Читать книгу The Master of Highbridge Manor - Susanne James, Susanne James - Страница 8

ALMOST four weeks into her job, and Ria had hardly seen Jasper at all. He never attended the morning assemblies, and only on two occasions had she seen him in the distance, surrounded by a group of older boys. But the distinctive voice could be heard above the general hubbub, and on that occasion it was obvious that he was making an important point! Ria had smiled to herself. There had never been any doubt in her mind who was in charge here, and the fact that he was seldom seen—leaving the day-to-day teaching to his staff—added to his quietly aloof stature.

She was relieved that she had been allowed to get through these first days without being hassled or checked-up on. So far, she’d only been asked to teach the twelve-year-old boys and she found them cooperative and well-behaved and, although she admitted to feeling dead tired by the time her duties ended at four-thirty, it was a happy and satisfying tiredness. She felt she was coping OK, and Tim had only looked in on two of her lessons, and had later given her the thumbs-up sign as they’d passed in the corridor. She had the impression that she was being trusted to do her job properly without undue interference.

The only social occasion seemed to be the evening meal, which was more like a running buffet, with people coming and going at different times. But it did give Ria some time to meet other members of staff and have a chat for an hour. Jasper had certainly not been seen in the dining room since that first Tuesday, so he either came down much later, Ria thought, or didn’t bother at all. Or maybe he preferred to eat his dinner alone in his room, or in the pub they’d been to. Anyway, it didn’t matter to her. She was glad not to see him. She was enjoying her life, so far, and one of the best bits of it was closing her door and being by herself in her own flat, to make some tea and sometimes to watch late evening television.

One morning, a type-written note had been slipped under her door. It read:

There will be a staff meeting in the headmaster’s room at 5.30 today. Please do your best to attend.

It was obviously a circular, delivered by Helen, and was probably a regular event, Ria thought as she read it again. Jasper Trent keeping a firm hand on the steering wheel, keeping everyone on their toes.

After she’d finished lessons for the day, Ria let herself into her flat. Taking a fresh top from the wardrobe, she went into the bathroom for a quick shower before going down to the meeting. There wouldn’t be time to wash her hair because it always took so long to dry, so she’d just have to pat it into place for now, she thought.

Presently, she fell into step with several other members of staff as they walked along the corridor to Jasper’s room, the door of which was already wide open. He was standing behind his desk, with Helen sitting alongside him, notebook and pen at the ready, and he greeted them all casually as they began sitting down on the two lines of chairs arranged in a semicircle in front of him.

From the place she’d chosen, right over to one side, Ria had deliberately placed herself out of his direct line of vision, but almost immediately she saw him glancing across at her and their eyes met for a fraction of a second—a second that seemed to linger for much longer than necessary as those intensely thoughtful eyes held her captive. And, despite all her best intentions, Ria felt a tremor of excitement sweep through her, making all her nerve-endings tingle, and she swallowed nervously. This was the first time she’d been anywhere close to her employer since the day she’d arrived, and even in this crowded room she felt again the leap of her pulse as her eyes flickered over him. He was sharp-suited as usual, the strong hair falling slightly over the expansive forehead, the uncompromising mouth set in a firm line. But it was his persona, the definable presence of the man which gripped her, and it was not what she wanted The last thing in the world that she wanted was being emotionally seduced—again—by another self-assertive alpha male. She was in unlooked for, dangerous waters and she bit her lip. She hoped that if she was asked to contribute to the meeting she’d be able to find her voice and say something sensible.

It proved to be a routine affair and at seven o’clock Jasper concluded the meeting. Ria stood up, relieved that nothing had been asked of her. But then, suddenly, he called across and she turned to look back at him.

‘Ria, would you mind staying for a few moments, please?’ he said—and it was not exactly a request.

She paused uncertainly, fiddling with the clasp of her bag and wondering why she was being singled out. Presently, after the chairs had been stacked neatly away again and everyone else had left, he gestured for her to come and sit opposite him once more.

‘Now,’ he said, looking directly at her, ‘I want to know how everything’s going for you. I didn’t think for a minute that you’d want to air any problems in public. So fire away.’

Although his expression was serious, the voice was warm enough and Ria felt herself relaxing. She smiled, shrugging slightly.

‘Well, actually, so far there haven’t been any problems—none that I’m aware of,’ she added. ‘Lessons have been uncomplicated, and I think I’ve got their interest—most of the time.’ She smiled again. ‘I haven’t had to wake anyone up so far, anyway.’

He nodded slowly, remembering the other time she’d sat in that chair and how wonderful she’d looked then. And today was no exception, he acknowledged, her black narrow-leg trousers and crisp white shirt giving her a brisk, efficient air. And her glorious hair, just slightly out of place today, with a few fronds escaping to fall towards the curve of her cheeks only added to her appeal. He picked up a pen, trying not to keep looking at her.

‘Tim has already told me that he’s never known class three to be so well-behaved, or to show such concentration.’ He paused for a moment, remembering Tim’s enthusiastic opinion about Ria. ‘ So…’ he looked up and smiled, his teeth white against his tanned skin ‘…well done,’ he murmured. ‘You seem to have fitted in very well—as I anticipated,’ he added.

Ria was genuinely thrilled to be told that. She couldn’t remember anyone bothering to compliment her on her work before, and it was true that she’d felt a special empathy with the class she’d been entrusted with.

‘Well, thank you,’ she said simply. ‘I’m enjoying teaching these children more than any I’ve come across so far. I hope I can keep it up,’ she added.

There was silence for a few moments, then, ‘Actually, there is a small point which is bothering me…’ she said slowly, and Jasper raised his eyebrows. ‘It concerns Josh…’ she began, and he interrupted.

‘Joshua Mills? Our new boy?’

Ria hesitated before going on. She didn’t want to make a minor problem worse by saying too much about it. ‘I think he’s rather…unhappy…at the moment,’ she said.

Jasper nodded. ‘I’m not really surprised,’ he said. ‘Of course, it’s very unusual for us to take any new student at this point of the year, but his parents are having severe personal problems at the moment, which are apparently not helped by their son being at home and getting under their feet. Joshua was not due here until September,’ he added.

Suddenly the rugged features were dark with distaste as he went on. ‘In my view, vulnerable children are not things, to be put in convenient boxes at given times.’ He paused and leaned back in his chair. ‘But, after thinking long and hard about it, I decided that being here was perhaps the kindest option for him—and Matron and his House Mistress are well aware of his particular problem.’

‘Well, that probably does explain quite a lot,’ Ria said. She paused. ‘And it doesn’t help that he is so much smaller than the rest of his year.’ She didn’t want to confess that seeing Josh, with his brown eyes looking at her pensively through rather large thick-framed spectacles, had made her want to gather him up in her arms.

‘None of the others have been getting at him, have they?’ Jasper said suddenly. ‘No bullying, I hope?’

‘Not that I’ve seen,’ Ria said, hesitating for a moment before going on. ‘Though there is something that’s really bothering him.’ She paused. ‘It’s about the tennis tournament.’

‘What about it?’

‘A couple of boys have told him that anyone refusing to take part will be severely punished.’

‘Rubbish,’ Jasper said flatly. ‘It’s certainly true that we encourage everyone to participate because it creates team spirit, with House against House, and as a school we believe that competition exposes talent and breeds excellence.’ His mouth twisted slightly as he recalled the battles, masquerading as games of tennis, which he and Carl had fought in their youth, matching each other, shot for shot, each deadly serious and determined to win. He glanced across at Ria. ‘But punishing those who really do not want to take part is a fiction,’ he said.

Ria was relieved. ‘I didn’t believe it,’ she said, ‘but Josh does. So I’ll be able to put his mind at rest about that, at least.’

Jasper looked across at her thoughtfully. ‘You’ve obviously gained his confidence very quickly, Ria,’ he said.

‘Well, he does stay behind for a few moments after class, and we have a little chat,’ Ria admitted. ‘He told me that he’s never enjoyed anything to do with sport—to the annoyance and regret of his father, apparently.’

Jasper tilted his head to one side briefly. ‘Joshua is certainly a very academic child,’ he said. ‘His grasp of mathematics is awesome, I believe—so he probably prefers to grapple with complex theorems rather than hitting balls over nets, or anywhere else, for that matter.’

‘He told me he was often expected to play tennis for hours on end, and hated every minute of it,’ Ria went on. ‘Couldn’t see the point of it at all. Consequently, he was always rubbish at it—his words.’ She smiled, pausing. ‘The thing is—he’s afraid of looking a wimp in front of all the others when he misses the shots all the time or, worse, if he asks to be given dispensation.’

Jasper’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully, then, after a moment, ‘Um…well…I think we can fix that easily enough,’ he said. He leaned forward to scribble something down on the pad in front of him. ‘Joshua can be one of the umpires,’ he said. ‘At least in the early heats. He obviously knows the game through and through, so there’ll be no question of him getting the scoring wrong.’ He smiled suddenly. ‘It’ll make him feel very superior to be sitting up there above everyone else—a job usually given to the older students, but that’s not an unbreakable rule. Joshua can take his turn at doing the honours as well this time.’