well, she would need to work on her turns a bit more, and her reaction to surprise.

Leah stood in the door and dipped a quick curtsy. “You rang?”

Madam Louvette gave Rachel a meaningful look and Rachel said, “Yes, Leah. Would you please have tea brought to us?”

Leah gave her a wide smile, for which Rachel was grateful, bobbed her curtsy once again. “Yes, Miss.” Then she was gone.

“Very good,” the tutor said as she walked back to stand beside the couch. “Now, I would like you to sit here.”

Rachel furrowed her brow, walked over to the couch, remembering to keep her shoulders back, and lowered herself onto the seat. Madam Louvette, however, did not seem to believe that she had done that any better than she had walked earlier.

“Mon cher,” she drawled in that thick French accent. “One does not drop herself into a chair, one lowers herself, like this.” The woman did, in all actuality, lower herself into the seat. It was a slow, fluid motion that pained Rachel’s legs simply watching. However, Rachel was not going to be outdone. She stood once again, remembering her shoulders, and then replicated the tutor’s actions exactly. It was not as difficult as she had expected.

“Well, there is hope for you yet,” Madam Louvette said.

The door opened again, and Rachel expected Leah with the tea tray. Instead, Lord Linfield stood in the doorway. Rachel wondered why Sherman did not present the Earl as he would have any other visitor, but she imagined that he saw himself as a member of the household at this point rather than a visitor. However, she still wished he would treat her like the person he wished her to be—a lady.

“Ah, My Lord Linfield,” Madam Louvette said in a cloying voice. “How wonderful to see you again.” She gave him a deep curtsy and he returned it with a nod.

“And how is our pupil doing today?” he asked in a buoyant tone.

“She is making progress, My Lord,” the tutor replied. “We still have work that must be done, but for her first day, she works hard. She will learn much very quickly if she continues as she is now.”

The compliment surprised Rachel. For all the chastising the woman had given her and the harsh tones she had used, the woman saw potential where Rachel thought none existed.

“Thank you,” Rachel said to the woman.

“I am the tutor, you are the grand lady. You do not need to thank me for doing my job.”

Rachel did not agree with this. Every person deserved to be appreciated, regardless of his or her station in life, and she would not be one of those stiff-necked women who looked down her nose at anyone who was not of her class. She had been a part of the working class and knew all too well how such treatment stung. However, she did not voice her opinions. Regardless of how she felt, the woman would never understand. Once she completed her lessons and the woman was gone, Rachel would do as she wished when it came to showing appreciation for those who did her bidding.

“Well, I am glad to hear she is doing well,” Lord Linfield said with a smile. “And with your excellent instruction, she will be ready to join society in no time.”

Rachel felt her face flush, but she remembered Madam Louvette explaining that demureness was of the utmost importance when it came to a woman of the ton and her interaction with a man of the peerage, so she merely acknowledged his words with a slight nod of her head.

“Well, I must be off, but I hope to see you again very soon,” the Earl said. He stopped before he reached the door and turned back around. “I am very proud of you, Miss Cooper. I hope you know that.”

The flush Rachel had felt deepened and she sat gaping at him until Madam Louvette cleared her throat. “I appreciate your kind words, My Lord,” Rachel said quickly, but with every attempt to articulate her words precisely as Madam Louvette had taught her.

Lord Linfield seemed pleased as he bowed his head to her once more and then left the room.

Madam Louvette stared after him and Rachel almost laughed at the look on the woman’s face. She looked as much a love-struck snit as any young woman would have, only the woman was old enough to be the Earl’s mother. Rachel kept her thoughts to herself, however. She had received too many raps on her palms for missteps already today.

“Shall we have some tea?” Rachel asked, hiding a snicker behind her hand. This seemed to pull the older woman from her reverie, for she lifted her chin as if in defiance of something unseen.

“Yes,” the tutor replied. “We will practice the art of serving tea as we do so.”

Rachel sighed. Bedtime could not arrive soon enough. At least she hoped there were not lessons on how a lady went to sleep.