by Abby Ayles
Hannah was growing increasingly nervous with every rule he announced. Would he insist she be in his presence at all times? Despite her fear she simply nodded in acknowledgment.
“Third, because I am alone in the house with the girls most of the time, I allow them to join me for evening meals. I would ask you to also be in attendance for dinner.”
“Lastly,” he continued without waiting for her to reply, “while you are here in my employment, I must insist that you do not consort with any members of the opposite sex within the town or the staff unless approved by myself.”
“Consort? Opposite sex? I am not sure what you are inferring, Lord Grimshaw,” Hannah said, now having heard far too much, “but I am a respectable lady.”
“I am not inferring anything, Miss Jacobson. I am sure you are and I would never suggest otherwise. I am merely informing you of these rules for the benefit of my children.”
“How could that possibly benefit your girls?”
“I am afraid you will just have to trust me on this one,” the Earl of Grimshaw said with a stoic face that gave nothing away.
Hannah wasn’t sure if she felt more shocked, hurt or insulted after her meeting with the Earl of Grimshaw. How could he have sanely asked such things of her?
She had hoped that this time around she would leave her employment with a promising referral. How could that ever be the case when she couldn’t bring herself to agree to such rules?
Of course, she understood the necessity of grooming the girls both in their education and in preparation for their lives as proper young ladies. She also didn’t mind the idea of attending to them at church and for supper although it was unorthodox.
She did, however, find herself vastly insulted to be told that she was only allowed out of the house in his presence. How dare the earl infer that she would have inappropriate interactions with members of the male staff and therefore forbid any interaction whatsoever!
It was just the same physically demanding presence of her last employer. Again and again, Hannah had told herself that the baron was just an anomaly and that her next situation would be vastly better. She was beginning to question that sound advice she gave to herself.
Standing outside the schoolroom door she smoothed her apron and took a steadying breath. She knocked first before being called in.
“Good morning, Miss Jacobson,” a kind-eyed young girl said, coming to stand in front of her.
She motioned for the two small girls to stand. Hannah took the moment to look her pupils over. They both had the black hair that matched their father. In fact, everything about their demure somber faces reminded her of the earl.
She was immediately drawn to the youngest of the two who looked up at her with the largest brown eyes she had ever seen before.
“I am Abigail, their nurse. This is Lady Caroline and the little one there is Lady Rebecca,” the young girl pointed out to Hannah.
Hannah was surprised that such a young girl was their nurse. She looked to be no more than sixteen. She wondered if that perhaps explained why the earl had insisted that it was Hannah who tended to the girls outside of school instead of their nurse.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Abigail, as well as both of you, Lady Caroline and Lady Rebecca,” Hannah said, smiling down at her wards as soothingly as possible.
“If it is alright with you, I would like to assess what your last governess has already imparted to you before we begin with our own lessons. Would that be alright?”
Both girls first looked at their nurse. Even at her young age, it was clear she was the only consistent mother figure they had had thus far in their lives.
Abigail gave them an encouraging nod and both girls turned to their new governess ready for the task.
“Our last governess would have us sit at the table over there,” Lady Caroline said by way of being helpful as Abigail excused herself from the room.
“Thank you, Lady Caroline,” Hannah said as she scanned the room and began to take in its layout.
There was a bookshelf amply supplied with resources for Hannah to comb over and use. A warm fireplace to be used in winter months with a comfy chair for her to sit in and read to the children. There was one desk for her use and a small table for the girls’ use.
Hannah spent the remainder of the afternoon assessing her two pupils. Rebecca was very young in age, only being five, and was very new in her education. Hannah was sure her education would start at the very beginning. Caroline, on the other hand, was very knowledgeable of her numbers and letters and was even able to demonstrate some exquisite handwriting.
Both girls were very quiet, however, and much of what Hannah came to learn of them was a slow and painful process to draw out.
She did notice that Caroline’s eyes also continued to float away from her task at hand. She realized that her first assignment for the child would be to focus on tasks at hand and not get lost in thought.
As the morning came to an end and a servant arrived with a tray of light luncheon, Hannah was relieved for the break.
Her last pupil, though he truly had taken ill towards the end, had been a wild and rambunctious boy. It was a stark difference to these soft-spoken girls.
“Miss Jacobson,” Caroline said after Hannah suggested they take a break for tea and a light meal, “our last governess would always read to us at the end of our lessons.”
Her eyes drifted again behind Hannah, and she realized that the child’s distraction had been the chair with a book already set on its arm.
“I can tell that you are very intent on having something read to you,” Hannah said. “Perhaps it would be worth letting the tea stand a few moments to read just a few pages.”
“The book is just there on the chair,” Caroline continued encouragingly as she grabbed her sister’s hand and seated them both on the carpet.
Hannah had not seen such light lit in this child’s eyes thus far. She made a note of Caroline’s excitement for storytelling. Perhaps it would be a way to encourage the child to open up more to her.
She followed the girls over, picked up the leather-bound novel and sat down in the chair. It was a very comfortable seat and she couldn’t help but also relish the fact of many afternoons seated here reading to the children.
She had just examined the cover of the book when she felt a rustling of her skirts. Hannah felt the chills run up her spine that gave her the distinct indication that a living creature was walking around in her skirts.
Moving the book out of the way she inspected her folds and much to her dismay saw a small lump begin to move beneath the grey fabric. Grabbing the skirt and petticoat in one hand, she removed the fabric and exposed a big fat mouse with its long tail coiled around it.
For a moment Hannah froze to the spot, just watching the mouse nibble on a biscuit piece he had happily in his paws. How a mouse or the biscuit ended up on the chair she didn’t care to know.
As sensation returned to her body, she promptly rose from her chair and screamed. The mouse, having been interrupted from his mid-day meal, began to scurry frantically around the seat of the chair, not sure where to go next.
Hannah screamed again. It wasn’t the first mouse she had seen, certainly there were plenty in her school growing up. But she had never expected to see one in her seat. She promptly swung the book at the mouse, hoping to put them both out of her misery.
“Don’t! Stop!” Caroline stood and screamed herself.
Hannah watched in utter bewilderment as the child grabbed the mouse by its tail and scooped it into her hands where it sat quite peacefully.
“Why would you try to squish Mr. Whiskers?” Lady Rebecca said with tears brimming in her saucer eyes.
Chapter 4
“What is the meaning of all this?” the earl shouted before he fully opened the classroom door.
Hannah was still so utterly bewildered by the whole event that she barely registered the pure panic in the earl’s dark eyes. Instead, both girls and the governess star
ed at him blinking. From behind him, Abigail was peeking around her employer to see the status of the children in her charge.
“Father,” Caroline cried, running into his arms.
Rebecca was not far behind her sister. Grimshaw enveloped both his children in his thick arms and did his best to calm their fears. He bent down to their level and let both children cry into either shoulder.
“She tried to kill him,” Caroline sobbed out.
“Kill who?” Grimshaw asked ever so softly, though his dagger gaze on Miss Jacobson was less than gentle.
“Mr. Whiskers,” Caroline replied, holding up her rodent for her father’s inspection. “She tried to hit him with a book.”
“It’s alright now, girls,” he cooed to them both. Standing up, he faced Miss Jacobson with his full overshadowing stature.
“Miss Jacobson, I can understand why you might scream at the sight of Mr. Whiskers, but I assure you he is just a pet. If you would but leave him in his proper container you won’t even have to think about him. There is no need for you to cause the pet any harm.”
Both girls came to their nurse’s side. Though Rebecca was five she was still small enough that Abigail could pick her up into her arms.
“It was hard to know his family status as he was seated in my chair under my skirts and not in his container as you said is his home,” Hannah shot back, completely infuriated that he was chastising her for her actions.
“What would you have me do when finding a rodent in such a place?” she added, crossing her arms.
Hannah would not allow herself to be bullied by this man. She had had quite enough of that at her last employment.
Grimshaw turned his gaze back towards his two daughters and immediately both of their matching chocolate eyes hit the floor in guilt. He turned, now shadowing them in his displeasure.
For a man who had once spoken so softly to the children, his voice was now deep and full of anger.
“Is that true? Caroline? Rebecca? Did you put Mr. Whiskers on Miss Jacobson’s chair?”
“I only gave him some of my biscuit from breakfast. He wanted to eat it in the chair, not his cage. I guess I forgot he was there,” Caroline said, though it was easy to see she was making the story up on the spot.
“I don’t think that is all the truth,” he retorted, now looking at his youngest daughter.
Rebecca cracked under the pressure of her father’s disappointed gaze.
“We only meant it as a joke, Father, honest,” she said in her soft shaking voice.
“I am very disappointed with the both of you,” he scolded as silent tears trickled down from their downcast eyes.
“I went through all the trouble of bringing you a new fine governess all the way from London and this is how you welcome her?”
“I don’t want a new one,” Caroline said with her eyes on the ground. “I want Miss Watts back.”
“Well, she isn’t coming back, Caroline. It is time you resigned yourself to that fact. You are far too mature to be playing such silly pranks. I would suggest for the remainder of the day you two work on writing an apology letter to Miss Jacobson.”
Hannah opened her mouth to protest. It was entirely unnecessary. Yes, it was a nasty trick but making them write out a letter of apology was sure to make them only despise her more.
Though Grimshaw’s back was turned to the governess he instinctively knew she was going to protest his punishment. He held up a hand to silence her.
“Abigail will be tending to you for the rest of the day,” he continued when satisfied that Miss Jacobson was not going to speak out of turn. “You will not be joining me in the west wing or for supper this night. I expect you both in bed early so that you may contemplate how better you might welcome your new governess,” he added deeply.
Both girls, who were first shocked by his punishment, now looked to the rug below their feet and simply mumbled a ‘Yes, Father.’
“Now, if you will follow me, Miss Jacobson, we have more to discuss, while Abigail will see to the girls’ task for the afternoon.”
Hannah opened and closed her mouth a few times. She would have much rather dealt with the situation on her own, not have his lordship barrel in and take control of the situation.
Yet he stood at the door and motioned for her to exit with him and there was nothing she could say about it.
“We’re sorry, Miss Jacobson,” Rebecca said just above a whisper as Hannah passed.
She knelt down before the both of them.
“I know you are, and I forgive you both. I am sorry too that I tried to squish such an important member of your family.”
The earl cleared his throat and Miss Jacobson stood and exited the room with him. She rather thought she still might be in trouble with him as well though she had no idea how this could be.
Much to her surprise, however, the moment the door was shut tightly behind her, the earl bent over in uncontrollable laughter. Again, she found herself completely bewildered by this man.
Finally, he stood and wiped a stray tear from his eye.
“A mouse on your seat,” he said more to himself than to his present company. “I must say that I am not so surprised by Caroline but I can’t believe Rebecca went along with it.”
“I am relieved you are finding humor in the situation,” Hannah said rather coolly as she looked up at him with arms crossed.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Miss Jacobson. I don’t mean to offend. I am sure it was quite a fright for you. Though I must say it took a good amount of bravery to try and kill it.”
“It was a shock at first, I must admit, but it didn’t help that you didn’t give me a chance to compose myself. Instead, you completely took over the whole situation. How am I to get the girls’ respect if they see you taking charge at every misstep?”
“Well, they are my children,” Grimshaw retorted back. “It is certainly my responsibility to discipline them, not yours.”
“And why did you have to do it so harshly? You clearly didn’t find the offense so heinous by the way you could scarcely escape the room without laughing. It would have been better to have let me deal with it on my own.”
He repeated Hannah’s defensive gesture by crossing his own arms and looking down his long-pointed nose at her.
“I was only trying to help. Perhaps if you hadn’t screamed so, I wouldn’t have felt the need to come running and intercede.”
Hannah took a step back from their argument and tried to see things from his side. Of course, he would have run in, fists at the ready when it came to his daughters and a supposed encroachment on their safety.
She had seen how gentle he was with them, and clearly, he loved them far more than she had ever seen in her last employment. His daughters were treasures and he took his responsibility as their father very seriously.
“I apologize then. I shouldn’t have been so cross with you. I suppose I am still a bit frazzled,” Hannah said, removing the false spectacles and rubbing the bridge of her nose. The blasted things did pinch something fierce.
“You don’t need to apologize,” Grimshaw said, feeling his own resolve to be angry melt away. “Come let us sit to tea and perhaps I can give you a better idea of why the girls might have behaved so.”
Hannah raised her eyes to meet his gaze, surprised by his invitation. She questioned his motives. Frankly, she questioned any man who wished to be in her presence alone, especially her employer.
Sebastian couldn’t help but feel his heart catch in his throat when he saw the lady before him without her bothersome spectacles. They were so thick and large that he had not even noticed the staggeringly gorgeous blue eyes beneath them. As she studied his intentions, he was taken aback by her thick dark lashes that seemed to flutter like butterfly wings.
He wondered to himself what she looked like with both the glasses and her oversized matron cap removed. Was her hair dark like her lashes and brows or lighter in color? He tried to imagine what would suit her better. It was impossible to tell with
her head so closely covered.
“I promise you will find it most enlightening,” the earl added by way of encouragement. “I believe you will understand the girls better once I have told you about their history.”
“Alright,” Hannah said rather reluctantly.
At first, she had feared his imposing features, especially when it culminated with anger in her direction. But now he seemed so gentle. It was as if he was well aware of his fearsome stature and matched his movement and speech to soften his rough exterior.
Together they sat in a luxurious drawing room. Though the room was of good fashion it seemed to her that it hadn’t been used for quite some time. There was the fact that several maids hurriedly rushed around to open the floor-to-ceiling curtains. Behind each set were magnificent arched windows that let in the glow of the afternoon sun.