Page 69 of The Dark Duke's Virgin

Caroline sucked through her teeth for she could see where this was heading. “Maybe…”

“He will! Oh, Caroline, you have to speak with him! Before it is too late!”

Speak to him? Unfortunately, whenever Caroline ‘spoke’ with His Grace, they ended up doing little talking. Somehow, she figured that if she did do as Isabella asked and went to speak with him, few words would be exchanged.

“But it is too late,” she tried. “Your new governess starts in two days. There is nothing I can do.”

“Nothing you will do, you mean!”

She winced. “That is not true.”

“It is!” she said, face scrunching into an angry ball. “If you told father the first day that you wanted to stay on as my governess, he would have listened. But you didn’t! You want to leave me!”

“I—”

“Why, Caroline!” she begged, chin beginning to wobble, eyes welling. “I thought you liked me. I thought… I thought…” She sniffed and wiped her nose. “I thought we were friends.”

“We are friends!”

“Then why are you leaving?”

“I’m not leaving.” She swept into the little girl, sat down beside her, and wrapped her arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a tight hug. “I promise you that I am not going anywhere. And while you may have a new governess to teach you, that does not mean you and I won’t see one another.”

“Re - really?” she sniffed.

“Of course. And look at it this way, now that I will not be your teacher, it means you do not have to behave around me like you might—like you should.” She raised a warning eyebrow at her, and Isabella giggled. “If anything, this will make us even closer friends.”

Isabella’s brow scrunched as she considered this possibility. Her face was red and blotchy. Her eyes brimmed with tears. Her chin trembled. The girl was in the midst of a tantrum, and Caroline was working overtime to keep it from exploding and ruining their lesson.

Although, what lesson? A lesson implied learning. Instruction. A teacher guiding her student and the student actually listening to what was said. So far today, none of that had been the case.

They were supposed to be working on Isabella’s pianoforte skills—the girl had improved in leaps and bounds lately, and Caroline was looking forward today to really testing her. But no sooner had she walked into the room than Isabella accused her ofleaving her, of making it seem as if she wanted to. As if it was her own choice!

Word had come through the previous evening that His Grace had finally hired a new governess to begin her instruction in two days’ time. It was expected as it had now been a week since he’d told them of this eventuality. And while Caroline was glad about the fact as she could not continue in this role, she was also sad because she would miss the time spent with Isabella more than she might have thought possible. The two had bonded greatly in these past few weeks, more than student and teacher but friends, also.

“So, you’re not leaving me?” Isabella sniffed.

“Of course, not…” Caroline’s stomach twisted at the lie, for that was what it felt like. Not that she would say such a thing now. “How could you even think such a thing.”

Isabella sniffed and laughed softly. “I will miss our lessons.”

“Lessons?” Caroline frowned and then widened her eyes as if from shock. “Oh, is that what we’re meant to be doing. I was wondering what this pianoforte was for.”

Isabella giggled and wiped her nose, sitting up to face the pianoforte finally as she was beginning to move on from her sadness. “You’re silly.”

“And you’re a terrible student,” she winked. “Unless you wish to prove me wrong?” A raised eyebrow which was met with a determined look from Isabella.

Caroline laughed as she stood and stepped back, giving the little girl room to show her what she had learned so far. But then, before she had the chance to begin, Esther skipped into the room with a look on her face that brimmed with positivity.

“There you are!” Esther said merrily. “I was looking all over for you.”

“Grandmother!” Isabella cried.

“Esther, can whatever this is wait? We have lessons.”

Esther came to a stop by the pianoforte, pouting as a child might who was told they could not have a treat before supper. “But I wanted to give you the good news. And I wanted you to hear it from me.”

“Good news?” Caroline frowned as for some reason she could not fathom what this so-called good news might be. Although perhaps she should have, for it could only be one thing. And if she had, she might have thought twice before asking.

---