Page 1 of The Secret Life of the Elusive Governess
Prologue
The Barley Mansion
Six minutes—that was what it took to almost shatter the maid, Pauline Hart, who had just popped into the mansion to get a shawl for Lady Josephine Hayward as the evening was getting nippy.
Never had she imagined that she would go back to find the little girl gone. But she was, inexplicably, undeniably, gone and in her place was a note secured under a smooth river rock. She snatched it up, took one look at the first words, and ran full tilt back into the house with her heart drumming in her ears.
“She's gone!” She screamed while darting inside. “She’s been taken!”
It did not take long for the lord of the manor, Moses Hayward, to rush out with alarm on his face, “Wha—?”
“Your Grace,” the woman trembled and gasped in terror, “Lady Josephine is gone!”The words she had just uttered rocked her and she nearly fell over at the horrible image of the sweet child being held in a dark, cold room, all alone and scared out of her mind. “And the only way you can get her back is to exchange her for Miss Robins.”
The Duke’s face paled just as the Duchess’ voice came from the stairwell.“Moses, why did that ungodly scream disturb my rest? And what is this about Josephine? Tell me!” Her tone was almost hysterical. “What is happening?”
“Josephine has been kidnapped, Lavinia.” The Duke winced tightly, as her scream cut through the air, so shrill and laced with desolation it tore his heart in two.
The Duchess nearly fell from her precarious perch on the staircase. “How could that be?! How could someone just snatch her from the garden? We have eyes all over the place! How did no one see her?”
Moses grimaced.There has to be another agent here, but who?
The Duke took the crumpled note from the maid’s lax hand and read.“We have the child...and you can only get her back if you hand over the governess to us in the next twenty-four hours.”
“But—Miss Robins?” the Duchess stuttered. “She’s gone. You sent our governess away, Moses. She is halfway across the county! How can you get her back in twenty-four hours? It took you three days to get her away!What will they do to my little girl if we can’t get her back?”
The Duke crumpled the noted with steely determination. “I’ll get her back, Lavinia. I swear on my life, I will get them both back. Tell Oliver to saddle my horse! Hinds, shut the whole estate down,send for the constables, and search for the kidnapper’s accomplice. Do it now!”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
Chapter 1
The Barley Mansion
Two Years Ago
“Take care, Lady Josephine.” Miss Caroline Robins, the new governess of the Duke of Barley’s children, was anxiously worrying over her charge, five-year-old Lady Josephine Hayward. The little girl was dangerously close to ruining her lovely blue cotton dress on the oozing fruit of a black mulberry tree.
It was the height of summer in southeast England and for the past few days, the sun had been at its fiercest. Caroline had to cease from bringing her charges on their daily walks for fear of them being harmed by the violent rays. This day, however—a peaceful Wednesday—had arrived with a benign spirit and carried with it calm blue skies, warm sunlight, and a soft breeze.
The morning hours had passed by with the governess fearfully watching the sky with doubt running through her mind about the walk. However, by the big and pleading blue-green eyes of five-year-old Josephine, Caroline had relented.
She was now seated on a warm stone bench amid the secondary garden of Barley Manor, with her hands folded over her simple black skirt. Her dark blue eyes glanced up at the window of a parlor room and saw Lord Nicholas Hayward, Josephine’s older brother, standing there and gazing out silently. There was a worry inside the governess for the boy, as he was too pensive and surly for such a tender age.
Mayhap he misses his mother.
Days after she had taken residence at the house, she had wondered why there was no introduction to the lady of the Manor but had not questioned it openly. It was only after a week she had started to ask subtle questions and had received answers even more subtle—the Duchess of Barley was ill and from the reports, she had been that way for years.
“Miss Robins!” Josephine called excitedly as she rushed over to her with her hands clasped tightly. The child was in such a hurry that she tripped over the edges of her petticoat.
Instantly, Caroline launched from her seat and caught the child just in time. Josephine’s hands parted and her treasure—a golden butterfly—flew from its corporal cage and flittered away. The governess was happier to see the child safe than the insect and frantically checked her over to make sure she wasn’t bruised.
She wasn’t physically hurt, but the sniffles Caroline heard told her the child was instantly miserable. Sighing, the governess gently lifted Josephine up, placed her on her lap and tucked her head, crowned with angelic golden strands, into the crook of her neck.
“Hush, Lady Josephine,” Caroline consoled while rocking her softly, “Hush, hush, now, and wipe your eyes. You will find another one soon, I promise. They are all around us.”
The sobs kept coming and Caroline felt her anxiety growing. What if the child was so distraught that she didn’t stop crying? How could she present her to her father with a red face and swollen eyes? Three full months had not passed since she had taken up the position with the Duke and Duchess of Barley and during that time, she had walked on eggshells.
Everything she did was planned out—her lessons, her daily activities, the rare moments where she allowed herself free time, her trips to the town nearby, and never, at any time, did she take any risks. Her position was too fragile for her to be daring fate.
