Breaking the Governess's Rules

by Michelle Styles

  ‘Annie, what are you playing at?’ Louisa brought her arm down sharply. ‘Arthur’s a little boy. I need to take him back to the nursery. You cannot be serious about abandoning a child out here in the gardens.’

  Tears shimmered in Annie’s eyes. ‘I don’t have a choice, like, miss. I promised. Me mam’s life depends on it.’

  ‘But he is only eighteen months old.’

  ‘There, see!’ Annie pointed towards the house. ‘My aunt has him. See, I told you. My aunt looks after me.’

  Relief flooded through Louisa as she saw Arthur reach Nanny Hawks and wave back. Arthur’s ordeal was over. All she had to do was to free herself from this madwoman. Even now, Annie was pulling her towards the copse of trees. Surely Nanny Hawks would help her, but as Louisa watched, the older woman turned her back and strode briskly away. Suddenly the meaning of Annie’s words became clear—helped me afore. Nanny Hawks knew the household routines. And what was it Nanny Hawks had said the first time they had met? Something about Annie meaning more to her than her own flesh and blood. Louisa put her hand to her mouth. Nanny Hawks had helped Annie by letting Trevor in. Nanny Hawks was the insider. The world tilted and then slowly righted itself.

  ‘You are all right, miss? My aunt says that Lord Chesterholm is sweet on you and that you inherited a great deal of money from an elderly lady. Handy, like.’

  ‘Annie, you must tell me what is going on. I can get help, but only if you trust me enough to know the truth. Nanny Hawks was the one who let Trevor in so he could steal the cameos and the snuffboxes. She did it for you.’

  Annie gave a tiny nod. ‘I didn’t know he was going to do that. Not until after it were done, like.’

  Louisa kept her voice steady and tried to ignore the tremors of fear coursing through her stomach. She had guessed correctly, but it also meant that she was in far more danger than she had guessed.

  ‘I helped you before,’ Louisa said quietly, willing Annie to remember the day they met. ‘When you were frightened and alone. I can do it again. Lord Chesterholm is a kind man. He gave you a handkerchief to bind up your cut. Why do you want to steal from him?’

  ‘No, miss, not this time. Lord Chesterholm has so much money. He won’t miss a little bit.’ Annie’s back stiffened and a single tear went down her ruddy cheek. ‘You come with me or I will get Arthur again. He sent me for the snuffbox and said if I couldn’t get it, I was to bring Arthur to him because surely the boy’s life was worth a snuffbox. He has me mam tied up. My aunt knows that. I can’t go back without anything. Me mam … she is going to get hurt.’

  Louisa thought quickly. She had to raise the alarm. ‘You are amongst friends, Annie. No one can harm you here. You tell your story to Lord Chesterholm and he will get a rescue party for your mother.’

  ‘It’s too late, Miss. Trevor has come for me.’ Annie shoved Louisa forwards and Louisa fell to her knees, losing her reticule amongst the bracken.

  ‘You took your time about it, girl. Where is that blasted snuffbox and the other pretties I sent you for?’ a rough voice said. A man who might have been handsome once, but had run to corrupt fat, emerged from the undergrowth. A crude bandage was tied about his upper arm. ‘You weren’t going to cross me, were you?’

  ‘I couldn’t get them, Trevor. Honest. I brought her instead.’ Annie dragged Louisa by the arm. ‘Now let me mam go.’

  Trevor sent a stream of spittle arching towards Louisa. ‘A woman is worth less than nothing. His lordship will bargain for the boy, his own flesh and blood, but not this creature.’

  ‘You are not having Arthur Fanshaw,’ Louisa said, using her best governess voice. Her insides felt ice cold.

  ‘She has money, that one. They will pay to get her back.’ There was a note of desperation in Annie’s voice. ‘You see she is worth it. My aunt reckons that his lordship wants to marry her. And she inherited money.’

  ‘You reckon?’ The man stroked the stubble on his chin. ‘You reckon she is worth the price of your mother’s life?’

  ‘And more.’ Annie stuck out her chin. ‘You gave me your word. I have brought you someone to bargain with.’

  ‘Annie, don’t pay attention to him. He is just using you.’ Louisa held out her hands in supplication. If she could get Annie to help even the tiniest bit, Louisa knew she could escape and get back to Chesterholm. Surely they could run together. Two against one. Annie was not a bad person.

  Two tears spilled down Annie’s face. ‘I have no choice, miss. I can’t lose me mam. This is all my fault, miss.’

  Before Louisa had time to react, her arms were grabbed and bound, and a gag made from a dirty rag was thrust into her mouth.

  Louisa kicked out with her feet but Trevor merely laughed at her, shoving her forwards so she stumbled. Her reticule was inches from her fingertips. Louisa glared at it. Her tiny pair of scissors, a nail file, everything that might be useful was in that reticule and she couldn’t get it.

  ‘What do we do now?’ Annie asked. ‘You will let me mam go now. She’s no use to you.’

  ‘We take her somewhere quiet until I decides. It was lucky you heard about the inheritance and the old lady. Else, your mam and you would not live to see the light of another day, I reckon.’

  Ropes were slung around Louisa’s wrists. She stumbled forwards as the rope was tugged. She wanted to believe that Jonathon would try to find her once he realised that she was missing. He had to know that she would not abandon him again. A stab of fear went through her. What if he didn’t? What if she never had the chance to say how much she loved him and how much she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him? What might have been. They were the most depressing words in the universe.

  Her foot hit a rock and she nearly fell. She bit back fierce tears. She refused to give Trevor and Annie the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

  Jonathon regarded the morning room. Miss Elliot was in the corner with the younger Miss Blandish, but Louisa was nowhere to be seen. And without Louisa sitting there, sipping a cup of chocolate, it felt empty and desolate.

  He had visited the nursery earlier, but Louisa had not appeared there either. And much to his annoyance, Nanny Hawks had taken Arthur for an early morning stroll. It was not really Arthur he sought, he wanted Louisa; not having her at his side made him jumpy. He had held out as long as he dared, hoping she’d relent and come to him but the feeling had grown. Something had happened to Louisa, something was far from right.

  ‘Miss Elliot, is Miss Sibson still a-bed?’

  The elderly lady looked him up and down and Jonathon was tempted to blush like a school boy. She knew somehow what had happened between him and Louisa and disapproved.

  ‘Miss Elliot, I had only wanted to make certain that Miss Sibson was well.’

  Miss Elliot drew her upper lip over her teeth. ‘It is odd. I have not seen dear Louisa since yesterday evening.’

  ‘I would wager that she has been kidnapped,’ Miss Nella said with great relish. ‘What this house party needs is a good kidnapping!’

  ‘Nella!’ her mother called.

  ‘There is no doubt a logical explanation, Brother.’ Margaret came up and linked her arm with his. Now that Venetia had departed, Margaret seemed far more relaxed than she had in years. ‘Louisa is probably out on a morning walk. She used to be a great one for walking.’

  ‘Yes, Louisa does enjoy her morning walks,’ Miss Elliot confirmed. ‘They help her to think.’

  ‘Pa pa Lou la An.’ Arthur burst in the breakfast room, shouting his head off. He gave a little stamp of his foot. ‘Lou An Go.’

  ‘What is wrong, Arthur?’ Jonathon knelt down beside the boy. Arthur’s eyes were wide, scared and his entire body trembled. Jonathon forced his breathing to be even. Louisa had said that Arthur spoke much better than he gave him credit for. ‘Slowly now. Try.’

  Arthur burst into noisy sobs.

  ‘Jonathon,’ his sister said reproachfully. ‘You ask far too much of the child. He is a toddler.’

  ‘Lord Chesterh
olm, Lord Chesterholm!’ Nanny hurried into the room, her ample bosom heaving and her cap askew. ‘I am so sorry. Arthur got away from me.’

  Jonathon put Arthur down and glared at the woman. She refused to meet his eyes, pretending a deep interest in the wooden floor. ‘What happened, Nanny Hawks? My son is upset. He has had a fright.’

  She twisted her apron round and round. ‘I would not like to say, sir. We were out in the air, like.’

  ‘You had best divulge what you know.’ Jonathon looked at her, hard. ‘Tell the truth and shame the devil. You are a good woman, Nanny Hawks, but something has happened to upset Arthur.’

  The woman twisted her apron. ‘Miss Sibson has gone with my niece, I think.’

  ‘And Arthur doesn’t like that. He’s frightened for Miss Sibson. Why?’ Jonathon gave Arthur’s soft curls a stroke.

  ‘I don’t like it neither, sir, if truth be told. There is something amiss. People could get hurt.’

  ‘Why would Miss Sibson go with your niece?’

  ‘Because Annie took Arthur!’ The woman burst into floods of tears. ‘I do not know what to do, truly I do not. It was not supposed to be like this. They have Elizabeth. What could I do? Annie knocked me down and took Arthur and then … afore I could catch up, Miss Sibson was there. Arthur came back to me and Miss Sibson went. Miss Sibson is a right canny lass.’

  ‘You had best tell me everything.’ Jonathon put his arm about the woman’s shoulders as the blood in his veins ran cold. The words Nanny Hawks spoke kept running through his brain. He was missing something, something big, and all because he kept his life compartmentalised as Louisa had accused him of. A place for everything and everything in its place. ‘Who are you talking about?’

  ‘That man of Annie’s. He is a right danger. She thought him wonderful. He promised her the earth if I’d just let him in the house. Annie thought he might leave without her. I thought she’d stay if I did as she asked…’

  ‘Nanny Hawks, did you let that man of Annie’s into the house the day things were stolen? Did he threaten to expose Annie? Is that why you did it?’ His head pounded when he remembered what Louisa had said on the carriage journey.

  Nanny Hawks stood silent in the room with the clock ticking behind her. ‘That man threatened me and mine. I was only doing what I had to do to survive. I thought he had gone away, but he came back and … and he has Elizabeth. Except you had locked up the snuffboxes…’

  ‘Do you know where they have taken Louisa?’ Jonathon fought against the urge to shake the woman. The law would have to deal with her. ‘Think carefully. Any clue.’

  The nurse shook her head. ‘Honest, I don’t know.’

  Hard hands shoved Louisa to the stone floor. She did not want to think how long they had been walking, her hands tied, mouth gagged. Several times, her skirt had caught and snagged on brambles and thorn bushes. Once a branch had held her captive and her dress now bore a great rip along the hem. And it was one of her favourite dresses. Louisa gritted her teeth—another black mark against this couple.

  And then they had come upon it—the stone hut down a dirt track, the same one where a few short days ago, she had sheltered with Jonathon and he had shown her what it was like to truly experience passion and to be alive. Everything was exactly how they had left it—the straw on the floor, the little wooden table where she put her reticule and the place where they had made love. And somehow it had made it worse, to be a hostage in the one place where she had felt loved and cherished.

  On the other side of the table, a very frightened Mrs Sims cowered. When Trevor approached she gave a small whimper and curled up in a ball.

  Louisa winced as Trevor’s foot connected with Mrs Sims’s back. A hostage? She might die here. She wished now that she had told Jonathon of her love for him, and how in the last few days she had rediscovered all those things that she had lost: laughter, joy and even tears. She had started living again. If she had tried to explain, would he have listened?

  Her back straightened as Trevor bound her feet, tying the other end of the rope to the table. Louisa knew she could easily become like Mrs Sims, cowering and whimpering. But she had a reason to live and fight—to be able to tell Jonathon how she felt and how she had never truly stopped loving him. She had only forgotten for a while and had allowed her doubts and misgivings to crowd out what was true and good about their relationship. He was right. She had been so worried about going back to the old Louisa that she had neglected to see that he had changed and that she had fallen in love with this new Jonathon, not her memory.

  ‘There you goes—two women and my ticket to riches.’ Trevor gave a leer as he tied the last knot.

  Annie stood on her toes expectantly. ‘Here, I thought you were going to release me mam.’

  ‘Slight change of plan.’ He rocked back on his haunches and nodded towards another man who lay on the ground. ‘Old Tom was hurt bad in the fight. He needs someone to look after him, like. We stays here for a few days. Then we get out and starts a new life. His lordship is going to help us do that.’

  ‘But you said …’

  Trevor caught Anne’s chin. ‘You do as I say or else more people will get hurt.’

  ‘I don’t like you.’

  ‘Too bad. You are stuck with me.’

  Louisa took a deep breath and bid the panic to be gone. Calm, collected and reasoned. She knew her way back from the hut if an opportunity to escape presented itself. ‘Let Annie and her mother go,’ she said around the gag. ‘You do not need them.’

  ‘Listen to Miss Sibson!’ Annie pleaded. ‘Let her speak. She has money of her own, I tell you!’

  ‘No one will hear her screams here.’ His filthy hands tore the gag away. He held her chin between his meaty fingers. ‘What do you have to say for yourself, Miss Sibson? How are you going to save yourself? What are you going to offer me … your virtue?’

  ‘You promised to release Mrs Sims,’ Louisa said loudly. ‘You lied to Annie. She only brought me here because of her concern for her mother. You do not need either one of them. I can pay for your passage elsewhere if you let them go.’

  ‘Just like that! You really think his lordship would not set the law on me.’ The man laughed. ‘Why should I release any of you without that?’

  ‘Because you gave your word.’

  ‘You were a fool to trust me.’ He reached out and slapped Annie’s cheek. ‘I told her I wanted the snuffbox. But she brought an alternative. Now I am stuck with you.’

  ‘It is my final offer—let everyone go and I will pay your passage,’ Louisa said, twisting her arms behind her back. There had to be a way of getting the ropes to loosen. ‘Did you use Nanny Hawks as well? Did you threaten to expose her niece as a loose woman if she did not let you into the house and turn a blind eye? She dotes on her niece.’

  Trevor gave her a black look and she knew she was right. He had made the connection. It was why he had seduced Annie in the first place and then threatened Nanny Hawks. ‘A man has to use his opportunities when he ain’t born with a silver spoon.’

  Louisa fought against her bonds, but the rope just drew tighter, cutting into her wrists. ‘You are going to rot in hell.’

  ‘I hope so!’ He gave a crooked grin. ‘Now, Annie, my love, you are going to do just what I say. And maybe your mam won’t get hurt any more. You are going to deliver a little message for me.’

  Tears started to flow down Annie’s face.

  ‘Annie, remember to do what is right,’ Louisa called out as a massive fist connected with her jaw. ‘Remember who looks after you and your family. And always will do. This man here lied to you and hurt your family. He does not deserve your loyalty.’

  The only answer she heard was running footsteps.

  ‘I have found Miss Sibson’s reticule!’ Nella Blandish called out from the long grass and Jonathon wanted to kiss her.

  He ran over to where Nella stood. The reticule did indeed look like Louisa’s. Annoyingly, Nanny Hawks could not say where Trevor had tak
en Louisa. Her only thought had been for Annie and her sister’s return, rather than a rescue party. Jonathon had had Thompson lock the woman in the pantry so that she could not escape. When this sorry mess was over, and Louisa safe, he would turn her over to the Justice of the Peace. But that was for later. Right now, he had to find Louisa. ‘Good work, Miss Nella.’

  The young woman beamed. ‘I did not think it possible for two adventures in the space of a few weeks, but here I am!’

  ‘I doubt Miss Sibson would have abandoned her reticule,’ his sister said. ‘She was most particular about such things when she was my governess.’

  ‘Do you have any suggestions for how we discover Miss Sibson’s whereabouts?’ Jonathon longed to hit something. The world suddenly seemed a far lonelier place. There were so many things he should have done and said to Louisa. He had to find her before something happened to her.

  ‘What about using the dogs?’ Rupert Furniss shouted. ‘Some dogs are good trackers. They can’t have gone that far. They were on foot.’

  ‘It is worth a shot.’ Jonathon held the little purse out to Tyne and Tees. The dogs sniffed it, but sat down looking puzzled. Jonathon cursed and, ignoring Mrs Blandish’s raised eyebrows, cursed again far louder. He knelt down and held the reticule out for the dogs again. They had to do it. By the time a rescue party was organised, Louisa could be dead. ‘Tyne and Tees, try to pick up the scent. Find Louisa.’

  ‘She went this way,’ Nella called out. ‘The undergrowth is stamped down and there is a bit of thread on one of the brambles.’

  ‘Miss Nella, you may have found your calling!’

  Jonathon guided the dogs over to where Nella pointed. They lifted their muzzles, barked sharply and set off. In the distance, he saw a woman running towards them.

  Louisa watched with frustration as Trevor stalked the room. She had lost track of time since Annie had gone. The rope remained fastened about her wrists. Why was it in Minerva Press novels the rope always seemed to come undone easily and the heroine was free to save the day? The only thing she seemed to have done was to twist the rope tighter.