The Poor Governess

by Barbara Cartland

  All the same it was all very difficult to understand, but equally really fascinating.

  Lara was, however, very determined to make quite certain the schoolroom door was locked.

  Or was she perhaps being presumptuous in thinking that Lord Magor was really interested in her?

  *

  At five o’clock that evening the whole house seemed to come alive and buzz like bees in a hive.

  There were housemaids everywhere, preparing the bedrooms, although they had all been cleaned every day since the precious week.

  There were footmen in livery waiting in the hall, their silver buttons polished until they shone blindingly.

  Mrs. Brigstow, with a silver chatelaine clinking from her waist, was inspecting the rooms and finding fault with what seemed to be perfection.

  “Uncle Ulric is coming back,” Georgina said with a different note in her voice to the way she had spoken of him before. “Do you think he will race with us as he did last week?”

  “I think he will be very busy,” Lara replied, “as the Prince of Wales is coming to stay. So you must not be disappointed if we just have to race on our own.”

  “It is more fun when Uncle Ulric is there because then there are three horses instead of two,” Georgina commented with unanswerable logic.

  “Let’s hope he will remember that you want to see him,” Lara said.

  The child gave a little sigh and it struck Lara that it was heartless of the Marquis not to realise what a monotonous existence his niece led despite the fact that she was surrounded by luxury.

  ‘That is another matter I shall speak to him about,’ she promised herself and then laughed at her own presumption.

  How could she tell the Marquis of all people what he should or should not do?

  And yet she knew that for Georgina’s sake she had to try to convince him about her music and, of course, it would be better than anything else if other children of her age were to be frequently invited to The Priory.

  “There must be other girls and boys of Georgina’s age in the neighbourhood,” she said to Nanny.

  “If there are, how are we to meet them?” Nanny asked sharply. “You must be aware, Miss Wade, as there’s no lady of the house, family life’s something that doesn’t count here.”

  Lara knew that this was true.

  When her mother was alive, she had invited children to tea and somehow arranged that Lara was invited back, although they lived in a very isolated part of Essex.

  But here, she was sure, things were different, it was not merely a question of the local families being aware of Georgina’s existence for them to invite her to their houses, but it was obvious that to start the ball rolling they must first be invited to The Priory.

  Lara could see the solution, but the difficulty was how to put her plan into operation. And it all hinged on the Marquis.

  She thought it was unlikely that she and Georgina would even see him this weekend.

  They finished tea in the schoolroom and Georgina was asking somewhat plaintively whether they would be able to go to the music room if there was a party in the house, when the door opened.

  Lara looked up expectantly, hoping that by some unexpected piece of good luck it was the Marquis, although that was unlikely, when she saw a familiar red face and Lord Magor came into the room.

  Slowly she rose to her feet and as Georgina rose too he said in his plummy voice,

  “Hello, little lady, it’s nice to see you again. What have you been doing while your uncle and I have been in London?”

  He did not wait for an answer, but looked at Lara and said with what she thought was an unpleasant smile,

  “I hope you are ready to welcome me back, Miss Wade?”

  Lara seated herself at the table again.

  “We are just having tea, my Lord.”

  “I guessed that was what you would be doing,” Lord Magor said, “and, while I am here, I will accept a cup from your pretty hands.”

  He was flirting with her in a manner that Lara thought was exactly as if he was on stage and it flashed through her mind once again that she must remember to put it down word for word in her notes.

  “I will ring for another cup, my Lord,” she said demurely.

  “Don’t bother, don’t bother!” Lord Magor replied. “I really want to talk to you.”

  His eyes flickering over her face seemed to her to be deliberately appraising the colour of her hair and the whiteness of her skin.

  Then, as he looked at her figure, she had the feeling that he was mentally undressing her. And she hated him.

  “I am afraid, my Lord,” she said, “ that we cannot ask you to stay as I have a book that I have promised to read to Georgina before she goes to bed. As it is a lesson, you will understand that we cannot be disturbed.”

  Lord Magor laughed.

  “Are you trying to get rid of me? Let me tell you, my strict disciplinarian, that if you are determined, so am I. I have come here to see you and my adopted niece and I have no intention of leaving until I am ready to do so.”

  He had declared war and Lara knew it.

  “Of course, my Lord,” she answered, “and if you want to talk to Georgina, I quite understand.”

  She rose as she spoke and walked across the room to her bedroom door.

  “Where are you going, Miss Wade?” Georgina asked nervously. “You said you were going to read to me.”

  This was something she much enjoyed, for Lara had found several books in the library containing stories that the child was just old enough to understand and she listened to them with interest.

  “I shall only be in my bedroom,” Lara replied, “and if you want me, you have only to call.”

  “I want you now! Now, at this moment!” Georgina exclaimed.

  She rose from the table as she spoke and, avoiding the hand Lord Magor put out to stop her, ran to Lara to hold onto her.

  “Read to me, read to me now!” she insisted.

  Lara looked over the child’s head at Lord Magor.

  “I am sorry, my Lord,” she said, “but I am sure you will understand that my pupil’s interests must come first.”

  Lord Magor rose to his feet with an expression in his eyes that told her he had not enjoyed this small skirmish in which he had been defeated.

  “Very well, Miss Wade. You win – for the moment!”

  He walked towards the door.

  “Goodnight, Georgina,” he said. “I shall tell your uncle that you were too ill to talk to me, and I hope that he will not feel you are not well enough to ride tomorrow.”

  It was a threat that made Lara’s temper rise as the schoolroom door closed behind him.

  “What did he mean? What is he – saying?” Georgina asked. “I am not ill! You know I am not ill, Miss Wade!”

  “Of course you are not,” Lara said soothingly. “Lord Magor was being disagreeable because you did not wish to talk to him.”

  “Perhaps, if he tells Uncle Ulric I am ill, I shall not be allowed to ride Snowball with you.”

  “Leave that to me,” Lara said. “I promise you we will both ride tomorrow morning and Lord Magor will not be able to interfere.”

  She picked up the book that they were reading as she spoke and walked towards the sofa.

  “Come and sit down,” she suggested.

  Then, as she saw that the child was really upset, she said,

  “I have a better idea. Let’s go to the music room and try out that new Sonata you were playing so well this morning.”

  Georgina’s eyes lit up with excitement.

  “Can we do that?”

  “Why not?” Lara asked. “But let’s hurry in case anyone tries to stop us.”

  She had a feeling as she and Georgina slipped down a side staircase and along to the music room that she was scoring off Lord Magor and putting him into his proper perspective.

  He had tried to hit at her through the child, but she knew that once Georgina was immersed in her music she would not worry
about riding and Lord Magor would be forgotten.

  Because she was still angry, Lara told herself that Jane was right.

  He was definitely the villain and a very unpleasant one at that.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Lara and Georgina scrambled down the secondary staircase and reached the corridor that led to the music room.

  There appeared to be no one about and they were just walking quickly along it, when through a door that led into a room that Lara had not yet seen, there came the Marquis.

  She started because it was such a surprise and Georgina looked apprehensively at her uncle.

  “Hello, Georgina!” he exclaimed. “Where are you off to?”

  As the Marquis spoke, it struck Lara that this was the opportunity she had been waiting for to tell him about Georgina.

  “Good evening, Miss Wade.”

  He spoke dryly in the manner that was so characteristic of him.

  Lara curtseyed.

  “Good evening, my Lord, and unless you are very busy, I would like to have a word with you, if I may.”

  The Marquis raised his eyebrows before he replied,

  “I am certainly free at this moment, Miss Wade.”

  Lara turned to Georgina.

  “Go to the music room, dear,” she said, “and get everything ready. I will join you in a minute or two.”

  The child was looking nervously at her uncle, afraid that something unusual was happening, but she ran off obediently, her blue sash bobbing up and down on her expensive muslin gown.

  Lara looked at the Marquis.

  “Well, Miss Wade?” he asked. “Are you prepared to tell me here what is wrong or would you rather we sat down?”

  “It is nothing wrong, my Lord, but perhaps it would be better if we went into a sitting room.”

  The Marquis turned back towards the room he had just left and opened the door saying,

  “This is where we will not be disturbed.”

  Lara saw that the room she entered was an office and, by the maps framed and hung on the walls, she guessed it was where the Marquis did all his work connected with the estate.

  There was an upright chair on one side of the desk and, as she walked towards it, the Marquis seated himself opposite her.

  There was a little pause, as if she was feeling for words and, leaning back comfortably in his chair very much at his ease, he said after a moment,

  “I am waiting – ”

  She thought he spoke as if he was slightly amused and had already decided that whatever she had to say to him was unimportant and unnecessary.

  Instinctively her chin went up as she began,

  “I wish to speak to you, my Lord, about Georgina.”

  She had a feeling that it was not what he expected and he replied,

  “If you are going to tell me that she is backward, I have already heard it from her other Governesses and there is obviously nothing I can do about it.”

  “On the contrary, my Lord,” Lara said quickly, “what I am going to tell you may come as a surprise, but in my opinion Georgina could undoubtedly be a very talented, if not an exceptional musician.”

  The Marquis looked as if he could not believe what she had just said,

  “How do you know?” he asked.

  “You may not think I am qualified to judge,” Lara replied, “but I have been taught to play the piano and I am certain in my own mind that if Georgina had the right teachers she could be almost, if not quite, up to a professional standard.”

  “How can you possibly know this?” the Marquis enquired, “after being here only a week?”

  Lara smiled.

  “What I am going to suggest, my Lord, is that you hear Georgina play. You must, of course, remember that she has had no music lessons except those I have given her and she is at the moment playing entirely by ear having listened to the pieces I have played for her first.”

  She paused before she added emphatically,

  “I shall be very surprised if you do not find it extraordinary what she can already do.”

  The Marquis was silent.

  Then he said,

  “I admit I am astonished at what you have just told me, Miss Wade, and I was also surprised to find that Georgina can ride so well. Every other Governess she had, with the exception of Miss Cooper who I think was too frightened to speak to me, has complained of the child’s lethargy and indifference to every subject and what amounted to almost a determination not to learn.”

  Lara did not answer for a moment while she considered how she could put into words what she wanted to say.

  Then she replied,

  “Georgina is a very sensitive child, my Lord, and I think that her whole life has been upset by the fact that she knows that both her father and mother resented her being a girl instead of a boy.”

  “How could she possibly know that?” the Marquis asked sharply.

  “Servants always talk in front of children as if they were deaf,” Lara replied. “Apparently one of them actually said in her hearing that her mother wept when she was born because she was not the son they wanted. And her father made it very clear to Georgina that he was disappointed that she was not a boy.”

  The Marquis did not speak and Lara continued,

  “An added blow of fate that has wounded the child is that she now realises as well that if she had been a boy she would now be in your place.”

  She had now again startled the Marquis, who stared at her as if he could not believe what he was hearing.

  “Did she say that to you?” he asked. “Or did you put the idea into her head?”

  Lara stiffened and the Marquis saw the anger in her eyes.

  Then, before she could speak, he said quickly,

  “I apologise. I should not have said that.”

  “I accept your apology, my Lord, but I am humiliated that you should think even for a moment, that I would do such a thing.”

  “Forgive me,” the Marquis said. “I can only plead as an excuse that I know very little about children.”

  “Then may I just say one thing more, my Lord?” Lara said. “As we are talking frankly?”

  “As you are talking frankly, Miss Wade,” the Marquis interposed.

  “Very well,” Lara replied, “and if you are angry I may as well get it all over at once.”

  “I will try not to be too incensed,” he said, “even though I think you are insinuating that I have been extremely stupid where my niece is concerned.”

  “I am not prepared to be as rude as that, my Lord,” Lara answered, “but shall we say that you have not given her the same attention or shown her the same interest that you give to your horses?”

  The Marquis laughed somewhat ruefully before he replied,

  “Very well, I accept your condemnation. Now tell me what is on your mind?”

  “I cannot help thinking that, as she is an orphan and therefore a lonely introspective child who feels she is unwanted, the best thing possible would be for her to entertain other children and if possible have them here to do lessons with her.”

  Lara drew in her breath before she went on quickly,

  “At the moment she spends her time only with grown-ups and Nanny is not only very possessive but also treats her as if she was a baby.”

  As she finished, Lara half-expected the Marquis to snap back at her and tell her that she was being impertinent in criticising both him and his household.

  Instead he said slowly,

  “I think I understand what you are saying, Miss Wade. Will you allow me to think it over and to give, as you suggest, the same attention to my niece that I give my horses?”

  Lara gave him a smile that seemed to light her whole face.

  “That is all I am asking, my Lord. Thank you very much.”

  She rose to her feet as she spoke and added,

  “And now, please, will you come and hear Georgina play?”

  “That is what I intend to do,” the Marquis said, “and I hope you will not be too disappoi
nted or indeed too angry with me if I do not agree with your opinion that she will make a good musician.”

  He walked towards the door and opened it for Lara. As he joined her outside and they walked down the corridor towards the music room, he said,

  “As it happens, I am considered to be quite an authority on music, being a Director of Covent Garden and the Prince of Wales frequently asks me to choose the artistes who shall entertain his guests at Marlborough House.”

  “Then you are obviously just the right person to help Georgina, my Lord.”

  “That remains to be seen,” the Marquis said as if he was trying to prevent himself from being carried away by her enthusiasm.

  They walked in silence to the music room.

  Than as they neared the door Lara held up her hand and the Marquis stopped.

  They could hear Georgina playing and Lara knew that nobody could pretend that it was the ordinary sound to be expected from a child of her age.

  Instead the melody of the Strauss waltz that came flowing out towards them had a depth of rhythm and was played with such feeling that it might easily have come from the fingers of an acknowledged concert pianist.

  After a couple of minutes Lara without speaking opened the door and went into the room.

  Georgina looking very small on the dais beside the huge Broadwood was so intent on what she was doing that she did not even notice they were there.

  Then, as she finished with an octave her small fingers could only just reach, she looked up and her hands fell into her lap.

  “That was very good, Georgina!” Lara said. “Now I want you to play for your uncle the piece you played for me yesterday.”

  “Perhaps – Uncle Ulric does not – like my being – here,” Georgina stammered nervously.

  “I am delighted that the music room is being used for a change,” the Marquis contradicted. “I think it must have felt neglected for quite a long time.”

  “I may go on playing here?’ Georgina asked.

  She spoke as if the idea that she might be turned away and isolated from the piano had been worrying her and the Marquis answered,

  “I suggest you play something else and I will then tell you if I appreciate your playing as much as Miss Wade does.”