nodded. “I can guess, Mrs. Potter.”
“This time I was forced to go into that vile place where the women were half naked, to bring your daughter out.”
Jillianna looked at Brittany in disbelief. “Is this true, Brittany?”
The young girl could not meet her mother’s eyes. “Yes, Mama.”
Jillianna stood up and walked to her daughter. “Have you not been forbidden to enter the harem, Brittany?”
Brittany raised her head to look into green eyes not unlike her own. “Yes, Mama.”
Mrs. Potter puffed up her bosom and gave the young girl a disapproving look. “I find it impossible to control your daughter, Lady Jillianna; therefore, I am forced to leave your serviceand seek employment elsewhere. Your daughter is a hellion and will never be a proper young lady.”
Jillianna’s lovely face paled, and she pulled Brittany away from the hateful woman. “You will not speak of my daughter in those terms, Mrs. Potter. Kindly remove yourself from my presence at once. Consider yourself dismissed!”
Mrs. Potter’s eyes narrowed with spite. “I am going, and gladly. But if you want my opinion, your daughter will never be any better than those women in the harem.”
Jillianna raised her head and said in a commanding voice, “You will gather your belongings and leave the palace at once.”
“Most gladly,” the governess stated. She turned on her heels and left in a huff, her head held high, and her shoes clicking on the marble floor.
Brittany was sorry that her actions had hurt her mother, but she was not sorry that horrid woman was gone from her life forever.
“Mama, I suppose Mrs. Potter spoke the truth when she said I will never be a lady. I try to be like you, but I always do the wrong thing. I am impossible.”
Jillianna saw much of herself in her daughter, and it wrenched at her heart. When she had been Brittany’s age, she, too, had always been in trouble. “Dearest one, you are just adventuresome and easily bored. You are already a young lady. It’s not your fault that you do not fit into your life here. I know that you have found friendships in the harem, but you must resist going there. Will you give me your word that you will not go there again?”
To give up her friends would be painful indeed, but she would do this for her mother. “Yes, Mama, I promise. I will never go there again.”
Jillianna’s heart broke for her daughter. Already Brittany was a beauty. Her golden hair enhanced her creamy skin. Her eyes were jade-green and fringed with long golden lashes which were black at the tips. Jillianna saw through the thin costume that Brittany’s body was softly curved and mature.She had not realized that her daughter had grown into a woman. She shuddered, thinking what Brittany’s life would be like if she remained in Constantinople.
Jillianna realized that the time had come to make a decision about Brittany’s future. She must be sent to London as soon as it could be arranged, even though it would not be easy to let her go when the time came. But it was time that Brittany learned about her own heritage. Jillianna would write a letter to her brother this very evening asking him to take Brittany into his household.
“Are you very disappointed in me, Mama?”
Jillianna drew Brittany into her arms. “None of this is your fault, my love. It is very difficult for you to live on the edge of two worlds. Here in the palace you are taught as any proper young English girl would be taught. But when you slip behind the harem walls, you walk into a world apart. I have forbidden you to go there, thinking to spare you the unsettling reality of those poor women and the useless lives they lead, but I have failed.”
“You have not failed, Mama. Most of the women are my friends. They have taught me many wonderful things. If you knew them, you would know their worthiness.”
Her mother arched her brow. “Many things you have learned from them would be better left unlearned. That kind of an education
“This time I was forced to go into that vile place where the women were half naked, to bring your daughter out.”
Jillianna looked at Brittany in disbelief. “Is this true, Brittany?”
The young girl could not meet her mother’s eyes. “Yes, Mama.”
Jillianna stood up and walked to her daughter. “Have you not been forbidden to enter the harem, Brittany?”
Brittany raised her head to look into green eyes not unlike her own. “Yes, Mama.”
Mrs. Potter puffed up her bosom and gave the young girl a disapproving look. “I find it impossible to control your daughter, Lady Jillianna; therefore, I am forced to leave your serviceand seek employment elsewhere. Your daughter is a hellion and will never be a proper young lady.”
Jillianna’s lovely face paled, and she pulled Brittany away from the hateful woman. “You will not speak of my daughter in those terms, Mrs. Potter. Kindly remove yourself from my presence at once. Consider yourself dismissed!”
Mrs. Potter’s eyes narrowed with spite. “I am going, and gladly. But if you want my opinion, your daughter will never be any better than those women in the harem.”
Jillianna raised her head and said in a commanding voice, “You will gather your belongings and leave the palace at once.”
“Most gladly,” the governess stated. She turned on her heels and left in a huff, her head held high, and her shoes clicking on the marble floor.
Brittany was sorry that her actions had hurt her mother, but she was not sorry that horrid woman was gone from her life forever.
“Mama, I suppose Mrs. Potter spoke the truth when she said I will never be a lady. I try to be like you, but I always do the wrong thing. I am impossible.”
Jillianna saw much of herself in her daughter, and it wrenched at her heart. When she had been Brittany’s age, she, too, had always been in trouble. “Dearest one, you are just adventuresome and easily bored. You are already a young lady. It’s not your fault that you do not fit into your life here. I know that you have found friendships in the harem, but you must resist going there. Will you give me your word that you will not go there again?”
To give up her friends would be painful indeed, but she would do this for her mother. “Yes, Mama, I promise. I will never go there again.”
Jillianna’s heart broke for her daughter. Already Brittany was a beauty. Her golden hair enhanced her creamy skin. Her eyes were jade-green and fringed with long golden lashes which were black at the tips. Jillianna saw through the thin costume that Brittany’s body was softly curved and mature.She had not realized that her daughter had grown into a woman. She shuddered, thinking what Brittany’s life would be like if she remained in Constantinople.
Jillianna realized that the time had come to make a decision about Brittany’s future. She must be sent to London as soon as it could be arranged, even though it would not be easy to let her go when the time came. But it was time that Brittany learned about her own heritage. Jillianna would write a letter to her brother this very evening asking him to take Brittany into his household.
“Are you very disappointed in me, Mama?”
Jillianna drew Brittany into her arms. “None of this is your fault, my love. It is very difficult for you to live on the edge of two worlds. Here in the palace you are taught as any proper young English girl would be taught. But when you slip behind the harem walls, you walk into a world apart. I have forbidden you to go there, thinking to spare you the unsettling reality of those poor women and the useless lives they lead, but I have failed.”
“You have not failed, Mama. Most of the women are my friends. They have taught me many wonderful things. If you knew them, you would know their worthiness.”
Her mother arched her brow. “Many things you have learned from them would be better left unlearned. That kind of an education
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