by Abby Ayles
“My lady, are you… do you… truly love me?”
Lady Annabelle wondered why he would ask a question with such an obvious answer. She turned to him, folding her hands inside the gloves she had taken off. It was a warm day and the gloves were suffocating her hands. She gripped her fingers together, hiding them in the folds of the fabric. “I do, my lord. Very much.”
“Does that mean you will be my wife and give me children?” the Duke of Cardinal knew all the answers to the questions he was asking. And he was not insecure about what her answers might be. He just wanted to hear it from her lips. See her and hear her profess her love for him. “Will you marry me, Lady Annabelle Cartwright?”
As he spoke the words, he took both her hands, gloves and all and brought them to his lips. When his words were finished, he placed a soft kiss on each hand. “You would honor me greatly with your love and devotion.”
“My lord, I will marry you. I will bear your children. I will stay with you until we are both old and grey and forever after that. Never will I let go of your hand.”
He looked in her eyes. He could see how much she loved him. It made his chest tighten. The feeling would have been painful if it wasn’t love that prompted it to happen. “I am so happy to hear that. I will protect you always. I hope that what you have seen of me has not made you doubtful in any way.”
She shook her head, drawing her eyebrows together. “It cannot happen, my lord. I have given my heart to you and only you. Not even for a moment have I believed any of the slanderous lies leveled upon you. I was outraged and angered by it.”
She glanced over at Lady Julia and Lady Joanna who had moved to another part of the lawn to continue their game without Lady Annabelle and the Duke of Cardinal, who were obviously otherwise occupied. “I have forgiven her. I do hope you have found it in your heart to do so, as well.”
The Duke of Cardinal smiled at her, tilting his head to the side. “My lady, as long as I have you by my side, I can withstand any storm. I have forgiven her because she was quite taken in by the machinations of Lord Balfour. And I am so very grateful that you defended my honor when these things came to light.”
“It would not have been any other way, my lord. From the first moment I saw you, I felt there was something different about you. I found pleasure in the way you spoke, the way you looked at me. You have traits that I find quite attractive.”
“As do you, my lady.” He squeezed her fingers lightly, bringing them once again to his lips.
“Oh, my lord,” Lady Annabelle said in a soft voice, stepping a bit closer to him. She looked up, drowning in the passion she saw deep in his eyes. “I am so pleased my father has no objection to our union. I would have found it impossible to say no when you asked me to be your wife.”
“I would not have liked to hear that word come from your mouth, Lady Annabelle. But if it had, I would have respected your decision and gone to South London with Mr. Covington.”
The thought of the Duke of Cardinal leaving with Mr. Covington and never seeing him again made Lady Annabelle’s heart ache even though it had not happened. She never wanted to be apart from him again, barring business trips.
She trusted her heart with him. She would give him everything she had, love him more than any other woman in the world. She would keep him happy and content. And he would keep her safe and protected from anything evil in the world.
“My lord, please do not ever leave me behind. I wish to be yours forever.”
“Sweet lady, the day that we are married is the day you will be next to me for the rest of our lives. I will never leave you behind and I hope to someday be worth the love I see in your eyes. I will prove myself to you, my lady. I will give you everything you ask for, as long as it is in my power to do so. Thank you for giving me your heart. I gladly accept it and give you mine in return.”
“I love you, Duke Colbourn of Cardinal.”
“And I love you, my Lady Annabelle Cartwright.”
The Extended Epilogue
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A Mysterious Governess for the Reluctant Earl
Chapter 1
“Lord Grimshaw, you must understand that this is very unorthodox.”
“I can’t imagine how that could be,” Sebastian Blackburn, the Earl of Grimshaw, stated with a huff of irritation. “I am certainly not the only one to come and seek a governess through you.”
“Of course not, my lord,” the solicitor replied, pushing the spectacles up his nose. “That is the main purpose of our establishment, of course. I only mean that asking various governesses here to be interviewed by you personally is very unorthodox, and quite possibly not possible on such short notice.”
“Well,” Grimshaw said, doing his best to keep a steady voice. “How much time would you find sufficient if you cannot procure prospects today? Would tomorrow give you a sufficient amount of time?”
“A week would be more reasonable, Lord Grimshaw.”
“Well, I don’t have a week!” Grimshaw said, standing up in the room.
The solicitor sat back in his chair in response to Sebastian’s physical presence in the small office room.
“It is your fault I find myself here. I asked you to procure me a governess and in less than a year she goes and elopes. I obviously can’t count on you to pick a proper candidate so here I am to do it myself. This trip to London has already been inconvenient enough. I want to be done with the whole thing in no more than three days’ time.”
The solicitor moved the glasses on his nose once more. He didn't particularly enjoy being reprimanded in his own office but nothing could be done for it. Many young ladies would take up these governess jobs only long enough to see themselves properly wed. Though a resignation in less than a year was unusually quick, it was a common occurrence for a governess to give up pupils for marriage.
“I am very sorry that Miss Watts left your service…”
“How about you tell my two girls how sorry you are? In the last two years, they have lost a mother and now their governess. Perhaps if you will not furnish me with candidates to interview myself, I will just take you with me back to Brighton Abby so that you may look into their doe eyes and explain why they have had no womanly figure to support and guide them these last four months.”
“I assure you that won’t be necessary, Lord Grimshaw,” the solicitor said, shuffling papers on his desk. “I am sure that I will be able to find several candidates ready for your approval by tomorrow morning.”
The solicitor was feeling rather terrified from the Earl’s commanding presence and was willing to do whatever it took to pacify the man.
Lord Grimshaw nodded in approval with a grunt before turning to retrieve his beaver fur hat and cane.
“Then I will arrive promptly tomorrow morning at nine o’clock and I expect to have several options to choose from,” he announced in a less harsh but still demanding voice.
“Of course, Lord Grimshaw. It is our passion to make sure all our clients are pleased in every way with any employment they need filling,” the solicitor said, standing and reciting the business motto.
Sebastian stormed from the office and building onto the busy streets of London. He looked either direction at the various people walking along the road before donning his hat.
“Need a cab, m’ lord?” a small voice called up to him.
He looked down to inspect the eyes of the dirty orphan waiting expectantly. Sebastian expected he hoped for a penny in return for his aid in procuring a carriage for hire.
“Alright, sure,” Sebastian said as he studied the boy.
The small child’s face brightened to finally get an a
ffirmative answer. Sebastian had no doubt it was one of the few he had gotten all week. The child was scarcely a skeleton.
Despite his malnutrition, he donned his own ragged cap and ran out to the muddied and filth-filled street to hail a carriage.
It only took a moment for the yellow carriage pulled by a single horse to be called over by the boy. Sebastian had to admit he was quite proficient at his job.
As the carriage pulled to the side of the raised sidewalk so as to keep the Earl from soiling his leather boots in the street, the boy opened the door and removed his hat, bowing in respect.
“For you, m’lord,” he said.
Sebastian reached into his pocket and pulled out a sixpence to give the child. He supposed the boy had held out his hat for the money, not expecting someone of his class would be willing to put it directly into such a dirty hand.
Instead of placing the coin in the hat, however, Sebastian knelt down to the child’s level. Grabbing the boy’s dirty thin hand with his own white-gloved one, he placed the coin in his palm.
“I would hate for it to fall out of the hole in your cap,” Sebastian said, motioning to the worn headpiece.
“Thank you, m’ lord!” The boy was so overcome with excitement at the money he could scarcely breathe.
Sebastian ruffled the boy’s matted brown hair and smiled at him before raising himself back up and entering the carriage.
“Where to, guvnor?” the driver called from his high seat in front of the box.
“Grand Hotel, Covent Garden,” Sebastian responded without fanfare as he settled back into the carriage seat.
He was vastly irritated to spend even one more day in London, but there seemed to be nothing to do for it.
He had trusted a solicitor once, though he wasn’t entirely sure if it was that exact man he had met today as he had accused, to procure a governess for him. If there was one thing that Sebastian Blackburn, Earl of Grimshaw, had learned in life, it was that if he wanted something done properly, he was going to have to do it himself.
The following morning Sebastian walked into the employment office satisfied to see a row of ladies seated and patiently waiting.
He could easily already mark several of them off his list of candidates as they were far too handsome to look upon. He wasn’t about to allow his future governess to catch the eye of a local gentleman again.
His girls had suffered enough without the loss of yet another motherly figure in their life. He would settle on a lady that would not only excel as a tutor but also one that looked so demure as to never risk leaving again.
Sebastian was shown into the same solicitor’s office. He spoke rather nervously as he shuffled through his papers and made room for the Earl at the desk.
“I have a list of all qualified ladies. All are in need of employment and able to travel as far distance as is necessary. I have assured all of them that this governess position is not a temporary one and dedication is required.”
Sebastian nodded his head in approval. He was aware that he could be a quite severe-looking man so he attempted to soften his look. It wasn’t easy when he was in such a sour disposition already. He never liked traveling to London. There were far too many people.
“Please do send the first one in,” Sebastian said, taking his seat in the solicitor’s chair behind the desk.
The man only hesitated for a moment before nodding and leaving the room. A few seconds later he returned with a lady in tow. She was one of the seated misses he had singled out at once as far too beautiful for his position.
“Thank you, I am sure you are very skilled,” Sebastian said before the woman even fully entered the room, “but I am looking for something else in a governess. Good morning.”
He kept his thick arms on the table with his fingers interlaced. She looked up in shock between the Earl and the solicitor before the latter finally shooed her out of the room and returned with another.
“This will do fine, please have a seat, miss?” Sebastian said, taking control of the room as was his habit.
“Miss Mary Prescott, sir,” she said as she took her seat.
Sebastian spent the next several hours interviewing one miss after another. Some, like the first, were dismissed right away. Others were given the opportunity to answer a few questions but quickly were found wanting.
Sebastian was just beginning to lose hope when Miss Hannah Jacobson made her way into the room. He looked her over, finding her features very satisfying to his needs.
Her dress clearly stated that she was of a lower class. Not only was it extremely plain and not of the fashion he had seen as of late, but it was also altered along the edges. He could scarcely make her face out between the large white cap she had completely covering her head and the wide brim spectacles that obscured the rest of her face.
“Miss Hannah Jacobson,” the solicitor said before leaving the room.
She took her seat and, passing her information forward to the Earl, kept her eyes on the hands neatly folded in her lap. Sebastian pulled his eyes from her curious figure to the pamphlet before him.
Her dress seemed to make more sense as he read over that her schooling was at Hendrick’s Preparatory School for Young Misses. He was familiar with the institution. Though it produced satisfactory educators, it was one often used by those who couldn’t afford much better.
“I am in need of a lady who can both teach my two young daughters the educational lessons appropriate to their age as well as etiquette they will need in preparation for their adult lives. I trust your education at Hendrick’s Preparatory was satisfactory?”
“Yes, Lord Grimshaw.”
“And if you were offered the position, how soon would you be able to arrive at Brighton Abby? Of course, I would pay for your transportation,” he added with a wave of his hand.
“I could leave as soon as needed, or as soon as it is convenient for you,” she replied with her head still down.
He didn’t rather like how dull and sullen she seemed. He wondered how that would fair with his girls who were often rambunctious and feral. Though on the other hand, he thought perhaps her demeanor might have an influence on them.
“I see here that Hendrick’s first put you with the Baron Edgley. I see you spent almost a year there, but I see no reference.”
“That is correct,” she said as her eyes met his for the first time since entering the room.
“Could you perchance tell me why your post terminated with the baron and perhaps why there is no reference,” Sebastian said, a little more severely than he had meant to.
He was just frustrated, not with the miss, but with the fact that this was yet another red flag against yet another unqualified governess.
“Perhaps you know the baron?” Hannah retorted, not yet ready to answer the question.
“No.”
“Oh, well, my ward was their son, Joseph. He took ill quite suddenly and after several months without recovering they thought it best to dismiss me. Both Baron and Baroness Edgley were beside themselves with worry over Joseph, and I didn’t feel it appropriate to ask for a reference in such a time.”
“Why did they not supply one upon your dismissal?”
“I suppose it was just the stress they were under. I think the Baron forgot, he had so much on his mind, you see.”
Sebastian thought this over and considered it to be a suitable reason for not giving a reference. Hannah Jacobson didn’t seem like the type of girl who would fail in her job as an educator if her school marks were any indication.
“Well,” the Earl said, standing up. Miss Jacobson did the same. “I have seen as much as I think I need to. You are hired. I will arrange a coach to collect you and your belongings first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Tomorrow morning?” Hannah said, surprised to not only get the job with such a dubious work history and suspicious explanation of it, but to also start right away.
“You said you were available, did you not?”
“Yes, yes of c
ourse. I would be happy to begin as soon as you wish. I was just surprised is all,” she added with a shy smile.
She looked down from the Earl, no doubt to hide a blush behind the large ruffles of her cap. He couldn’t help but wonder later that day if it was actually dimples he had also seen along with the rose on her cheeks.
Chapter 2
Hannah took a steadying breath before leaving the small rented flat that had been her home these last six months. She couldn’t help but feel anxious about the new employment and one outside of London.
Hannah had told herself numerous times it would be better to acquire a post outside of the city she had been born in. She needed to get far enough away that the reputation that Baron Edgley was spreading wouldn’t reach.
