Eventually Lord Charles returned a month after Elora gained employment in the house of The Higgins. Elora and her ward were indoors playing a game when Charles stepped in.
"Welcome Lord Higgins. We've been awaiting your arrival." Madam Clara welcomed him with a courtesy.
"Thank you Madam Clara. How has the household been?" He asked.
"Fine my Lord." She replied.
"Great. Where's my daughter Chloe? Hope she's following through her routine with Elora?"
"Yes my Lord. She has. Elora really has a good charm for her. Well, you will see for yourself. Chloe is upstairs in the library with her governess."
"Library!" He exclaimed, quite surprised. Chloe had not gone to the library for a very long time.
"Yes sir."
"That sounds surprising. Chloe hasn't been to the library in years." He said as he halted. There was silence for a moment. Then he cleared his voice and continued;
"Well, I'll go see her there then. Thank you Madam Clara." He appreciated.
"You're welcome sir." She said as she gave a courtesy. He took his leave, heading up the stairs to the library.
He could hear the giggling sound of his daughter. This seemingly unusual to him because in a long time he hadn't heard the lovely giggle and laughter from his daughter. I guess because he wasn't always home. When he got closer to the door, he slightly opened it, catching a glimpse of the governess and her ward. They were playing a game of scrabble and it seemed Chloe was having the upper hand.
"C-l-a-u-s-t-r-o-p-h-o-b-e, Claustrophobe!!" She spelt and pronounced out loud with a giggle.
"Wow Chloe, what does it mean?" Elora asked. She was impressed by her intellect.
"It's what you call someone who is scared of closed places Miss Elora." She replied.
"Wow! I'm impressed. I see you've been taking your diction and spelling classes seriously."
"Yes ma'am. I wouldn't want you to defeating me again." She giggled.
"I see. Well, let's calculate the points and see who won this time." Charles was quite impressed by how Elora engaged with Chloe. At the end of the calculations, Chloe won Elora with ten points.
"Ta-da! I win! I win!!" She jumped up in excitement.
"With just ten points. You got lucky. Seems to me you've improved your skills."
"The fact remains I defeated you Miss Elora." She smirked.
"You've proven your point!" She gave in and little girl giggled in excitement. Just then, the sound of a clap surfaced which froze both of them. They turned to the angle where the sound came from. It was Charles. He had been watching the scene for quite some time. They had no idea he had been staring at them for over 10 minutes.
"Father!" She exclaimed.
"Welcome Lord Higgins. I had no idea you had returned." Elora said with a courtesy.
"Where's your manners Chloe?" He asked ignoring Elora's greeting.
"My bad. Welcome father." She gave a courtesy silently waiting for his next reply. They were both frozen on the spot they moment they noticed his presence. There was silence for a moment as Charles stared at them noticing the fear written on frozen appearances.
"How's her ballet lessons going?" He asked, breaking the silence as Elora responds.
"Great my Lord. She's one of the best students."
"Hope you've been following through all my protocols?"
"Yes my Lord."
"What happened to siesta? She should be asleep by now. It's past her siesta."
"About that, she should be having her siesta by now but I decided to give her a break today and that's why we are engaging in intellectual games." She explained.
"But I gave you an order! This is my house, my child, and my rules and you obey me. You're not the boss around here, you strictly do as I say when I want not how you want." He said, quite pissed, raising his voice.
"I.. I....I'm sorry my Lord." She stammered, terrified by his reaction. He moved closer to her, lowering his face right next to her ear, whispering;
"Let this be the last time you repeat this else you'll have your job to loose, am I clear?" His cold breathe touching her tender skin causing her to shudder.
"Yes... Lord Higgins. It... it...won't ha...happen again." She stammered as she replied him.
"Good." He withdrew back and turned to his little girl who was already disgusted by how he treated Miss Elora.
"Chloe, honey!" He called out to her. Emotions swirling up within her, she ignored his call and ran off with little silent tears running down her eyes.
"Chloe, come back." He called out. The young girl ignored her dad's call as she ran to the kitchen where she met Madam Clara.
"Chloe dear, what's wrong?" She asked on seeing her. Tears flooded her eyes, she couldn't say a word and ran to hug her. The woman understood what had happened. She could feel the hot tears running down her eyes.
"Oh dear. Stop crying my love. It's gonna be alright." She assured her.
"It's father again. I'm scared Madam Clara. I didn't like how he spoke to Miss Elora."
"Calm down Chloe. He's still your father."
"His temper scares me." She said in tears. Madam Clara patted her on the back.
"Oh my love. He's gonna change."
"When? When Madam Clara. Father doesn't seem like who's gonna change anytime soon. He acts like a monster." She stated. Madam Clara wiped the tears off her face and gave her a peck on the cheek.
"Father will change soon. Be patient my dear Chloe. Your father isn't a monster, he's a loveable being and trust me, soon you'll see it and you'll remember I told you so!" She assured her with a smile on her face. Chloe managed to fake a smile.
Little did they know Lord Higgins was by the kitchen door. He heard their conversation and was disappointed in himself for making his own child think of him as a monster. He let out a sigh and walked away, letting the two be.
"Now, would you like to try some freshly baked chocolate cookies?" She asked. Chloe acted uninterested, still reflecting on what played in front of her few minutes ago.
"Oh come on Chloe! They are tasty, here, have a bite." She said, placing the tray on the table in front of the damsel. She handed one over to her and made her take a bite from it, which she reluctantly did. After which she got interested in the cookies. Madam Clara watched as she ate the cookies and couldn't help but laugh.
"They're tasty Madam Clara. Absolutely nice. Thank you." She commented as she enjoyed the cookies.
"You're welcome dear." She replied with huge smiles. Chloe remained with for a while.