‘No,’ he said.
‘He has had a bit of difficulty with lessons today.’
‘I sometimes had difficulty with lessons too,’ she said, trying her best to relate to him. She reached down, and tried to take hold of his hand, but he would not rise, and instead, leaned backwards, rooting himself even more firmly to the ground.
‘William, I have very nice food in this basket.’
He did not say anything.
‘Shall we put your shoes on?’
‘No,’ he said.
‘And why not?’
‘I don’t want them.’
‘You must have shoes.’
He only lay down on the floor, not answering her at all.
‘I will see to him, Your Grace,’ the governess said.
‘No,’ Beatrice said, confused, but determined. ‘William,’ she said, trying to sound stout. ‘I’m going to have a picnic. I will have one here if I must. But I am intent upon eating with you.’
He rolled to the side, not looking at her.
She took the blanket that was draped over her arm and spread it out over the floor of the nursery. Right atop the beautiful rug. Then she sat determinedly, placing the basket beside her and beginning to place the food all around them. ‘I am quite hungry.’
‘No,’ he said.
‘Well I am.’
‘I don’t like it. I don’t want shoes.’
‘If we eat here you don’t have to put on shoes.’
‘I don’t want shoes,’ he said.
‘I said you did not have to have them.’
‘I do not want shoes.’
She did not know what to make of it. He seemed upset, though not inconsolable. He made his statement about shoes at least four more times before going quiet. As if the idea was firmly rooted in his mind and he required extra time to ensure it had been dealt with.
Beatrice decided to change her tactics.
‘Do you like cheese?’
The boy did not answer. He was involved in examining a spot on the wallpaper.
‘I quite like it,’ she said, firmly, cheerfully.
She stared at him for a moment and wondered if she had miscalculated, in a fit of arrogance, imagining that she understood him. His loneliness seemed to be something he chose. For he did not look at her. And he did not seem interested in her overtures.
But maybe he simply didn’t know how.
‘William, do you know it is polite to look at someone when they are talking?’