Page 31 of The Secret Life of the Elusive Governess
He could not get angry at his own coachman as he had only been obeying an order from his superior. He knew it would not profit him too much to get angry at Lavinia, though this act was certainly her plotting. Could he just disregard it?
No. I cannot!
What would have happened to Caroline if he had not been made aware of her absence? Could he have lived with himself if she had been harmed? Especially since he had come to know where he stood with her. He might not ever be able to show her his affection outwardly, but he could keep her secure.
His vow to protect everyone under his roof had taken another meaning now.Not only might I have to secure Caroline’s position, but I might also have to secure her life.
Chapter 13
Thank God… thank God you’re safe.
Caroline had entered her room with those words swirling in her mind like a torrent. Inside, she dropped her bags and wrapped her arms around her middle as shivers racked her from the inside out.
Thank God… thank God you’re safe.
His arms. God, the fleeting moments secured in the Duke’s arms, had felt like heaven and Caroline now sorely wished her existence was not her reality. She wished that she was not just a governess but someone who was the love of the Duke’s life. Hunched over, she tried to savor the lingering memory of his touch but could barely hold on to it. Could she…could she imagine what she longed for but knew was an impossibility?
Thank God… thank God you’re safe.
Did he feel…anything for her? By all means, he had no responsibility to come and personally find her, anyone could have been told to do so. What reason did a Duke have to go out searching for her—a servant?
Unless…unless we have connected somehow.
Sighing, Caroline tilted her head back and brushed those thoughts away.It is never to be…tonight was just an anomaly, one which I will cherish for the rest of my life.
Slowly, she disrobed and used a bucket of cool water and a rag to wipe away the dirt from her person. Dressed in a nightgown and robe, Caroline sat at the small rickety desk, took out her second drawing book and a pencil.
She cracked it open to a blank page and set herself to immortalize the fire in the man’s eyes just as relief had cloaked them.
That look in his eyes…God have mercy on me but...it looked like love.
* * *
“You have rescued the governess, I see,” the Duchess’s empty voice met him the moment Moses entered the mostly shadowed master bedroom.
Lavinia was on her chaise-lounge, with another book in hand and the light from a lamp to guide her eyes. Relieving himself of his firearm, Moses considered how to play this game that she was clearly instigating. Should he be a pawn and play ignorance or should he just cut to the quick like a righteous knight?
“And you have conveniently sent the coachman to Camdonshire, for what, may I ask?” Moses replied just as emptily.
“A tailored suit for Nicholas,” Lavinia replied without even moving her eyes from the novel, “If you have not noticed, the boy is growing out his clothes.”
“Interesting,” the Duke noted while sitting to remove his shoes. “How has he not returned yet? Is the seamstress just stitching the clothes together?”
Lavinia snorted, “I cannot say, Moses, as I am not with him.”
What was his next move? Inwardly, the Duke suspected that this spontaneous act of purchasing new clothes for Nicholas was a ruse to—and here his logic faltered—a ruse to do what? Had Lavinia planned to harm Caroline? Or was the abandonment purely coincidental?
“My presence would cause more problems between you and Her Grace. I know she is not partial to me.”
Those were the very words Caroline had spoken and Moses had no choice but to believe them. Caroline had not been left by chance. His wife had a tendency to snub those she deemed unfit, a bad habit learned from her father who tended to be an elitist.
However, he was going to play her game, “A new suit for attending church?”
“No,” Lavinia said idly, “For school at Eton.”
Exasperation and annoyance filled Moses, “Are you still on that topic? Nicholas is going to school when he is ready, and at present, he is not.”
“By rights,” countered she, “He should have gone to boarding school already, when he was eight. There is no reason he should have stayed behind.”
