The Nanny of House Herzen - Chapter 9
Fortunately, the Duchess’s dresses fit Evelyn perfectly.
“Now I’m relieved. Even if the master asks to see you, you’ll be presentable.”
Evelyn flinched at the head maid’s words, her fingers trembling. No one yet knew about her encounter with the master of the mansion in the garden that night.
Misinterpreting Evelyn’s pale face, the head maid added,
“As you’ve improved, surely the master will also overcome his wounds. He won’t forever ignore such a beautiful child like an angel. Who knows, he might even raise your salary.”
What face would the head maid make if she knew the master had buried his nose in Evelyn’s chest in the dead of night?
She probably wouldn’t believe it. Maybe she would even blame Evelyn’s conduct and dismiss her.
Quietly, Evelyn fiddled with the ribbons of her dress. Just then, Johanson started to fuss.
“I’ll go out.”
After the head maid left, Evelyn quietly untied her gown and nursed Johanson.
Habitually, she felt a wetness below. Suddenly, she wanted to take a bath.
* * *
About a week later, the head maid burst into the room with several maids.
“Evelyn, the master has finally decided to see the young lady.”
“The Duke himself…?”
Evelyn responded blankly, to which the head maid, brandishing a duster like a baton, hurried her along.
“There’s no place for the young lady to stay while we clean, so take her for a walk in the garden.”
Startled by the loud noise, little Johanson burst into tears. Evelyn quickly wrapped her in a swaddle and responded.
“But it’s almost time for her feeding…”
Johanson calmed down at Evelyn’s touch.
The head maid gestured towards the window dismissively.
“There’s plenty of trees and overgrown grass in the garden. Whatever you do there, you won’t be seen.”
Yet, looking down at the lush garden only reminded Evelyn of what had happened that night with the Duke. She had deliberately avoided going there since…
Evelyn pursed her lips. Despite touching herself while imagining the Duke, the thought of meeting him again was overwhelmingly scary and daunting.
“Now that the heat has eased and the weather is so nice, the young lady should go out for walks more often. That’s why I got these dresses.”
“Ah…”
Evelyn nodded in agreement only then. She then almost reluctantly left the young lady’s room, which had started to feel like her own over the past three months.
It was Johanson’s first outing. The baby, who was about a hundred days old, had lost her mother right after birth, and the Duke had not looked at her since then.
“Poor baby…”
It’s said that affection grows where care is given. After nursing the baby for three months with her own milk, Evelyn had grown increasingly fond of Johanson.
Stepping outside, Johanson squinted and frowned at the unfamiliar brightness of the sun. Evelyn shaded the baby’s face with her hand and whispered gently.
“That dazzling thing is the sun. It will brighten our young lady’s life, always.”
Johanson smiled at the unfamiliar words, probably just reacting to the sound of Evelyn’s voice, but it made her happy.
Little Johanson was the one being in this world who needed and wanted Evelyn. How could she not cherish her?
“Waaah!”
Soon, the precious young lady burst into tears.
She seemed to have been enjoying the fresh outdoor air until her stomach clock for hunger struck.
Perhaps because she had experienced hunger shortly after losing her mother, the young lady had a hard time enduring hunger. Her cries quickly became inconsolable.
Evelyn eventually took Johanson under the shade of a large tree.
Sitting on a spacious stone, she untied her dress, and the scent of milk wafted out. Johanson stopped crying immediately and began frantically searching for her n–ple.
“Was our young lady hungry?”
As Johanson latched onto the dripping n–ple, robust sucking sounds followed.
“Good girl, our baby…”
It was a bright morning. The stubborn sunlight managed to penetrate even under the leafy tree.
Evelyn adjusted her position to keep the dazzling light out of Johanson’s eyes. That’s when a man in a thin linen shirt suddenly came into view.
“Ah…”
Seeing the Duke in the bright daylight, he looked even younger than he had appeared that night. Compared to her father, the Count, and her former husband, the Marquis, the difference was startling.
Moreover, it was hard to believe that this handsome man was the same person rumored to be so fearsome. His skin was pale and translucent, and his black eyes and hair stood out more starkly under the sunlight.
They said he had come to see the young lady for the first time since her birth today. It surely hadn’t been his intention to meet in the garden, yet there he was, inexplicably going out from early in the morning.
Caught off guard, Evelyn forgot the need to lower her gaze and stared at him for a long while. She noticed that his eyes were curiously fixed on Johanson. It must have been novel for him to see his daughter for the first time since her birth.
As she barely managed to withstand his uncomfortable gaze, Johanson chose that moment to spit out the n–ple. Perhaps she was done feeding since she wasn’t drawing much milk anymore.
Needing to switch sides, Evelyn realized that the Duke’s gaze had shifted from Johanson’s face to the now exposed n–ple.
