“That’s good,” their papa said as he took a seat at the table. “Your mama would be happy that you’ll be learning about this country.”
They both nodded as they continued with their breakfast and Sir Tyler turned his attention to Georgia. “What else were you thinking of doing today?”
“Well, if it’s all right with you, I thought we’d go get the books we need and then perhaps we might call on Mrs. Heaton’s daughter, Rebecca, and her daughter, Jenny, for a bit if they’re home.”
“Oh, yes, please say it’s all right, Papa,” Polly said.
“Of course it is. Miss Marshall has my permission to plan your days just as Nanny did.”
“The old one or the new one that left? She didn’t plan much of anything,” Polly said.
“I’m sure Miss Marshall will come up with all kinds of things for you to do. She is a teacher, after all.”
That seemed to satisfy the girls for the moment, but Georgia knew she had much to learn about them before she could plan each day adequately.
“I’ve got a busy day ahead, so I’ll leave you to yours. I think it might be more enjoyable than mine. I’m still trying to find an office space.”
“You could come with us,” Lilly said a bit shyly.
Georgia waited for his answer. As far as she could tell, he worked a lot from home and his hours were his own. He could go with them, but she—
“Not today, dear. But you have fun and I’ll see you later.” Sir Tyler turned to Georgia. “And thank you again for coming to our aid, Miss Marshall. I appreciate it more than I can say.”
“You’re welcome.” She looked to see that the girls had finished their breakfast and couldn’t help being a little disappointed in their father’s response to his daughter’s plea. She really didn’t know what else to say as Sir Tyler took a last sip of his coffee then stood and left the room.
But his daughters didn’t give her time to dwell on him, as they were excited to get the day started.
“Are we really going to go see Jenny, Miss Marshall?”
“We are if it’s convenient for them. I’ll telephone before we go to the bookstore to place our order. Did your other nanny teach you to read or write anything?”
“Not the last one, but Nanny from England had started to. We have papers.”
“Well, let’s go see where you’re at and I might let you practice your letters for a while. While you’re doing that, I’ll come back down and telephone to see if we can go visit later today.”
The girls fairly flew up the stairs, but as Georgia met Mr. Tate at the bottom of the staircase, she asked him to show her where the telephone was.
“There is one in the kitchen downstairs and Mrs. Biddle will be glad to show you where it is. The others are in Sir Tyler’s study and in his bedroom.”
“Thank you, Mr. Tate.”
“You’re quite welcome, Miss Marshall.”
Georgia hurried back up to her charges, who had pulled out their latest papers for her. Their English nanny had started them out well. It was a pity she hadn’t stayed on.
* * *
Tyler left the breakfast room certain that his girls were in good hands. When he’d heard the conversation going on from his seat in the dining room, he hadn’t been able to resist peeking in a bit earlier than usual.
He’d told himself it was because he wanted to let Miss Marshall know he was pleased she’d taken the position and that was true, but in truth he’d been looking forward to her arrival almost as much as his girls were. Tate had told him she was there, of course, but that wasn’t the same as seeing her in his home with his daughters.
They’d been very animated, talking about what they’d like to read as he’d stood in the doorway before Lilly noticed him, and he couldn’t resist sitting at the table with them for a few minutes before he headed out.
He’d enjoyed the brief time, although it’d been hard to keep from glancing at Georgia Marshall. She’d looked quite lovely, dressed in green to match her eyes. But his mission wasn’t to think about how pretty the woman who’d stepped in to help him out was. It was to find out how the girls were taking to Miss Marshall, for they would be spending most of their time with her.
Tyler went to his study to finish off a letter to his family and one to his in-laws before grabbing his satchel for a meeting with Michael Heaton. He’d spoken to Mrs. Heaton’s son after church the day before to ask about leasing office space in his building. Michael had said he did have two offices available and would be glad to show them to him that morning.
Tate was waiting at the front door for him—the man seemed to know exactly when to be there every time Tyler came or went. “Have a good morning, sir.”
“You, too, Tate. I think Miss Marshall and the girls are going to get along fine. Please get these in the mail today.” Tyler handed the letters to his butler. “And tell Cook I should be home for luncheon. If I see I won’t be, I’ll telephone.”
“I’ll let her know, sir.”
“Very good.” Tyler hurried down the steps, and as it was such a nice day, he decided to walk to Michael’s office. It wasn’t too far away. He and his girls liked the Gramercy Park neighborhood a great deal, especially the park in the center of it that only residents had keys to. And now that things were beginning to bloom, they liked it even better. But Central Park was their favorite.
He hoped Miss Marshall would get them out of the house so they could get used to the city better. Nanny had been a little apprehensive about taking them out and about because she didn’t know her way around. At least that was the excuse she’d given, and he hadn’t really trusted the new nanny enough to give her permission to take them anywhere but to Gramercy Park.
The relief he felt that they had someone who had come so highly recommended was immense. He was sure Mrs. Heaton was a woman of high regard and had thought so since the first time he’d met her.
As he reached the office building on Third Avenue, he was impressed with the architecture and interior. Any client he had would be happy to come to an office here.
Michael had given him directions to his office and Tyler took the elevator to the top floor. Once there, a middle-aged receptionist showed him into Michael’s inner office. He stood up from his desk and held out his hand. “Sir Tyler, it’s good to see you again.”
Tyler shook his hand. “Mr. Heaton, thank you and the same to you.”
“Please call me Michael. Why don’t I show you the offices I have in mind for you and then we can come back and discuss the details, or talk about them over lunch, if you like it?”
“That sounds fine with me.” Actually, he’d like to get to know Michael Heaton better. If he was anything like his mother, Tyler would be glad to have him as a friend.
Michael led the way out of his office and took Tyler to a nice-sized office across the hall from his. It had a reception room and an office similar to Michael’s, but with only one window looking out instead of two corner windows. The size would work well, though.
“Of course, you’d be responsible for the furnishings,” Michael said. “I’ve found everyone has their own tastes in the matter of decoration.”
“Yes, well, I suppose that is true and I’d be glad to furnish it. From what I saw in yours, I think our tastes are quite alike.”
“Then I can tell you where to go to find similar items.”
They went to the next office space that had a larger window looking out onto Third Avenue. Tyler liked it a lot. “I like them both. But I think I’d like to take this