The Governess's Scandalous Marriage

by Helen Dickson

  Linnet let her eyes drift over him, noting the nobility and pride stamped on his handsome face. ‘I’m sorry. It’s in my nature.’

  ‘Then the answer to your question is that there are many women in my life—but no one special.’

  She glanced at him obliquely, a warmth beginning to suffuse her face that had nothing to do with the heat of the night. His voice was low pitched and, though she wasn’t used to men like Lord Blakely, she knew it was sensual and was unsure how to respond to it. ‘You are a curious gentleman, Lord Blakely, and as much a mystery to me now as you were on our first encounter.’

  ‘Which adds to my appeal, I hope.’

  ‘Appeal. What a strange word to use. I don’t find you in the least appealing.’

  ‘You don’t?’ he asked with mock disappointment, placing a hand over his heart. ‘You certainly know how to wound a gentleman, Miss Osborne.’

  ‘Now you’re teasing. I hardly know you so of course I don’t find you appealing.’

  His eyes narrowed and darkened, becoming warm and seductive. ‘And you are sure about that, are you?’

  ‘Yes, of course I am,’ she replied, laughing lightly in an attempt to reduce the effect his blatant masculinity was beginning to have on her, bringing her drifting spirit back to reality. Her dawning response to him was solid enough reason to return to the dancing. ‘I think I should go back inside before Aunt Lydia notices my absence and comes looking for me.’

  Excusing herself, she left him on the terrace not a moment too soon. As soon as she entered the house she was immediately claimed by her aunt, who had watched Lord Blakely lead her unceremoniously on to the dance floor before disappearing with her on to the terrace.

  * * *

  Taking Linnet aside, Lady Milton turned and gave her a baleful look.

  ‘What is it, Aunt Lydia? Is something wrong?’

  ‘I was wondering why Lord Blakely singled you out for a dance. He hasn’t danced with anyone else. I have noticed that he has been watching you a good deal and the two of you certainly drew attention when you danced—and it was most inappropriate of you to go on to the terrace with him. He is only recently returned to London from Egypt. He is a powerful man and of course he is most welcome here today. His presence enhances any event and he is causing quite a stir among the ladies in particular. Although I am curious as to his interest in celebrating the betrothal of two people who are virtually unknown to him.’

  ‘I understand he is a close acquaintance of Harry’s father. Do you know him well, Aunt Lydia?’

  ‘I’m afraid not,’ she answered, flicking open her fan and working it vigorously to cool her heated face. ‘He comes from a wealthy, respectable family and I understand his father spent a good deal of his time in Egypt, leaving his son to manage his affairs here. He is certainly a very attractive man, polite and extremely charming. His wealth and prestige cannot be overlooked and now he is back in England he will have every ambitious family with marriageable daughters clamouring to be introduced.’ With her nose elevated to a lofty angle, she looked at Linnet. ‘I advise you not to get ideas above your station, Linnet. It can only end in tears.’

  Deeply offended, Linnet had to bite her tongue not to deliver an angry riposte. Pulling her emotions into a hard, tight knot of pride, after a moment, forcing herself to look her aunt straight in the eye, she smiled slightly. ‘I understand exactly what you are saying, Aunt Lydia, but please don’t worry. I am not in danger of becoming involved with Lord Blakely—not in the romantic sense or any other,’ she answered, while trying to banish the vision of the man who had seduced her at the Stourbridge ball.

  Chapter Four

  The candles in the two huge chandeliers and wall sconces were producing an unbearable heat. The frenzy of noise from the musicians and the laughing, chattering guests jostling for attention threatened to suffocate Linnet. Passing her fingers over her brow, she felt it was moist. Feeling a strong desire to be away from the throng, she escaped into the lantern-lit garden. Glancing in Toby’s direction as she went out on to the terrace, she was relieved to see him leading a happy Caroline in the intricate figures of a quadrille, her wide, generous mouth as she gazed at Toby curved upwards into a smile so radiant Linnet felt the heat of her personality from across the room.

  There were few people strolling. Most of them were indoors and those who passed her were drifting back inside. She inhaled deeply, appreciative of the cool fresh air, although gathering clouds heralded a storm. The spell of the gardens, the darkness and the gentle spill of water in the fountain ahead settled over her. Reaching it, she paused and closed her eyes. Time seemed to stand still. It was as if the garden was sealed off from the rest of the world in a time zone of its own, where normal rules and etiquette and doing and saying the right thing didn’t apply.

  An owl spilled its cry over the land and the trees rustled in a soft current of air. Somewhere in the distance a cow lowed, followed by the bark of a dog. A small flock of jackdaws rose protesting from the elms. She was unaware of the still, lone man standing with his shoulder propped against a stone plinth bearing a statue, a brooding expression on his face.

  * * *

  Christian had no wish for company. He was feeling irritable. The celebrations did not suit his mood, but since Lord Radcliffe had gone to the trouble of providing him with an invitation, it would be impolite of him to leave so early. Thankfully no one broke into his thoughts.

  Hearing the sound of footsteps, and the soft rustle of a woman’s dress, he turned his head and saw Miss Osborne. He held his breath, transfixed on seeing her again so soon. Every one of his senses clamoured for her. There was that same fierce tug to his senses on being near her as there had been on that first time he had seen her at the Stourbridge ball. Throughout the evening he had watched her with a patient, neutral gaze. He had enjoyed dancing with her and their light-hearted repartee on the terrace afterwards. She had the look of a girl, but he felt she was a woman in every sense of that meaningful word. Without the concealing mask and wig she had worn on their first encounter she was so astonishingly beautiful. Added to her perfect features was a sweetness and vulnerability whose impact was immediate. She possessed a poise and dignity and she was sexually elegant and extremely desirable.

  Unaware of his presence, she continued to stand beside the fountain. Slight of figure, she stood straight and still, her hands pressing back the full skirts of her dress. He saw the rise and fall of her chest and the way the light from the lanterns illuminated her face turned up to the sky. The picture she presented reminded him of a heroine in some ancient romance, waiting for the return of her lover from battle.

  Christian was aware of a sudden sense of guilt, as though he were spying on her privacy. He shrugged himself away from the plinth, intending to walk away, but she must have sensed his presence for she turned and looked directly at him. He heard her sharp intake of breath.

  ‘Oh! Lord Blakely! I didn’t see you there.’

  ‘You looked lost in thought.’

  ‘Yes—yes, I was. I have much to think about.’

  ‘And the festivities?’

  ‘I am in no mood to dance again tonight. But please don’t feel that you have to talk to me. We said all there is to say earlier. I am sure there are people more deserving of your company than me.’

  Christian looked at her intently, finding himself looking into two warm tawny-coloured eyes, opened wide in her strikingly lovely heart-shaped face. Her skin creamy was flawless, her honey-gold hair like a halo of light beneath the lanterns in the trees.

  ‘Since we appear to be the only two people in the garden and I have no wish to partake of Lady Milton’s entertainment, and you have said you are in no mood to dance, then the sensible thing would be for us to talk to each other. Come, walk with me.’

  ‘I think it might rain,’ Linnet remarked, glancing up at the sky.

  ‘It’s been threatening
all day. I’m willing to risk it if you are.’

  They walked on slowly in silence.

  ‘I am surprised to find you are still here,’ Linnet remarked at length. ‘I—I thought you might have left.’

  ‘I would have, only I went to a great deal of trouble to obtain an invitation from Lord Radcliffe, whom I have known for many years. It would be ill mannered of me to leave early. Lady Milton has kindly offered me accommodation. I shall leave first thing in the morning. And you? When do you return to Chelsea?’

  ‘Tomorrow, also. What is your reason for being here? Unlike everyone else, you are here unaccompanied—and I do not think you are the kind of man to partake in the frivolities of a young woman’s betrothal party.’

  ‘I should have explained when we talked earlier. I’m to leave London shortly for my estate in Sussex. When I saw you in the Strand and you ran from me I couldn’t leave it at that. I had to find you.’

  Linnet stared at him in disbelief. ‘Why would you want to do that?’

  ‘Because you disappeared before I had a chance to find out more about you. Given what you told me before you left Lord Stourbridge’s artefacts room—that you were there to return the necklace, not to steal it—I thought that perhaps you were telling the truth and that I had misjudged you.’

  ‘I was not lying. It was perfectly true.’

  ‘I’m beginning to realise that.’

  ‘How did you find me? How did you know I would be here?’

  ‘I obtained information as to your identity from Lord and Lady Stourbridge. They are acquainted with your aunt and they informed me she was to hold a betrothal party for her daughter and Harry Radcliffe and that, being family, you would be present. Lord Radcliffe and I are old friends. I approached him for an invitation.’

  ‘I see. You seem to have gone to an awful lot of trouble to find me.’

  ‘It wasn’t difficult. You live in Chelsea with your brother, I believe.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And your parents?’

  ‘They died several years ago. There is just Toby and me now.’

  ‘And is there a young man in your life, Miss Osborne?’

  ‘No—and nor is there likely to be in the foreseeable future.’

  ‘Oh? And why is that, pray?’

  ‘I have no dowry, Lord Blakely. In fact, our situation is so dire that I am considering applying for work, even though I do so with great reluctance.’

  ‘You are? What kind of work?’

  ‘A governess—or something along those lines. I would certainly consider anything. My brother is a gambler—and not a very good one. He can think of nothing else. If we are to pay off the creditors and Toby’s debts, then it is necessary for me to find some kind of employment.’

  ‘Does your brother know this.’

  ‘I have mentioned it to him, but he doesn’t believe I will. I often dream of better things and keep hoping something will turn up, but I very much doubt it.’ She sighed, looking beyond the gardens to the fields beyond. How could she tell this man how heavy her heart felt in her breast? She was weary and sick, both mentally and physically, at the prospect ahead of her and fearful of the future. ‘Our situation is so bad that there may come a time when we have no choice but to sell the house,’ she said quietly, ‘even though it will break my heart to do so. I will fight tooth and nail not to let that happen. It’s filled with so many memories—of a happy childhood and my mother and father always there.’

  The intensity of Christian’s stare didn’t waver. ‘I am heartily sorry things are as they are for you, but there is nothing wrong with having dreams and longings, Miss Osborne. We’d be nowhere without them.’

  ‘I know, but unfortunately dreams don’t pay the bills. In the end I have to be realistic. No one’s going to wave a magic wand. I can’t see my situation changing in the foreseeable future unless I do it myself.’

  ‘Your brother doesn’t deserve you. He should be the one seeking an occupation. I wish you luck.’

  ‘I have been well educated—my parents saw to that. I live in hope that something will turn up.’

  Recalling his intention to find someone to relieve Mrs Marsden to take care of Alice, it did cross his mind that he was in a position to offer her employment. But then he mentally listed all the reasons why he was reluctant to even consider her as a governess for Alice. When he recalled the manner of their meeting and that she had considered climbing into his bed to regain what he believed she had stolen, her weak moral standards left her wanting in his eyes. And yet as she stood there, looking into the distance she looked so very vulnerable. Her air of impregnable self-sufficiency vanished and Christian saw a troubled and extremely desperate young woman.

  ‘Even though that would be a blow to your pride?’

  ‘Oh, no. I’m truly not proud. I am many things, Lord Blakely—stubborn, headstrong, frequently argumentative and endowed with a boldness unbefitting a young lady—at least that’s what Toby says—but not, I think, proud.’

  ‘Will you allow me to help you?’

  * * *

  The question was so unexpected, the tone of his voice so soft and inviting, that Linnet thought how wonderful it would be to accept his offer, but since she did not know him well she could not turn to him for safety or security. The whole thing was hopeless, a hopeless never-ending worry to which she could see no end. Her life was one endless spiral of debt and more debt.

  Giving Lord Blakely no notion of her thoughts, she pinned a smile to her lips. ‘Things always have a way of working out in the most unexpected of ways. Toby is always telling me that I worry too much.’

  * * *

  She was looking at him straight in the face, and there was a look deep in her eyes that was almost appealing, asking for help. And, strangely, he did want to help her, but he didn’t know how to. At least not yet. He noticed how the moonlight illuminated her face. It was achingly lovely. The soft tawny eyes, the arch of her brow, the gentle curve of her cheek and lips, the stubborn chin. Ever since his father’s death and the misery his affair with Selina had caused him and his mother, he had been emotionally frozen, but now something warm was beginning to creep into his heart.

  A breeze rustled the leaves on the trees and from the stables could be heard the whinny of a horse and the thumping of hooves against the stall. Linnet turned her head in the direction and smiled. ‘That will be Cousin William’s horse—Sampson. He’s a frisky beast at the best of times. He always gets restless about this time and starts rattling the boards of his stall.’

  ‘Do you like horses, Miss Osborne?’

  ‘Yes, very much. I was brought up with them.’

  ‘Do you ride?’

  ‘Yes. My father taught me when I was a child. He bought me my first pony when I was three. With no land of our own he would often let Toby and me accompany him to Woodside Hall. I would ride with Louisa while he and Toby took part in the hunt. When he died, Toby... He—he found it necessary to sell the horses—apart from the carriage horse which I ride sometimes when he is not pulling the carriage.’

  * * *

  They walked on in silence until they came to the rotunda on a rise, where they stopped and looked back at the house. Light blazed from the windows and music drifted to them on the air. Rain began to fall sharply which they would be foolish to ignore.

  ‘We have walked further than I intended,’ Lord Blakely said. ‘To avoid a drenching, I suggest we shelter in the rotunda.’ He drew her between the stone columns into the dim interior.

  Linnet looked about her. It was not a large structure, but it was dry and surprisingly clean. Side by side they watched the rain slanting down, bouncing off the ground. Hopefully it would soon be over.

  ‘Did you really think I was a thief when you saw me in Lord Stourbridge’s artefacts room? Did I look like a thief?’

  ‘No, you did not. But a woman’
s face may be deceptive.’

  There was an underlying meaning to his reply, but Linnet failed to detect it. She gave a hard, contemptuous little laugh. ‘Especially when she is attired in ribbons and lace.’

  ‘Exactly.’ He looked at her intently. ‘Would you really have given yourself to me that night?’

  An appealing flush crept over her cheeks and she lowered her eyes. ‘In all truth I don’t know what I would have done. You found me in very straitened circumstances. I really was quite desperate not to get caught.’

  ‘Then I curse your brother for placing you in an impossible situation. The least he could have done was to put it back himself. That you would rather contemplate giving yourself to a complete stranger to right the wrong he did is unforgivable. I can only apologise for putting you in such a dreadful position.’

  The softness of his tone, his dark eyes, shook Linnet out of her melancholy. He was searching her face intently, a faint scowl between his brows, as if he might by sheer force of will drive away her unhappiness. ‘It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know me—who I was or anything about me. But had I known that you were the rightful owner of the wretched thing I would not have entertained your proposition. I was afraid that if you took it, when Lord Stourbridge found it was missing, because Toby had gained information about the house from one of the footmen, he would not keep his mouth shut and the finger would be pointed at him.’

  * * *

  Something in the despairing words touched Christian. He saw how his words had deepened the sadness in her eyes, but at the same time stiffened her spine. Her decision to return what her brother had stolen was as bizarre as it was unexpected. But then, with the threat of arrest hanging over both her and her brother should it come out, it wasn’t surprising. She was a strange young woman. He had never encountered her like before.