Page 59 of The Colonel's Ungovernable Governess
“Ten, ma’am, but nearly eleven.”
“How excellent,” the lady declared. “As I explained in my letter, Miss Romfield has been caring for Lord Lindale’s stepchildren. This house is part of the earldom Lord Babcock will inherit. Lord Vincent Jennings is also ten, as is his youngest sister, Lady Victoria. They are twins.”
“Was it Lord Babcock you protected?” her father asked as he came to sit on the other side of her.
“I have been governess to the Babcock children,” Jocelyn shared. She paused to wait for her mother’s complaints, but none arrived. “They are quite inquisitive children, especially Lord Babcock. The governess before me mistreated the boy, for he is very structured. We all believe such is his tool for dealing with the loss of his father and being uprooted to Lincolnshire.” She smiled in thinking of Vincent. “His lordship has stood as guardian of my care.”
“You never realized Lord Lindale was brother to the man to whom you were promised?” her father asked.
“Mother never provided me names, and even if she did, I was too angry with the prospects to listen carefully. Lady Catherine’s name is the only one I recalled, and that was because she frightened me when she and Sir Lewis visited us on the Continent.”
“You were still a small child then.”
“In my estimation, my Elizabeth is the only one who was never truly frightened of my aunt,” Mr. Darcy said. “They have had more than one confrontation, but my aunt respects my wife and now sees the sensibility of my choosing her. I greatly admire how well Aunt Catherine has kept Sir Lewis’s estate for their daughter Anne, but her ladyship can often be high in the instep, as she is the eldest of the late Lord Matlock’s children.”
Mrs. Darcy also responded, “I do not know what all was shared with Jocelyn before she set out on this adventure, but I can speak of her condition when I found her on the road in Cambridgeshire. I took her to my eldest sister’s home and tended her there: She was quite exhausted from a lack of sleep, as well as food, and she was a bit disoriented. I would say, and I believe your daughter would agree, she learned a valuable lesson regarding a woman traveling alone. Only one innkeeper permitted her to sleep in his kitchen before the fire. Despite having funds to pay for her room, she was forced to sleep in fallow fields and barns.
“During those initial hours of her collapse, she begged me, but, essentially you, Lady Romfield, to forgive her, but it was when she mentioned Lady Catherine having arranged a marriage and then learning from my husband that his cousin had been turned away from your estate, for your daughter ‘supposedly’ was down with the measles, that I took it on myself to ‘manage’ a meeting between Miss Romfield and the colonel. I felt they were a good match, especially if the restraints of an arranged marriage were removed, and they could learn to depend upon each other.”
“When did you learn of this manipulation, Jocelyn?” her father asked.
“As far as Mrs. Darcy writing to you, Mr. Darcy shared his wife’s secret while he was tending me before the surgeon arrived,” Jocelyn explained. “I did not know Colonel Fitzwilliam was Lady Catherine’s suggested match for me until the twins and I were traveling to Babbington Hall. Vincent was describing lessons on the boy’s ancestors which Mr. Darcy had shared with him. As it turns out, Mother, the original Babcocks were ‘Burkes’ in Ireland during the Norman invasion and, later, ‘Burghes’ and ‘de Bourghs’ in England. The boy was very excited to be related, though from very distant lines, to both Mr. Darcy and the colonel. It was then that I realized I must tell the colonel of my true identity, but Mr. Jennings wished to prevent Vincent from entering the house as the rightful Earl Babcock.” She shrugged realizing her explanation was as unbelievable as her thoughts at this moment. “Fate, I suppose.”
“Or our prayers to God,” Mrs. Darcy suggested.
“Were you truly shot?” Andrew asked.
“In the shoulder,” she assured, though she wished her parents would respond to what she had just shared. “The remnants of the bullet are in the drawer by the bed. It went through me and struck Lord Vincent’s arm.”
“May I see?” her brother asked.
“Not appropriate,” her father said in that special tone all parents develop, and her brother shrank back behind the chair, but Jocelyn suggested, “Perhaps Lord Babcock will show you his arm.”
Andrew brightened with the idea.
“Where is Colonel Fitzwilliam now?” her father asked. “I would speak to him if he is available.”
Mr. Darcy responded, “My cousin captured the man who actually shot Miss Romfield. Now, he is chasing after the young lord’s uncle, who set this madness into action. Philip Jennings is the younger brother of the late Lord Babcock. He does not believe his nephew should be the earl. He has spread rumors regarding the child’s mental ability and other such tales so he might be placed in the position as the boy’s guardian. In my opinion, Lord Vincent would have ‘conveniently’ died under Jennings’s care. According to Fitzwilliam’s latest communication, Jennings is pretending to be his late brother.”
“Such is enough for the moment,” Mrs. Darcy declared. “This conversation might be continued in more detail a bit later.” She called out, “Mrs. Murray.”
The housekeeper had evidently been waiting for her orders. “Yes, ma’am.”
“The Romfields will require appropriate quarters, and we should set three extra places for the midday meal and moving forward until I instruct otherwise,” Mrs. Darcy told the housekeeper.
“I have already set maids to the task of airing out the rooms and sent word to Cook regarding the meals. I have assigned Lucy to tend Lady Romfield and Samuel to tend his lordship.”
“And young Mr. Romfield?” Mrs. Darcy asked with a typical lift of her eyebrows, not in challenge, but, rather, in leading someone to consider her unspoken suggestion. Jocelyn admired how the woman always appeared to be ten steps ahead of everyone else in making decisions.
“If it is not objectionable to Lord and Lady Romfield, I thought perhaps young Master Romfield might enjoy the quarters across from Lord Babcock. The children appear to be of a comparable age, and Anthony could attend them both, if such is acceptable.”
Jocelyn quickly suggested to her brother, “You might tell Vincent something of your time at Harrow. He has yet to be off to school and is very curious regarding what to expect.”
“Might I, Mother?” Andrew asked. “I would like to have a friend with whom to share.”
“I see no reason not,” her mother assured. “Will you be joining us for the meal, Jocelyn?”
“I am not quite up to proper table manners, as of yet,” she explained. “Perhaps father may assist me back to the bed. Mrs. Murray has a maid who tends me during my meals. One never considers how hard it is to place food in one’s mouth with a single hand available for the task; yet, you have my word, it is challenging. Afterwards, you may return to keep me company. I have missed you terribly.”
