* * *
Linnet felt when she entered the Earl of Ridgemont’s town house in Kensington that she was entering a house different to anything she had seen before, different to anything she could have imagined. The house had been built both to provide gracious living and to impress upon visitors the wealth of its owner. A wide gravel drive led to the front door and a circular lawn surrounded by tall trees and shrubs beyond. There was luxury in every room, the windows exquisitely curtained with the finest fabrics and carpets in lovely shades covering the floors.
It was still a bemused little girl who gave Linnet a direct look, regarding her seriously. Linnet prayed silently for acceptance, hoping Alice would not reject her. On impulse she reached out and took Alice’s small hand in hers and smiled warmly into her eyes.
‘I know this must be as strange for you as it is for me, Alice, and as much of a surprise, but I’ve looked forward to meeting you. Mrs Marsden has told me all about you. I’ve never looked after a little girl before so I’m hoping we can help each other and you can help me find my way around this lovely house of yours. It looks so big I shall be sure to lose my way without guidance.’
Alice made no attempt to pull away and a little smile began to tug at the corners of her mouth. She seemed to be assessing Linnet, and when her eyes ceased to regard her so seriously and her smile gradually broadened, which was a delight to see, Alice and Mrs Marsden began to relax. They looked at one another, certain that Linnet’s approach had worked and that a good start had been made. It brought a relieved smile to Mrs Marsden’s features, which told Linnet how apprehensive she had been about this meeting between herself and Alice.
‘I’ll show you,’ Alice said, with a bright, eager light shining in her wide eyes, her face taking on a look of enthusiasm, no longer seeing the beautiful lady as a stranger. ‘The house is very big. Sometimes I get lost, too,’ she confided to Linnet with a considerable amount of childish gravity.
‘Then we will get lost together and have fun finding our way out, Alice.’
‘This house is not as big as the other house. I haven’t been there yet, but Mrs Marsden says that we will—one day.’
Linnet looked to Mrs Marsden for the location of the house Alice referred to. ‘In Sussex,’ she informed her.
‘Then I am sure you will.’
‘And do you dance? I like to dance, too,’ Alice said, doing a wobbly twirl on her tiptoes.
‘I do dance, but I have to confess I’m not very good at it.’ Linnet smiled, cradling Alice’s chin in her hand. ‘I’m so glad you and I are going to be friends.’
‘So am I. What shall I call you?’
Linnet looked at Mrs Marsden.
‘Miss Osborne is how you will address her, Alice.’ She smiled gently.
* * *
Linnet was kept so busy that she gave little thought to Alice’s father, the Earl of Ridgemont, whom everyone referred to as ‘His Lordship’. Alice was a delightful child, warm and eager to please. Her eyes were dark brown framed with long black lashes. Her hair was dark, with curls framing her exquisite face. Yet there was a distress in her, an anxiety that was unusual for one so young.
Linnet realised that, despite her lack of experience with children, she had a talent for entertaining Alice and in no time at all managed to win her trust. They went walking in Kensington Gardens and she enjoyed showing her some of the major places of interest in London. Alice loved to draw and colour the pictures she created, which they hung on the walls of the nursery. She became extremely fond of the child and found pleasure in her company.
Linnet had been her governess for three weeks and had no reason to regret her decision. But that was before the Earl of Ridgemont returned.
* * *
After an absence of four weeks, Christian entered his London house, surprised to hear girlish laughter coming from an upper storey. Handing his hat and gloves to his butler, he looked questioningly at Mrs Marsden coming down the stairs. He regarded her a moment, thinking how tired she looked. He really must do something about employing someone else to look after Alice. Caring for the child was taking its toll on the elderly nursemaid.
On seeing her employer, Mrs Marsden smiled a welcome. She had a warm personality and a willing nature, and never let him forget how grateful she was to him for letting her stay with Alice when they had come to England.
‘Lord Blakely! You’re back. I trust you had a good journey up from Sussex.’
‘Thank you, yes, Mrs Marsden. Alice appears to be in good spirits.’
‘Since the new governess arrived she’s come out of her shell. I hope you don’t mind, but when you went away and left no instructions as to the hiring of a governess for Alice, I took it upon myself to employ someone with the right credentials. Well, Miss Osborne’s were more than suitable. She is proving to be an absolute treasure and she has become fond of Alice. She is an extremely capable and competent young woman, intelligent and well read. I’ve never seen Alice reach out to anyone as she has to Miss Osborne and Miss Osborne’s interest and feeling towards Alice is obviously sincere. The child adores her.’
A world of feelings flashed for an instant across Christian’s face. He stared at Mrs Marsden in disbelief, wondering if he had heard her correctly. ‘Miss Osborne?’
‘She is the young lady who came to our rescue that day in the Strand. Her prompt action saved us from being flung into the street, if you remember.’
‘I do remember, Mrs Marsden, but I had no idea it was Miss Osborne who had come to the rescue.’
‘Oh, yes—how remiss of me not to have said. She began work three weeks ago and has settled down remarkably well.’
Christian’s expression hardened. The knowledge of her presence in his house stunned him. ‘Has she, indeed?’ He cursed his own inadequacy in not having been more attentive when he had returned to the carriage that day. Relieved that no one had been hurt, he’d been so preoccupied with his chance meeting with Linnet Osborne that he’d failed to question Mrs Marsden further. He had no idea Linnet was the young lady he had seen from a distance dash out into the road and settle the frightened horse.
And now she was employed in his house to look after Alice. Had Linnet Osborne not created enough havoc in his well-ordered life by creeping into his heart and mind so that he had been unable to think of anything else for a time? Now he was back in London and she had begun to recede into the dark recess of his mind where such things were kept, never to be resurrected. Yet here she was, having infiltrated his home and about to disturb his life once more.
‘Miss Osborne, you say—Miss Linnet Osborne?’ he queried—there must be more than one Miss Osborne.
‘Why, yes.’ She frowned. ‘You are acquainted with her?’
He nodded. ‘We have met.’
‘I hope you are not displeased, Lord Blakely. I did do the right thing in setting her on?’
‘Yes—yes, of course. I’ll go and have a word with her. Is she in the nursery?’
‘She is.’
Without more ado Christian strode swiftly up the stairs, pausing for an indecisive moment outside, before hesitatingly pushing open the door, unprepared for the scene his eyes beheld. He stood for a moment, taking in a scene of domesticity and harmony. The nursery was filled with bright sunlight and colourful childish paintings on the wall. There were books and baskets of toys, a child-sized table and four chairs, occupied by dolls and a stuffed rabbit and a teddy bear.
He would have known Miss Osborne was there, even before his eyes lighted on her. It was the perfume she wore—that was the thing he remembered about her—a subtle smell of roses, hardly noticeable at all, but nevertheless a part of her. He could not believe she was here. His eyes were drawn to her automatically, his muscles taut from some unconscious force. For the first time in his life he was totally surprised. She was heartbreakingly lovely. He should have been prepared for this, but he was neit
her prepared for the sight of her nor what it did to him. He stood quite still and looked at her, his face drawn, his eyes wide, fixed and unbelieving. A hundred questions and emotions swept through his head. Then he was moving forward, very coolly, to stand before her.
* * *
For a moment a deathly hush fell on the nursery. The man who had just entered caught Linnet’s attention, for the grim expression on his face as she looked at him made her wary. She was seated on a sofa with Alice beside her, looking at a story book. The smile on her lips faded when she saw him. Immediately she got to her feet and stared at him as if she could not believe her eyes.
‘Christian—Lord Blakely... You—you are...’
‘The Earl of Ridgemont.’
‘Oh—I—I had no idea.’
‘Clearly. I prefer to use one of my lesser titles. Mrs Marsden informs me that you are Alice’s new governess?’
‘Yes. Alice is my charge,’ Linnet said, totally bemused and beside herself with embarrassment. Her heart contracted. Slowly she turned to look at the child and then back to him, so distracted by her own rampaging emotions that she never noticed the sudden hardening of his face. ‘Is—is anything wrong?’
‘You might say that.’
‘You are surprised to find me here—and are not best pleased, I take it.’
‘This is no place to discuss the matter. We should go into the drawing room. Mrs Marsden can take care of Alice.’
* * *
Christian went ahead of her down the stairs. Holding the door to the drawing room open as Linnet passed through and ignoring a hovering servant as if she were not there, he closed the door when they were inside. Standing in the middle of the room, Linnet turned and stared at him, her hands folded in front of her, her mind already realising what her heart couldn’t bear to believe. How could she have been so stupid? Not for one moment had she connected the Earl of Ridgemont with Lord Blakely. And why, having been absent for a month, had he not acknowledged Alice? And Alice? Why had she not run to her father as any doting child would have done?
She could feel the very air move forcefully and snap with a restless intensity that Christian Blakely seemed to discharge. Clad in an immaculately fitting brown coat that deepened his complexion, he looked lethally handsome and incredibly alluring. But he didn’t want her here. He never had.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I had no idea who you were. Had I known I would never have taken the position. Do you want me to go?’
He looked at her, his face hard and cold. ‘Yes, I do,’ he said, without preamble.
No slap on the face could have hurt so much. A sudden weight fell on her heart at what was happening. She was stunned, bewildered, and a thousand thoughts raced across her brain and crashed together in confusion. There was no room in her heart or her mind for anything but this vast disappointment, which had already become an aching pain.
‘I’m sorry you feel like that. I will be sorry to leave Alice.’ Moving closer to him, she met and held his eyes. ‘Tell me why you want me to leave—your reason for terminating my employment?’
‘Does there have to be one?’
‘Yes, there does.’
He moved closer to her, his hands on his hips as he bent his face to her. ‘You, Miss Osborne, are too much of a disruption.’
Linnet stared at him, utterly confused by his reply and momentarily stunned to silence. After a moment, she said, ‘A disruption? How? To your household? Because if that is the case then I will tell you that I have been treated with unaffected warmth by everyone. Courtesy and mutual affection rule in perfect harmony.’
‘I’m glad to hear it, but I wasn’t talking about the household.’
The truth dawned on Linnet as she looked at the granite face of the man who had kissed her into mindless oblivion on two occasions. ‘You!’ At any other time and on another occasion she would have laughed, but the matter was too serious to be amused by. ‘You are the one disrupted by my presence here! I am flattered. I had no idea when you tried to seduce me that I’d affected you so profoundly. Weren’t you satisfied with the humiliation you inflicted on me in Richmond that you must add further humiliation on me by dismissing me from your employ for no other reason than if I continue living in your house you might not be able to keep your hands off me? Well, I will tell you this, you conceited, supremely amoral beast. If you ever touch me again...’ she told him with quiet firmness, ‘I will fight you with my dying breath.’
Her words scorched Christian’s soul with its fierce, despairing passion. They hit the target with such force he tensed, his jaw tightening. Linnet could have pressed her advantage further, but she knew that his mind was made up and nothing would change it.
‘You won’t fight me, Miss Osborne. I know how you feel.’
‘No, you don’t,’ she contradicted angrily. ‘You couldn’t possibly.’ Her cheeks and eyes were blazing hot, her fists tightly clenched as she struggled to contain her rising emotions.
‘Enough! Alice is not your concern. It is up to me who I employ to look after her.’
‘Why are you being like this? What have I done?’
* * *
Everything, Christian thought wretchedly. Ever since he had first set eyes on her she had stirred his baser instincts. She was too much of a threat to his sanity. He couldn’t possibly live in the same house with her if he was to have any peace. Everywhere he went she would be there, ready to ensnare him, and when she was absent his need to see her would make him seek her out. He was furious with himself for feeling like this—for wanting her. He realised that sexual desire for her had become a complication. Better if she was away from him altogether, out of his sight, before she disrupted his whole life.
Not to be so callously dismissed and stiffening her spine, Linnet raised her head defiantly. ‘I came here with nothing but good intentions. They were honourable and completely honest. I did not expect to have them flung back in my face.’
‘Then it’s unfortunate you’ve wasted your time, but it’s hardly a tragedy.’ Christian would not allow himself a moment of weakness. His pride was his strength.
* * *
His words sliced through her, laid her open and left pain in their wake. They seared through her and brought a rush of colour to her face. He was being cruel and her stung pride would not allow that. It brought her chin up defiantly. She glared at him. ‘Contrary to what you might or might not think of me, I will not tolerate it.’
Christian’s jaw tightened and his eyes were glacial. ‘Then deal with it, but be careful what you say,’ he said harshly. ‘And don’t be misled by the fact that I once showed myself indulgent in my dealings with you—’
‘One might say rather more than indulgent,’ Linnet retorted. ‘It infuriates me that I allowed such liberties to be taken by a man who thinks of me as no more than a moment’s pleasure when you get me alone.’
‘I don’t recall you complaining at the time.’
Something welled up in Linnet, a powerful surge of emotion to which she had no alternative but to give full rein. It was as if she had suddenly become someone else, someone bigger and much stronger than her own self. Her eyes flashed as cold fury drained her face of colour and added a steely edge to her voice.
‘Which is to my regret. As a matter of fact, it did mean something to me. To you, what happened may have seemed commonplace,’ she upbraided him, her words reverberating through the room. ‘Just another one of the many titillating flirtations and infidelities that give society something to gossip about. But I am not in the habit of kissing gentlemen who are relative strangers to me, or any other kind for that matter.’
‘I was not accusing you of such.’
‘You may be an earl, of noble birth, but your lofty rank does not intimidate me. You are not the sun around which the world revolves. I know who I am and I do not need you to remind me, and I am aware that you not wanting me here
has nothing to do with me not being suitable to teach Alice, but that it is personal—to do with you and me. You are heartless, inconsiderate and arrogant and I cannot believe I let you touch me. When I leave here it will be your loss, Lord Blakely, but it will be my loss, too—and Alice’s.’
‘Nevertheless I want you to leave. Don’t test me further.’
‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’
‘You will be reimbursed for your time, of course. I don’t think Alice will suffer any adverse effects from your leaving.’
‘And you’re sure of that, are you, Lord Blakely?’
‘Alice is my responsibility and I will guide her as I see fit.’
‘Then I would say that, with the attitude you’ve got, you will not make a very good job of it and you will end up with a very unhappy child.’
‘Don’t you dare lecture me on how to bring up Alice, Miss Osborne.’
‘I wouldn’t dream of it, but it’s high time someone did. Oh—perhaps I should be more explicit. You already have an unhappy child, Lord Blakely. I didn’t have to be told because I could see for myself. She does not mean to criticise you—indeed, she does not know the true meaning of the word—but she has mentioned that she rarely sees you—she believes that you do not want her here. Maybe you have issues concerning your daughter—it is not for me to speculate on that—but I can see in her manner and her drawings that your daughter is crying out for your attention and you choose not to see it. It is breaking her heart. She has been deprived of her mother. It isn’t right that she is deprived of her father, too, of his own volition—which is unforgivable.’
The Governess's Scandalous Marriage Page 13
