Ladies and Their Secrets: Regency Romance Collection

by Alec, Joyce

  Then, he had made his way back to the house only to come across this disheveled-looking woman, and his irritation had made its way into the words he had spoken to her. Perhaps she had not had the best impression of him either, which might have accounted for the fearful way she had regarded him. Hopefully, the bath he had ordered for her had helped with her impression of him.

  Sighing heavily, Matthew sat back and took a swig of his brandy, worrying that he had made the wrong decision. Miss Weston had looked afraid and vulnerable, and as much as he had not wanted to admit it to himself, his heart had swelled with sympathy for her. There was certainly more to her story, and that was why he had chosen to have a conversation with her this evening. He wanted to know what it was that had occurred to make her step down from her place in society to a much lesser one. That meant that there had to be some reason for her to be as she was, which might explain the deep sadness that had covered her as she’d talked with him. Mayhap she had tried and failed to find a husband, for she was not exactly a beautiful woman, although certainly not unattractive. Did her father not have enough funds for another Season? Had she become a financial burden, forced to take on a role as a governess until her father’s situation improved? Question after question about the lady burrowed into his mind, unsettling him further.

  This was not something he could afford to get wrong. Little Sarah would form an attachment with any governess he gave her, and he had to ensure that the lady was the right governess for her. He could not bear to tear a governess away from his young daughter once an attachment had been formed, knowing that his little girl was already so gentle-natured that such a thing could injure her greatly.

  There came a quiet scratch at the door, the butler stepping inside at Matthew’s call to enter.

  “The governess,” Matthew began, getting to his feet. “Tell her that I would like her to come to the study within the next half hour, whenever she is ready.”

  “Very good, your grace,” the butler replied, inclining his head.

  “In the library, I think,” Matthew continued, thinking that the study might be a little too imposing for her. “And send a tray for her, and one for me. No tea or coffee for me, however.” He lifted his glass of brandy and chuckled. “I have more than enough here.”

  The corner of the butler’s mouth quirked, as he nodded. “At once, your grace.”

  “Thank you, Jenkins,” Matthew replied, as the door closed behind the butler. It was one thing he had always been truly grateful for – a staff that was loyal to him. The butler had been with him for a good many years now and knew Matthew’s ways very well. He just had to hope that the Miss Weston would manage to fit into his household without too much difficulty, if he decided to keep her on.

  It was not more than ten minutes before Miss Weston knocked on the library door and stepped inside, her sapphire-colored eyes wide, as she took in the large room and the great many books held within it

  “Miss Weston, thank you for coming so promptly,” Matthew said, getting to his feet. “Please, come and sit here.”

  Miss Weston swallowed once, hesitated for a moment, and then made her way toward him, sitting down opposite him. There was a tenseness to her movements, as she sat down on the very edge of her seat, her fingers clasped tightly in her lap.

  “You need not have any kind of fear of me, Miss Weston,” Matthew said at once, wanting to put her at ease. “I am not about to throw you out on your ear.”

  “No, your grace, of course I did not think that,” came the soft reply as her eyes darted all over the room. “I just thought… I mean, I am a little unused to…”

  Realizing the reason for her discomfort, Matthew nodded slowly. “I understand. I can fetch a maid here, if you wish.”

  Her eyes flickered to his for a moment only to dart away again. “No, thank you, your grace. It is just going to take me a little time to become used to it, and I beg your forgiveness for that.”

  That had him wondering about her, taking her in properly for the first time. She did not have that bedraggled look about her any longer, looking a little more rested and less afraid. Her eyes were still a little widened, as though she were still taking everything in, still a little overcome with it all. Her high-collared, grey dress did not become her in the slightest, her fair hair tied back neatly into a bun with only a few wisps escaping to curl around her temples. Whilst neat, Matthew was sure Miss Weston was entirely unaccustomed to wearing such things.

  “I am afraid I shall have to ask you some somewhat probing questions, dear lady,” he said firmly. “I know that there will be some questions you will not wish to answer, and I will not press you on them, for you have your own right to privacy. However, I must ensure that you are a suitable lady for my daughter. I cannot trust her into another’s care without being settled in my own mind as to whether or not that person is entirely right for her.” He lifted his chin a little, making sure to keep his gaze steady. “My daughter is a gentle soul and one who will grow to love you with very little effort on your part.”

  “What a lovely child she must be,” Miss Weston replied softly, her eyes growing gentle. “How old did you say she was?”

  “She is five years of age, due to be six this year,” Matthew answered, surprised to see her so unperturbed by his stern gaze. “Do you have much experience with children, Miss Weston?”

  Her soft expression faded to one of anxiety. “No, your grace, I do not,” she replied honestly, without even the slightest hint of guile. “I will be truthful with you and say that this is my first charge.” Her gaze faltered, as the words slipped from her mouth, as if worried he might immediately ask her to leave.

  Matthew nodded slowly. “I see.”

  “However, I myself have been brought up with all the refinements expected of a lady,” she continued hurriedly. “I can teach them to your daughter, I am sure.”

  “You are a lady of quality,” Matthew stated, questions beginning to burn in his mind. “That was precisely the reason I asked for you to come here, Miss Weston. I knew that a lady such as yourself would be able to teach my daughter all that she will need to know as the daughter of a duke.”

  Something like relief flashed across Miss Weston’s face as she nodded, although Matthew could see the way her lips trembled. Feeling a trifle sorry for her, he indicated the tea tray to her left, suggesting she pour herself a cup whilst they talked.

  His keen eyes did not miss the way her hands shook slightly as she did so, although he rose to pour himself another brandy so that she did not feel him watching her. He was tempted to give her the opportunity to prove herself as a good governess for Sarah, but still there was so much of a mystery about her that nagged at his mind, pressing him with doubts.

  “You were not pleased, I think, to come here,” he said, sitting back down and fixing his gaze on her once more. “You need not try to find an excuse, Miss Weston. I saw your face when you arrived and that told me more than you could ever say.” He saw her flinch but kept his eyes on her, not allowing himself to be swayed by the sudden agony etched on her features.

  Miss Weston pressed her lips together for a moment, her eyes darting here and there before settling back on to his face. “Your grace, I am very glad to be here,” she said, slowly. “It is not what I expected for my life, that is true, but you have been kind enough to invite me to take on the role of governess, and I will do all I can to teach Sarah everything I know.”

  The answer was a truthful one, Matthew would swear on it. There was no guile in her eyes, no looking away as she spoke.

  “I will not press you as to why you have been made to take on this role when you are a lady of refinement,” he replied, seeing the relief in her gaze. “However, should any difficulty arise for any reason, I wish you to come and speak to me freely about it. Your situation, as it is, is a temporary one here, until I decide whether or not to make it a more permanent arrangement.”

  She lifted her head, her eyes widening. “Does that mean that I will be allow
ed to meet your daughter tomorrow?”

  “It does,” he replied, his heart still filled with doubts and questions which he had to continually silence. “There shall be a month’s trial, starting from tomorrow. At the end of the month, you shall give me a report on my daughter’s progress. I will speak to her myself and to the nurse. If they are satisfied with you, and if I am pleased with her progress, then I will consider a more permanent arrangement for you. Does that satisfy you?”

  Miss Weston’s eyes were glassy as she nodded, her gratefulness evident. “Thank you, your grace,” she murmured before lifting her teacup to her lips and sipping delicately. It gave her a moment to blink back her tears, meaning she was able to lift a smiling face toward him again.

  “I look forward to meeting your daughter and beginning our lessons,” she said, after a few moments of silence.

  “Very good,” Matthew replied, getting to his feet, just as she made to do so. “No, Miss Weston, there is no need for you to rise. You may remain in the library for as long as you wish. In fact, the books are at your disposal, for I think they would do you and my daughter a world of good. In addition, you are free to walk the grounds whenever you wish, although I would be grateful if you made sure Sarah is always warmly wrapped up.”

  She nodded. “Of course, your grace.”

  “In addition, you are to work with my daughter after breakfast and until the dinner gong sounds,” he continued, laying out her terms. “Your pay shall come at the end of every month, and you have Saturday afternoons and Sundays free to do as you wish. There is a small village nearby, which has a few shops, and there are some lovely walks in the grounds themselves, as well as the woods beyond.”

  Miss Weston looked surprised.

  “I like to spend time with my daughter, Miss Weston,” he explained, aware that he was one of the few gentlemen who enjoyed spending time with their offspring. “You are to accompany us to church on Sunday morning, but thereafter the time is yours.”

  A slow smile began to spread across her face, making Matthew’s heart suddenly skip a beat. It was the first time she had shown any kind of happiness in her expression. To his surprise, it completely transformed her features. Gone was the sadness that had lingered there for so long, her blue eyes sparkling with delight.

  “You are very kind, your grace,” she murmured, lowering her gaze respectfully. “Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to prove myself.”

  Clearing his throat, Matthew walked toward the door, a little confused as to the strange spark that had shot through his heart when Miss Weston had smiled at him.

  “Tomorrow then, Miss Weston,” he said, glancing back at her for one last moment before stepping through the door and out into the hallway.

  7

  “It is very nice to meet you.”

  Sophia tried her best to smile at the little girl who was staring up at her with big blue eyes, so like the duke’s. There was no smile on her face, but no anger or upset either. Instead, there was simply a consideration of her, as though the child was assessing her in some way.

  “Curtsy, Sarah,” the duke murmured pressing his daughter’s hand. “Can you show Miss Weston your very best curtsy?”

  The girl frowned for a moment, before her face split into a wide smile, beaming up at her father. She did her very best – almost tumbling over in the process since she bent forward a little too much, only to laugh aloud as her father caught her.

  Sophia was in love.

  The child was beyond beautiful, her adoration for her father evident. The duke had been a little intimidating last evening, but today, in front of his daughter, he was much softer with a great deal of tenderness displayed. Sophia had been surprised to learn that she was to have so much time free from her duties as governess—for she had not expected the duke to care so much about his child. Now that she saw them together, she quite understood. They had such a strong bond that she did not think the duke would be able to go even a single day without seeing his daughter. It was a bond she had shared with her own father, albeit later in life when she had taken more of a role in the running of the house, but it had been wonderful nonetheless. A stab of pain shot through her heart as the duke lifted his face to hers, his smile for his daughter still lingering. Oh, how she missed her father!

  “Miss Weston?”

  Wiping the pained expression from her face, Sophia smiled brightly down at the child, not wanting to give a bad first impression. “I am sure we will get on splendidly, Lady Sarah. I can see that you have already learned to curtsy very well, and I am quite sure that come the end of the week, you will be able to do it perfectly.”

  To her consternation, the girl frowned. “My name is Sarah. Not Lady Sarah.”

  A little confused, Sophia looked up at the duke, who was laughing quietly.

  “I do beg your pardon,” she mumbled, her cheeks burning red, as she wondered if she had somehow misstepped. She had thought it was perfectly appropriate to refer to the duke’s daughter by her correct title, but apparently, she had been wrong.

  “Do forgive me, Miss Weston,” the duke chuckled, shaking his head. “My daughter is unused to such formality, although I suppose it is best that she begins to get used to it.”

  “No,” the child interrupted, folding her arms. “I do not like being called Lady Sarah. I am just Sarah.”

  “Very well,” the duke grinned, shrugging slightly, as he turned his eyes back toward Sophia. “Miss Weston, I believe my daughter would like to be referred to without her title at the moment. I am sure that in the years to come, she will grow to understand the significance of it.”

  “I am sure she will,” Sophia agreed softly, finding even the child’s stubbornness to be something of a delight. “I would say that such determination is a good quality, your grace.”

  He nodded slowly, the smile fading from his features as he contemplated her. “I suppose it is,” he said eventually. “Just so long as she does not become accustomed to always having her way, you understand.”

  “Yes, indeed, I quite understand,” Sophia replied, looking down at the girl who was looking up them both with a slightly puzzled expression. “Might I take Sarah to the schoolroom now, your grace?”

  “Of course.”

  The duke bent down to look into his daughter’s face, instructing her to do everything that Sophia asked of her and telling her that he would be getting a report on her progress by the end of the week. This seemed to give little Sarah a determination to do as well as she could for her father, solemnly promising that she would do just that.

  The duke smiled and rose to his feet, standing a little closer to Sophia than he had done before.

  “Do come and find me this evening, once you have eaten,” he said, his eyes still on his daughter. “I would like to know how everything has gone.”

  Her heart quickened as she looked up into his face, seeing his gaze slowly travel toward her. There was a moment of silence, a moment of something sparking between them. Then, it was gone.

  He did not say another word, but turned on his heel and left the room, leaving her with her new charge staring up at her and a heart that was suddenly pounding with confusion.

  The schoolroom had been dusted, tidied, and aired by the maids, and Sophia had only had the briefest of visits to it before she had been called to meet Sarah. Walking into the room now, she felt a fresh new responsibility settling on her shoulders, seeing the little girl coming in behind her as they stepped inside.

  “I have not been here before,” Sarah said loudly, looking at the chalkboard and then at the map on the wall. “What is it we are meant to do?” She looked up inquiringly at Sophia, who immediately tried to think of the best explanation she could give.

  “Well, Sarah, in this room, we are to start to fill your mind with all kinds of knowledge,” she said slowly. “There is so much for you to learn that I hardly know where to begin!”

  “I know my numbers and my letters,” Sarah replied, with a slight air of indignance. �
��Is that the kind of thing you mean?”

  “Yes, that is it precisely,” Sophia answered, pulling out a slate and a piece of chalk. “Why do you not show me your numbers, Sarah? I would very much like to see them.”

  The girl looked up at her for a moment, her eyes traveling from Sophia’s face to the slate and chalk she held out in her hand. Then, with a slow deliberateness, she took the slate and set it down in front of her.

  Sophia let out a long, slow breath of relief, having been a little concerned that the girl might not do as she asked. She had no idea what she was supposed to do if that kind of thing occurred, wondering if she would have to go and speak to the duke and ask him for his help, only to worry that in doing so, she would then appear to be entirely incompetent.

  “Here,” Sarah said, interrupting her train of thought. “I did them.”

  Taking back the slate, Sophia looked down at the scrawl of numbers. Some were back to front, some upside down, and some entirely wrong. Sophia smiled at the little girl.

  “You have done an excellent job,” she said, wanting to encourage her. “I think, however, that we will do the numbers one at a time, and we shall do them together. That way, we can make sure not to have any mistakes.”

  Sarah nodded, giving Sophia the smallest of smiles as she came to sit next to her, her own slate in hand. She smiled back at the girl, her heart filling with a happy relief that Sarah now seemed to be a little more amenable to having a governess.

  The day passed quickly, and to her surprise, Sophia found herself more than able to fill the day with lots of different activities. After doing their numbers, she helped Sarah to write her full name, explaining to her the reason she had referred to her as ‘Lady Sarah’. After lunch, they had wrapped up warmly and gone for a brief walk outside, even though it was windy and rather cold. The girl had bounced about like a jack-in-the-box and made Sophia laugh, finding a spark of happiness beginning to build a fire inside her.