Not even his daughter was allowed to show that much disrespect.
“Miss Campbell can tell you what to do at any time of day, no matter what the situation,” he growled. “And you do exactly what she says.”
Beth jumped and spun around, her hand pressed to her chest. Hermia faltered when she saw him. Isabel didn’t react beyond a slight smile that she had to hide behind her hand. Rosamund squealed and ran over to Gerard.
“Father!” She hugged him around the waist. “Have you come to join us?”
“I was coming to see how things were going with you girls.” Gerard stroked his daughter’s head, all the while glaring at Hermia. “I was expecting better from you, Hermia. How old are you?”
“She can’t order me around, Father!” Hermia shouted.
Gerard was half-expecting her to stamp her foot before throwing herself on the floor and beating the floorboards with her fists as she screamed.
“You’re under her charge until you can behave yourself and act like you’re supposed to.” He nudged Rosamund aside and approached Hermia, who was scowling at him. “You can’t do that, you’re most certainly going to do as you’re told by Miss Campbell.” Then he grinned and glanced at Beth, who was still staring at him. “I think the Hamlet play would be the best one to write out. Scene changes, dialogue, everything. It’s a very long play, isn’t it?”
Beth blinked. Then she nodded, fighting back the urge to smile.
“It is.”
“Father!” Hermia protested, but Gerard held up a hand, which silenced her. At least she had a bit of common sense left.
He pointed at her desk, which had been moved to the edge of the room.
“Sit. Now. And do it.” Gerard wished he didn’t have to do this, but he wasn’t having it. “If Miss Campbell finds that you’ve been writing anything other than Hamlet while she’s teaching your sisters, you can write out the rest of Shakespeare. Every single play. That should keep you busy until you’ve missed your first Season.”
“What?” Hermia pouted. She folded her arms and stamped her foot. “That’s not fair! You can’t do this!”
“As a matter of fact, I can. And if you didn’t want me to do this, you should have behaved yourself. Go.”
For a moment, he thought Hermia was going to start screaming again and fly into a rage. But instead, his eldest daughter growled and flounced off to her desk, sitting down heavily with her arms still folded, scowling at the papers in front of her.
She simply sat there, not doing anything. Gerard was about to tell her to get on with it, but then Beth laid a hand on his arm, giving him a slight shake of her head.
“Leave it a moment,” she whispered. “She’ll get on to it shortly. Just wait.”
Gerard wanted to protest, but he was distracted by her hand on his sleeve. He could feel the heat through his shirt and his jacket. And the urge to pull her close and feel more of her body heat was great, but certainly not with his daughters in the room. They had only just calmed Hermia, somewhat; this would only get her more upset.
“All right.” Gerard sighed. “I must apologize for my daughter’s behaviour. It was unacceptable.”
“Nothing to apologize for,” Beth replied. “Hermia is old enough to be accountable for her own actions.”
She hadn’t moved her hand from his arm. Gerard wasn’t about to tell her this. He looked at Isabel and Rosamund, the latter still holding onto his waist with a beaming smile.
“What was Miss Campbell doing with you?”
“She was teaching us to dance,” Rosamund declared.
“Oh? And what dance was she teaching you?”
“All of them,” Isabel replied. “Miss Campbell was talking about how dance has evolved over the centuries, and we wanted to know what the dances were.”
Gerard blinked.
“Haven’t you had dance lessons before?”
There was a rude snort from Hermia. Gerard shot her a glare, which had Hermia sighing and rolling her eyes before reaching for the pen on her desk. She was muttering under her breath as she dipped her pen into her inkwell and shook it hard before scratching it across the top page.
“Only Hermia.” Isabel spoke as if Hermia hadn’t interjected. “Rosamund and I know a little, but we don’t know everything. Mother taught us the dances, but only three of them. Apparently, there are a lot more.”
Her mother. Gerard felt a slight pang in his chest. Allegra loved dancing, and she had often dragged Gerard onto the dance floor at big social engagements. Gerard wasn’t too keen on dancing, but it made her happy, so Gerard did it with her. Depending on the dance, it could be very intimate without taking your clothes off. It was remarkable how much foreplay you could go through with just one dance.
Now Gerard was thinking of something else. Something that involved a beautiful young woman standing beside him, her hand still on his arm.
“It’s difficult to dance when you’re on your own,” he said carefully. “You can only show one side at a time.”
Beth blinked. She licked her lips, which had Gerard trying not to stare at her mouth.
“I can manage.”
Gerard grinned.
“How about dancing with me? I assume you know the waltz?”
Beth’s eyes widened, her mouth falling open. Her hand left his arm as she eased back from him.
“I do, but …”
“But what? Isabel and Rosamund want to know what it looks like. Might as well show them how it’s done.”
This was very cheeky, but Gerard was itching to get his hands-on Beth. It was foolish and daring considering who they were in front of, but Gerard saw an opportunity, and he wanted to make the most of it. Beth looked like Gerard had asked her to take her clothes off.
What would she really look like if Gerard did tell her to take her clothes off?
Beth gathered herself together and squared her shoulders. She nodded.
“All right. Mr Baker?” She leaned around Gerard to the pianist. “Would you mind?”
“Yes, Miss Campbell.”
Gerard ushered Rosamund to stand with Isabel, grinning at both of them as he moved to the centre of the room with Beth.
“I’m sure my daughters will notice that it’s an ... intimate dance. One you don’t dance with just anyone.”
“Is it a naughty dance?” Isabel asked, which had Rosamund giggling.
Gerard looked at Beth, who was now standing opposite him and looking decidedly nervous.
“I think it’s been called that before.”
Beth cleared her throat.
“Well, perhaps you can partner your daughters with me and show them some of the more ... tamer dances?”
“I will. I’ve got the time.” Gerard didn’t stop smiling as he held out his hand. “But I’m happy to show them the waltz first.”
Beth froze for just a moment. And then she slipped her hand into his as the music started.
Chapter 13
Gerard didn’t want to stop dancing with Beth. Even with her nerves and refusing to look at him, she danced like a dream. So fluid, and she managed to follow his lead without any problems. It was like dancing with Allegra again.
But she wasn’t Allegra. Allegra was dead, and it was unfair to Beth to compare the two of them. Why was he even comparing them? Gerard didn’t really know.
He stayed a little longer than he should have, helping Beth show his daughters how to dance. Isabel was really good. Gerard had always thought his middle daughter was a clever little girl, and she was very good at picking up things just on first glance. She was a remarkable child. Rosamund was very enthusiastic, and she did try. Although it was difficult to keep her attention at times. However, Beth handled that without any problems, no batting of eyelids.
She was a godsend. Talented and beautiful. Even with her status as governess, her whole presence seemed to light up the room. Gerard could hardly take his eyes off her. Even he started stumbling a little and treading on his daughter’s toes because he was so foc
used on her. Thankfully, Beth didn’t seem to notice, which was a relief; Gerard didn’t want to be caught openly staring at Beth.
Even Hermia was quiet the whole time, keeping her head down as she wrote. Beth was right; she just needed a moment before she got on with it. Every now and then, though, Gerard caught his daughter glaring at Beth. There was genuine resentment aimed at her, maybe even some hate. Gerard was still trying to get his head around what Hermia had said. She thought Beth was going to replace her mother? No one could replace Allegra.
Although Beth could come very close.
It was nearly an hour and a half later before Gerard left the schoolroom. He would have stayed longer but the girls were going to get their lunch in the nursery, so lessons stopped. Beth had to rearrange the schoolroom, and Mr Baker was heading home. Gerard sent him in the direction of his housekeeper for his payment and headed back downstairs. He had to get back to getting things in order. Even with his family home up in the Lake District being at least a day’s ride away, Gerard still had to keep things organized and sign off on salaries in advance. If he didn’t, everything got behind. His workers didn’t like having their wages delayed.
Gerard was nearly at the bottom of the stairs when someone shouted for him. He turned and saw Hermia hurrying down the stairs. Gerard sighed. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with his daughter’s outburst.
“I thought you were supposed to be copying out lines of Shakespeare.”
“It’s lunchtime. And I wanted to talk to you.”
“Talk or argue?” Gerard folded her arms. “Because you look like you’re ready to argue.”
“You’re right about that.” Hermia planted her hands on her hips. Gerard could see the ink splotches on her hands. “Copying out lines of Shakespeare? Are you serious?”
“I’m very serious, Hermia. That’s the punishment Miss Campbell gave you …”
“You think I’m going to listen to a thing that woman says?” Hermia sneered.
“She is your governess, and until you learn your place, she is going to be just that for quite a while.”
“I’m too old for a governess!”
“Not with the way you’re behaving, Hermia.” Gerard fixed her with a hard stare. “You do as you’re told, young lady. I don’t care if you like it or not … you will do it.”
“I hate doing lines,” Hermia whined.
“Then you shouldn’t have been so disrespectful towards her. That’s not how it works here, Hermia.”
“It does with me.”
She was so determined to make Beth’s life a misery. She wanted Beth out of their lives. Gerard was shocked at Hermia’s animosity. There had been a lot of that since they had an erratic stream of governesses coming in and out since Allegra’s death, and most of them said they would not teach Hermia due to her attitude towards them. But Gerard had never seen this much anger and hatred.
She really hated Beth.
“Why are you so horrible to people who are just trying to help, Hermia? It’s not just Miss Campbell you’ve done this to. It’s all the other women who have come in to teach you and your sisters.”
Hermia’s lip curled.
“I won’t allow any other woman to take Mother’s place. She was too special for that.”
“This is about your mother?”
“She taught us everything. She was our tutor. I won’t have someone who thinks they know everything telling us what to do.”
“That’s the idea of a governess …”
“And I won’t have her replacing Mother in your life,” Hermia cried out.
Gerard blinked.
“What are you talking about?”
“I saw the way you’ve been looking at her since she walked in here. At how you touched her when you danced.”
“It’s the waltz, Hermia. You’re meant to hold the woman like that. Your mother taught you that when you were thirteen.”
“You’re not meant to look at the woman like you want something more,” Hermia accused. “Something else was going on.”
Her voice had been getting louder. Gerard was aware of some of his servants appearing out of doorways. They were always milling around the house doing their work, and they picked up on absolutely anything they could use to gossip. Hermia was creating drama in their foyer, and Gerard knew it wouldn’t be long before his staff started talking about what his daughter had said. That was not fair on Beth.
He did his best not to lose his temper, but it wasn’t easy.
“You have a fertile imagination, Hermia.”
“I know what you’re up to, Father. She’s your mistress.”
“Don’t be ridiculous …”
“She’s your mistress, and you got her a position here so you could keep her close. Under our roof!” Hermia scowled. “How long has it been? Was it before or after Mother died?”
Gerard knew trying to keep his temper was futile when presented with this. He stepped up towards his daughter, which had Hermia wavering a little. She nearly tripped over the next step up.
“Let’s get one thing clear,” he said quietly. God only knew how much the servants heard, and Gerard wasn’t having it. “Miss Campbell is not my mistress, and I would never do that to your mother. I got her a position here because I saw potential. And you’re only upset because she can put you in your place with my backing. You need to think very carefully about what you say before you accuse me of having a mistress.”
Hermia had wobbled a little as her father towered over her. But it was only for a moment before she recovered and narrowed her eyes at him.
“An employer shouldn’t look at an employee like you look at her, Father,” she hissed. “If she isn’t your mistress, you want her to be.”
Gerard wanted to shake her. His daughter was dead set on this. She had got it into her head that Beth was a threat. It was infuriating as much as it was laughable. Gerard didn’t know which one he wanted to do.
Instead, he pointed back up the stairs.
“You are going to your room. I’ll have dinner sent up to you, and one of the footmen is going to sit in with you while you finish off the Hamlet play. I don’t want to hear any more from you.”
“You’re punishing me for speaking my mind?”
“I’m punishing you for accusing me of something I’ve never done. I would never betray your mother like that, and to have you think such of me is disrespectful. I won’t have it.” Gerard took a deep breath. “Go, now, or you’ll be confined to your room for the rest of the week.”
For a moment, he thought that Hermia wasn’t going to do anything, that he would have to manhandle her back upstairs. But then Hermia started making her way up the stairs, still glaring at her father with fury in her eyes.
“I hate you!” she snarled.
Then she turned and ran up the stairs. Gerard thought about going after her but decided against it. Hermia was not to be calmed down anytime soon. It was best that she was confined to her room with a guard, of sorts, until she was calmer. Then again, with her fiery temper, that could be a while.
What A Wicked Duke Demands (Historical Regency Romance) Page 16
