“I think we can agree it is not a good fit, and we will ask you to leave at the end of the month,” he said in an even, calm tone.
Audrey’s heart dropped. “Leave?”
He gave her an impatient look. “Ms. Wakefield, we have young girls here. Young girls that need someone to look up to.”
“I understand.” She thought she had been a good role model.
“We cannot have a woman in charge of the schoolroom who openly visit hotels in broad daylight.”
Audrey’s face flushed hot. “Hotels? I don’t understand.”
He sneered at her. “You were seen in the company of a man at a local hotel. That sort of behavior is unacceptable.”
“That’s not true,” Audrey stuttered, her heart beating heavily inside her chest.
“Indeed?” He raised a brow and picked up a piece of paper from his desk. “I have a letter here that states you were seen at the Maids Head Hotel. You were with a man. Is that a lie?”
Audrey swallowed. “No. But that’s twisting the way it was. I was having tea. It was innocent—”
He interrupted her sharply, no sympathy in his gaze. “Ms. Wakefield, please don’t embarrass yourself.”
A building sense of panic rose in her. “I took tea. Nothing more.”
The Master nodded. “Indeed. So, when the Matron herself saw you enter the grounds in the early morning of the next day, does tea normally take that long?”
Audrey desperately shook her head. “I went to visit my family. I was homesick.”
“Of course. At the end of the month, Ms. Wakefield,” he said firmly.
Audrey stood up abruptly, causing the chair to scratch loudly on the floor. When she turned, she saw the Matron enter with a smirk on her face. She passed by her, and when she was out of sight, she ran down the hall. Tears stung her eyes, and she didn’t stop running until she was in the orchard. She fell at the bottom of a pear tree and covered her face with her hands.
When she felt a hand upon her shoulder, she shrugged it off.
“Audrey,” she heard her name on his lips.
When she looked up, she saw Henry’s handsome face, and she pushed at him angrily. “What do you want? Why are you here?”
His face was full of concern. “I’m here for the guardians’ meeting. I saw you run down the hall. I followed you. What’s happened? What’s wrong?”
She furiously swiped at her tears. “Well, don’t console me. This is all your fault. I’ve been sacked. And ask me why I’ve been sacked.” But she didn’t give him a chance and forged on. “I was seen in a hotel with a man. Guess who that was? And Matron did see me arrive this morning so she knows I was never in my bed. And I told Master the ridiculous lie you told me to tell about me visiting my family, and he all but laughed at me.”
He stiffened. “I’ll fix this,” he told her.
“No. Please don’t do anything,” she said.
“I must,” he said firmly. “You’re in this trouble because of me. I’ll tell them I saw you at the train station. That we spoke and you were headed to Kingsdown.”
Audrey wiped away her tears. “We can’t keep meeting like this. People will talk.”
“People talk anyway.”
She shook her head. “I mean it. If this works and I don’t get sacked, we can’t meet anymore.”
He tucked his hands into his pockets. “If that’s what you want.”
“I need this job. I need it for my family. You know how much this means to me,” she said passionately.
He stood up and pulled her to stand next to him. “I only ever meant to help you.”