Breaking the Governess’s Rules (15 page)

‘I was acquainted with them once—before Lord and Lady Chesterholm married.’

‘I should have thought.’ The nurse nodded. ‘His lordship is unlikely to have any Newton relation in the house. Not after he threw them out. They tried to take Arthur.’

Louisa frowned, surprised at the nurse’s presumption and indiscretion. The woman did not even know anything about her. But the intelligence did not surprise her. Clarissa’s mother had very decided opinions and did not hesitate to voice them in private and sometimes even in public. And Jonathon hated being told what to do.

At the look, the nurse’s cheeks coloured slightly. ‘I fear my tongue is worse than a babbling brook these days. I didn’t mean no harm. His lordship operates by his own rules, he does. He is determined to protect those who are dependent on him.’

‘Yes, he always was.’ Louisa closed her eyes, remembering how she loved it once. Jonathon had promised to remake the world for her and protect her from life’s storms. In those long-ago days, she would have been
content to be a clinging vine, but now she was glad for the opportunity to fight her battles and to find her own solutions, rather than accepting misguided advice.

‘Then he hasn’t changed,’ the nurse said with a laugh. ‘The master does what he thinks is right and he is a good master. Not like some of the others, mind.’

Louisa swallowed hard. Was Jonathon really that good or was the nurse proclaiming far too loudly? He had not brought Arthur down to meet the guests, nor had he really mentioned Arthur’s existence. And having met the boy, Louisa was convinced the fault lay with Jonathon.

Louisa gave Arthur’s hair one last stroke. She could not risk coming again. Arthur was Clarissa’s child, not hers. Getting attached to any child, particularly one of Jonathon’s, would only lead to heartache.

‘Is this what you called dressed for company, Nanny Hawks?’ Jonathon’s rich voice boomed from the doorway. ‘Did I not say—promptly?’

‘Promptness is a virtue that Master Arthur does not possess,’ the nurse said. ‘He was born late and has stayed late ever since.’

‘Hung by my own words, Nanny,’ Jonathon said with a laugh. ‘But I have no wish to scandalise the guests with him appearing without a stitch on.’

‘And whose fault was that, sir? I like to have my lads well turned out…’

‘Guilty as charged.’

Immediately Arthur gave a squeal of delight and started to run towards his father, but the nurse held him back exclaiming about wet hands on immaculate dinner clothes.

‘It is my fault, your lordship.’ Louisa stepped in front of the pair. ‘I became lost and Arthur rescued me. I am certain though I can find my way now.’

‘You are willing to take the help of an eighteen-month-old toddler, Miss Sibson, but not me.’ His eyes crinkled with amusement as if they were sharing a private joke. ‘I do hope this was in your famous schedule.’

‘I fail to see the humour. You should have told me you had a son,’ Louisa said, lowering her voice.

‘You should have asked.’ He reached out and captured the wriggling boy. ‘Arthur here is more than a son; he is a whirlwind of mischief.’

Arthur gave a shriek of delight as Jonathon swung him into the air. Both faces were alight with the joy of being with each other.

Louisa bit her lip. For years she had told herself that Jonathon would have made a terrible father, but here he was enjoying his son and he had obviously fought to keep him.

Jonathon put Arthur down. ‘Now, my lad, if you let Nanny Hawks comb your hair and tidy you up, you may come down and see the pretty ladies.’

‘La,’ Arthur said pointing at Louisa.

‘Yes, I can see you have an excellent eye, son. Miss Sibson will be there.’ Jonathon held out his arm. ‘Shall we go and leave Arthur to his ablutions, Louisa? Nanny’s charges must be well turned out.’

‘I became lost,’ Louisa said once they were clear of the nursery. ‘It was purely unintentional. It won’t happen again. It would have been helpful if someone had provided a plan of the house.’

‘If you say so. None of the other guests have mentioned the problem.’

‘I know how nurses like to think of the nursery as their private kingdom,’ Louisa said to forestall the lecture she was certain was coming. ‘You needn’t worry. I will not lose my way again.’

‘It is well I found you. The company is beginning to assemble for dinner. I have invited a few people from the neighbourhood and would hate to send a search party.’

‘More guests?’

‘If one is to have a dinner party, one might as well do it properly.’

‘No one said.’ Louisa stared at him in astonishment. It all made sense now why Arthur was being made ready. Jonathon wanted to exhibit his son. No doubt the company would be the great, the good and the very worthy. And the poor boy disliked strangers. She could remember hating it when she brought down Margaret Ponsby-Smythe. Her evening dress had always seemed plain against the brilliant silks and satins. And everyone seemed to think her manners were awkward and gauche.

‘I am saying so now. You will like them.’

Louisa straightened her spine. She was no longer a twenty-year-old orphan, but twenty-four with independent means. ‘It is well that I wore one of my better evening dresses.’

His gaze travelled down her neckline to where it skimmed the tops of her breasts. Louisa wished that she had used lace, but it was not as daring as some of the
dresses in Naples. ‘It will do. You used to wear simpler dresses. And your hair was not quite as elaborate.’

‘My style has changed.’ She gulped in a breath of air and regained control of her nerves. ‘I have changed. Become a woman of substance.’

‘You have said, but underneath there is a small bit of you who remains the wide-eyed governess I found cowering in the study.’

‘I was not cowering. I was waiting.’

‘There is no need to wait now.’

He tucked her arm under his. A warm insidious curl went around her stomach and it took all of her willpower not to lean against him. She pulled away from his arm and made a pretence of straightening the ruffles on her gown.

‘What did you think of my son? You can be frank, Louisa.’

‘He is a darling and very like you except for his eyes.’

Jonathon nodded, his face giving nothing away. Louisa wanted to scream with frustration. She wanted to know what he was thinking and how he felt about her discovery. But he was impossible to read.

‘And now you are ready to give me a lecture about seeing my son more often,’ he said. ‘Or, in some way, implying that I am an unfit father, that Arthur would be better off somewhere else.’

‘How did you know what I was thinking?’ Louisa narrowly missed stepping on the hem of her dress.

‘You have an expressive face, and you were ready to do battle when I came into the nursery.’

‘You never said anything about having a son. I
did not even know he was here. Why are you hiding him?’ Louisa crossed her arms. ‘There, I have said it, Jonathon.’

‘Was it any of your business? What lies between us, Louisa, is confined to you and me.’

‘You like to keep your life in compartments.’

‘It can be useful.’ There was an arrogant tilt to his chin. ‘Isn’t that what you try to do with your past? People in glass houses, Louisa, and right now, yours is made of thin crystal.’

‘You should have said something.’

‘Would it have made a difference?’

Louisa kept her gaze on his impeccably tied stock rather than on his eyes. ‘Yes, it would have.’

‘Are you always this arrogant, Louisa—assuming you know everything? I cannot undo the past.’

‘We are not talking about my past. I am speaking of the now and the fact you had a son with Clarissa!’

‘Is this about my son or the fact I married Clarissa?’

‘How am I supposed to answer that?’ Louisa drew a deep breath. ‘I simply know it is wrong to bring children out and exhibit them like a prized artwork.’

‘My son is the bright star of my life. I am determined to be a far better parent than either of mine were. I spend as much time as possible with Arthur. It is why he is with me, rather than with the Newtons. And if I wish him to meet people, he will. It is none of your business, Louisa.’

‘You are right. It is none of my business and thankfully it never will be.’

‘Arthur gives me a reason to hope for old age. Something I lacked until he came along.’

Louisa stared at her hands. She had misjudged Jonathon. Again. ‘I understand.’

‘Do you?’ His eyes assessed her. ‘I wonder.’

‘Young Arthur Fanshaw is a perfect darling,’ Miss Blandish confided as they processed back to the drawing room after supper. ‘I knew Lord Chesterholm was a widower, but he is so good with his son. The little boy adores his papa.’

‘A man who is good with children is a prize beyond rubies, Miss Blandish,’ Miss Daphne said. ‘They are very rare. Don’t you agree, Louisa?’

‘Lord Chesterholm does appear to be devoted.’ Louisa ignored the tightening of her stomach. What was Miss Daphne up to, pointing out Jonathon’s virtues to Miss Blandish? Miss Blandish and he would be bored within five minutes. Louisa gritted her teeth. Or was it more subtle—a misguided attempt to provoke her to jealousy? Unfortunately, it nearly worked.

‘Are you feeling quite the thing, Louisa dear?’ Miss Daphne asked, laying her hand on Louisa’s arm. ‘Rupert and I had a discussion about it this afternoon. You have an admirer in my nephew.’

Louisa squeezed Miss Daphne’s hand. Life would be much simpler if she had been attracted to Lord Furniss, but she was not. ‘What shall the evening’s entertainment be?’

‘Dancing,’ Miss Daphne declared. ‘I have a dislike of parlour games.’

‘Dancing?’ Louisa stared at Miss Daphne. She had expected something far more sedate. ‘But you gave up
dancing after the last Christmas ball at Hotel Trasemeno. You were laid up for a week with aching joints.’

‘Oh, you will know all the sophisticated dances, rather than us countrified folk, having been on the Continent,’ the vicar’s wife said with a clap of her hands. ‘I have been simply longing to learn some new dances.’

‘Miss Sibson does,’ Miss Daphne declared. ‘You must ask her. She rarely dances, but when she does it is with great skill.’

‘I would be willing to teach you one or two if you wished,’ Louisa said, seeing the woman’s eager face. ‘They are very simple to learn.’

‘You know, I was simply terrified when Lord Chesterholm invited us,’ the vicar’s wife confided in an undertone to Louisa. ‘And then when I saw you, Miss Sibson, in all your glory and sophistication, I thought what could we possibly have in common, but you have put my mind quite at ease.’

‘Sophisticated, me?’ Louisa stared at the vicar’s wife. ‘I have never considered myself particularly sophisticated.’

‘But you have travelled the world and I have never been out of Northumberland.’ The vicar’s wife gave a sigh. ‘I do so love dancing. About these new steps…’

‘Yes, please, Miss Sibson. I am so pleased Mrs Merrick worked up the courage to ask,’ Miss Blandish said. ‘I am always longing to learn more steps.’

‘I would be delighted to show you a few before the gentlemen return,’ Louisa said with a smile. ‘Country dancing it is.’

‘I shall play the spinet and Nella Blandish may turn the pages of the music. I dare say these old fingers recall
more country dances and quadrilles than you consider possible.’

Nella Blandish stood up a little straighter, beaming while everyone else made approving noises. Louisa fought the urge not to laugh. Here she had been terrified of them and they were thinking that she was terrifyingly sophisticated.

‘The servants had best move the furniture, then.’

By the time the gentlemen entered the room, the sofas and chairs had been moved against the wall and the Turkey carpet rolled up. Louisa had shown the ladies a few of the dances that were all the rage in Sorrento, and they had agreed on a programme.

‘It appears tonight’s entertainment is settled,’ Jonathon said, coming into the room. ‘Did you have a hand in it, Miss Sibson?’

‘Miss Sibson objected most vigorously, but my sister and Mrs Merrick insisted as Miss Sibson has lived abroad. And then Miss Sibson relented and has been teaching everyone to dance.’ Miss Nella made a little curtsy to the gentlemen. The corner of Jonathon’s mouth twitched and his eyes seemed to say—I told you so. ‘And I am to stay up and turn the pages.’

‘As long as you are quiet and lady-like,’ Mrs Blandish said with a resigned shudder. ‘I shall have to discover a new governess when we return to London.’

Nella gave a theatrical sigh and clapped her hands over her mouth. Louisa hid her smile behind her hand, but she caught Jonathon’s eye. Then the laugh bubbled up inside her and escaped. The entire company followed suit. A feeling of belonging swamped Louisa.

‘Miss Sibson, you will do me the honour of being my partner for the first dance,’ Lord Furniss said, as the laughter subsided. ‘The memory of dancing with you in Sorrento has sustained me for many months.’

‘With words like that, how could I refuse?’ Louisa put her hand in his.

As the first figure started and they linked hands, Lord Furniss cleared his throat. ‘Miss Sibson, I hope you do not consider me impertinent but you have no one to guide you.’

‘I am used to making my own way in the world.’

‘You should be able to lean on someone. It is not right for a lady such as yourself—’

Louisa stepped heavily. Lord Furniss gave a muffled yelp. Her shoulder relaxed slightly. Crisis adverted. ‘Do excuse me, Lord Furniss. I missed a step.’

‘Do you understand what I wish to ask?’ he said in a low urgent tone.

‘You do me great honour, but this is hardly the time or place for such a conversation.’

‘When shall we speak elsewhere?’

‘The dance, Lord Furniss. We need to change partners. See, Miss Blandish waits.’

He went scarlet. ‘Yes, yes, of course. I am always getting my figures mixed.’

Louisa heaved a sigh of relief and turned towards her new partner.

‘What were you and Furniss discussing so intently?’ Jonathon’s hand closed about hers. Strong and masculine. A small pulse of energy jolted her.

‘We weren’t discussing anything of import.’