by Abby Ayles
It wasn’t till the loud shrill scream of Lady Tara startled all present that Hannah looked up from her game.
“What? Whatever is the matter?” Grimshaw said, rushing over from his small party of Jayden and Lord Waldron who had all been in deep conversation over the past election.
“A mouse! A horrible mouse! It was right here on my seat!” Lady Tara said with a high-pitched screech.
Hannah heard the girls giggle in the corner and knew at once what had happened.
She hurried over to Lady Tara’s seat and only searching a moment she procured Mr. Whiskers from behind a cushion.
Holding him by the tail she lifted him up. She may have known the trickster was benign; that didn’t mean she had to like him, however.
“Lady Caroline, please come and take Mr. Whiskers away,” Hannah said, holding the rodent at arm’s length from her own body.
Lady Tara glared at the girls as they came giggling forward to accept the pet.
“You! You put that horrible creature on my seat. How downright rotten of you,” she said, wagging a finger at Lady Caroline.
Lord Waldron was preoccupied fanning his wife who had fainted at the sight of the creature and Grimshaw was still attempting to step around Lord and Lady Waldron to get to the scene of the action.
“They only meant it to be a joke,” Hannah defended her wards. “I am not saying it was right, but such language seems a bit harsh.”
Both girls were hiding behind Hannah’s skirts at the lady’s outburst.
“They did the very same to me. I am sure it gave you a great shock, but once you gain your senses again, you will see it is harmless.”
“Harmless? Harmless? I suppose you encouraged them to do so?”
“Of course not,” Hannah retorted, jutting her chin out.
“What is this about?” Grimshaw said. stepping between the two ladies.
“Those horrid little beasts put a rat on my cushion. I about fainted from the fright of it. Grimshaw, you must do something.”
Grimshaw looked down severely at his girls. He did find it to be a distasteful action but didn’t see the need to call them horrid or beasts.
“Is this true, girls?”
“Yes, Father,” Lady Caroline said.
“You will go straight to bed this instant. You will be lucky if Father Christmas comes at all after such behavior.”
Hannah would have liked to say he was sure to come and reward them for showing Lady Tara’s true nature before their father, but she held her tongue.
Instead, she shooed the two girls with Grannie and Mr. Whiskers in hand to see them properly put to bed.
Lady Waldron finally came to and her husband gingerly helped her also to bed to rest for the night after the fright.
Jayden, who had been a bit slow on the uptake, now was caught up and was having a good laugh over the matter.
“It is not funny, Mr. Marsh. What if the thing bit me? How could they do such a thing? I assure you it is a negative influence that encouraged them to do so.”
Lady Tara began to rant.
“I assure you the pet is well trained,” Grimshaw said, doing his best to hide his irritability at the lady. “He would no sooner bite a cat. And as for the bad influence, I suppose that would be me. After all, they did the same to Hannah when she first came so they couldn’t have gotten the idea from her as you are inferring.”
“Something must be done about them, Grimshaw. They are out of control. I suggest sending them to a strict boarding school. It is the only way they will learn to behave.”
“Now hold on a minute,” Jayden interrupted before Grimshaw could give his say. “It may have been an ill-advised act, but they are not badly behaved by any means. What other children would sit so quietly and behave so politely all evening long? I dare say my own sister and I would have caused far more trouble before this time in the evening.”
Lady Tara blew out her cheeks in a rage that both men were taking sides against her. She looked to Grimshaw for a last-ditch chance of support. Finding none in his stern face, she turned and stormed from the room.
Chapter 33
With Lady Tara out of the room, Grimshaw let out a long sigh. Jayden did the same and slumped down onto a couch.
“That one is more of a handful than I first thought.”
“It was wrong of the girls to do such a thing,” Grimshaw replied, taking his own seat on an adjacent chair.
“But pretty funny if you ask me,” Jayden said with humorous glee in his eyes.
Grimshaw gave out a little chuckle of his own. “What am I going to do with those girls? I’m sure it is my fault. I let them run wild before Hannah got here.”
“She seemed to be straightening them out fine.”
“Yes, despite me,” Grimshaw agreed.
“So, Hannah, is it?” Jayden asked, arching one of his dark blonde brows. “She is a pretty thing to look at. No wonder you have no taste for Lady Tara any longer.”
“I didn’t think I was being quite that obvious about it,” Grimshaw countered.
“Are you joking? At least once every half hour I would catch you looking her way with that boyish grin.”
“I certainly don’t have a boyish grin,” Grimshaw said in a husky tone, “so that alone tells me you are simply trying to tease me.”
“Tell me I am wrong? Tell me you don’t have eyes for the governess?”
“It’s complicated,” Grimshaw responded softly.
“Complicated how? She clearly has feelings for you too. She loves the girls as well. What complication is there?”
“Her social status, for one. My girls love her company now but she will be less accepted into society due to her breeding; you know that. What if that reflects badly on the girls when they come of age? Lady Tara on the other hand…” Grimshaw managed to say.
“Yes, I suppose the lady would have more influence in certain circles, but would you really be willing to subject your daughters to her for the benefit of circles?”
“No,” Grimshaw said, already knowing he had determined that fact.
“I did allow the lady to assume certain things, however. I am honor-bound to her now, no matter how much I wish I wasn’t.”
“No words have been spoken,” Jayden said with a wave of his hand. “There is no honor that binds you to her. I am sure she may be hurt by the dismissal. Judging by the way she acted tonight, I hope I am not present to see that scene,” he added with a chuckle, “but she would have no reason to tarnish your name over it.”
“Perhaps,” Grimshaw considered.
“But I guess there is something else keeping you at bay from the beautiful governess.”
Grimshaw looked to his brother-in-law.
“I would think it would be quite clear. Ann.”
“Do you think she wouldn’t approve?” Jayden asked. “I mean of the fact that she is the governess.”
“I don’t know,” Grimshaw said, considering that for the first time. “She was a kind and humble woman. I don’t think she put too much stock in classes.”
“Then what worries you, my friend? She would be a good mother to your children. I would guess that was all that Ann would wish for.”
“It is not that I think Ann wouldn’t approve, per se. It’s more that I am racked with guilt. I fear that I have fallen in love with Hannah.”
“Who wouldn’t? I might have myself just a little bit after one day,” Jayden jested.
“I mean it. I have grown to care for her, to feel for her, to want to love and protect her.”
“And you think Ann would despise you caring for your new wife?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. I just worry that somehow in doing so, I am disappointing Ann.”
“As you said, Ann was kind,” Jayden said after a few moments.
He smiled whimsically at a memory that flashed before his eyes.
“I remember when we were children. There was a kitchen boy who came to stay at our country house. He was a sickly-looking thi
ng and the cook was prone to boxing his ears those first few months. It wasn’t the boy’s fault; he knew little of his duties and the cook never took time to teach him properly.”
“Annie took it upon herself to give him the kindness he deserved. She would save cakes and muffins from teas and bring them to him. She even made him a little wooden top to play with. I dare say it was his first and only toy.”
“She didn’t see the boy as below her status. She didn’t see the clumsy slow learner that the cook saw either. She saw another person. All she cared about was that he was happy in his life at our house.”
“The point is, she would want you to be happy.”
They both sat for a time lost in their own thoughts about the late Countess of Grimshaw.
“I think about her so much around this time,” Grimshaw said softly. “Perhaps it is because I have less to keep me busy when the weather is cold and I am trapped inside.”
“Perhaps it is because I have so many happy memories with her that include the holiday,” Grimshaw added, shaking his head.
“I miss her. I don’t think there will ever come a time that I don’t. I didn’t think that I could hold on to my love and affection for her and let another one in as well. I was sure there was only room for one.”
“Yes, but you have let the governess in and it doesn’t mean you love my sister any less,” Jayden said with wisdom beyond his years.
“Yes,” Grimshaw agreed.
“Then don’t hesitate. Ann wouldn’t want you to.”
Christmas morning saw the whole family and household dressed in their Sunday best for the service in Concordshire.
It took both of Grimshaw’s carriages to get them through the now melted snow to the chapel. Jayden rode with the governess, girls, and Grannie in one carriage while Grimshaw sat with Lady Tara and her parents in the other.
His ride was a grim one full of somber faces. He hadn’t much expected differently after the incident the night before.
He couldn’t help but be a little jealous hearing the laughter and even caroling coming from the gig behind him.
The sermon by Dr. O’Driscoll was just as somber as usual. Even the day of the Lord’s birth could be turned into a dull event under his ministrations.
Though the reverend’s words were severe and chastening, the excitement of the season could still be felt throughout the congregation.
From now until Twelfth Night, there would be much gayety and merriment all throughout the county.
It didn’t escape Grimshaw’s notice either that along with the usual happy chatter of a congregation in the middle of a festive season, there was also the added whispers about Grimshaw’s party.
Certainly things had already been suggested with Lady Tara’s family’s presence. That had received its own due course of gossip. Now all eyes were turned to the fact that Grimshaw now included Mrs. Joanna McCarthy in his household seat.
Grimshaw was sure that Matthew McCarthy would receive flack for not seeing to his own mother. It would not go unsaid that she had to stay at the lord’s house for her comfort when her son was unwilling to give it.
Grimshaw cared little for the light it would shed on the businessman. In Sebastian’s mind, he deserved all the harsh looks and negative comments he would receive.
They returned back to Brighton Abby half a happy party and half a rather despondent one.
It was on the carriage ride home that Lady Tara gave the announcement that Grimshaw had been hoping for.
“We had planned to stay the holiday through, but my mother is eager to return to London while the roads are still traversable,” Lady Tara said coolly.
“I agree that might be a wise decision,” Grimshaw responded.
With the announcement made, the Marlow family would only stay a day or two longer, just enough time to make their preparations for departure.
Grimshaw couldn’t have considered the morning trip to be more pleasant afterward. He seemed to have a weight finally lifted off his shoulders knowing that Lady Tara would be leaving and without him having to inform Lady Tara that he no longer intended to make her his bride.
He was sure a young beautiful woman such as herself would easily find another to distract her. He would have liked to think, now that he was at the end of the whole event, that it was not Lady Tara per se who had a terrible character. Perhaps it was just that she didn’t fit well with his family and in his life. Certainly there was still hope for her to find the place she would fit well.
The Christmas feast was more pleasant than Grimshaw had expected it to be that morning. With the understanding between himself and Lady Tara that there would be no union, everyone seemed to be more relaxed.
Even Lady Waldron seemed to be in higher spirits with the release of pressure to see her daughter matched in present company.
As they all sat around the fire that evening, Lord Waldron shared a tradition that he had as a boy and implemented it with the present party.
All listened with nothing but the crackling sound of the fire behind them, as his smooth voice read the story of Christ’s birth from Grimshaw’s family bible.
Though he was in mixed company, as Grimshaw looked about the room while Lord Waldron read, he couldn’t help but feel the spirit of Christmas flowing through his whole household.
He noticed that little Rebecca had dozed to sleep in Jayden’s arms. No doubt it was the third helping of Christmas pudding that had lulled her into an early sleep.
“I hoped to give them their gifts tonight, but with Lady Rebecca fast asleep it will have to wait,” Grannie said when Lord Waldron finished his reading.
“Wait? Oh, I hope not very long?” Lady Caroline said, disappointed that she was deprived of a gift through her sister’s fault.
“I was going to keep them till Twelfth Night, a nice gift of the Magi, but if you don’t think you can bear to wait, tomorrow then,” Grannie said with a smile.
With those words, Grannie walked with Lady Caroline as Jayden carried his sleeping niece off to bed.
Lady Tara and her party also bid their happy wishes and good evenings before returning to their own rooms for an early slumber. They had plans to leave early on the morrow.
“Miss Jacobson, I wonder if you might stay and talk with me a while,” Grimshaw said when they found themselves alone and Hannah made to also excuse herself.
She hesitated for a moment. It wasn’t that she feared Grimshaw. She may have feared him at first like she did the baron. Now she knew him well enough. Sebastian Blackburn was a good man and though he might have had a fierce look to his nature he was not so.
“Yes, Lord Grimshaw,” she said, coming to sit back down nearer to the fire.
It was the only light left in the room and so they sat adjacent to each other in front of it to get a better view of the other.
“I wanted to thank you,” Grimshaw started.
“Thank me?”
“Yes, for your stubborn nature.”
‘That seems a silly thing to thank someone for,” Hannah said, though her cheeks dimpled with a blushing smile.
“I would have agreed with you not too long ago. But now I see the worth of this rather unique quality you possess. You see, without it, Mrs. McCarthy wouldn’t have been here at Brighton Abby.”
“She is a wonder, isn’t she?” Hannah agreed.
“A treasure. I am only sorry it took me this long to see that she was not properly looked after by her own family. I never would have expected my daughters to find a lady to adopt but they seem to have done so. In the process I have adopted her too, I suppose.”
“I am most happy to hear that,” Hannah replied.
“I hope that she finds Brighton Abby a second home for her now,” Grimshaw said, leaning forward in his seat. He didn’t mean just Mrs. McCarthy with his words.
Hannah sensed the double meaning in Lord Grimshaw’s words.
“I do believe she does see it that way, sir,” Hannah said in response to both meanings of the con
versation.
Chapter 34
The following day the whole family came out to bid Lady Tara and her party a safe and happy journey to their home.
Grimshaw could not have wished for a better day on such an occasion. The sun was bright and high in the sky, warming the earth around them. He even heard the distinct sound of several winter birds singing their happy song in celebration of the departure.
