A Nanny For Keeps. Janet Lee Barton

she felt a little guilty for leaving Sir Tyler and Mr. Tate.

      Then she scolded herself. She wasn’t indispensable, after all! She heard the boarders in the parlor as soon as she opened the door and hurried inside to join them.

      “Georgia! How nice it is to have you home for more than a few hours!” Julia exclaimed.

      “Oh, it is!” Emily added.

      “I’m glad to be here. I’ve missed evenings at Heaton House. What have you got planned for the weekend?”

      “Your favorite meal, for one,” Mrs. Heaton said from behind her. “It’s good to know we have you for the whole weekend.”

      “Mostly we’re going to enjoy spending time with you,” Julia said. “But remember, Matt and Millicent’s housewarming is next Saturday.”

      “Oh! I’d forgotten about that. Are we going in together on a gift?”

      “We were just talking about that. Mrs. Heaton suggested we get a brass bowl similar to what we got for the other couples. We can go down tomorrow morning and pick one out together, if you’d all like,” Julia said.

      “Oh, I’d love to help.” And hopefully it would take her mind off of Sir Tyler and his daughters. The girls should be asleep by now, but what was he doing? She always wondered about that once she left. The first night, she’d stopped at the window of the upstairs hall that looked out on Mrs. Heaton’s garden. She’d seen a glow of lamplight on the courtyard next door and thought it must be coming from Sir Tyler’s study window.

      And as she went up for the night with the others tonight, she was drawn to that window once more after the other girls went to their rooms. Sure enough, a splash of light shone on the yard. She hoped Sir Tyler was working, for the thought of him just sitting all by himself in his study late at night saddened her deeply.

      Dear Lord, please help them to have a good weekend. I do feel so bad about leaving them. And yet the girls are asleep and Sir Tyler is doing whatever it is he does of an evening. I’m sure he has his own routine, and besides, it’s none of my business at all! I must stop thinking of him so much. Please help me to put him out of my mind and remember that my job is to see that his daughters are well taken care of in my charge. And that is all. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.