Page 26 of In Search of a Husband
“Can I talk to ye for a moment?”
“That depends. Can you speak? You only grunted earlier at the inn before you told me to find my own way to Dunsmuir Castle and take charge of my pupils.”
“I returned home to discover one of my nieces nearly setting fire to the castle. I would argue that isna takin’ charge.”
She crossed her arms. “I had a bird to contend with.”
“Right, the bird.”
Miss Bancroft lifted a dark eyebrow. In the dim light of the hallway, her pale-ivory skin nearly glowed, giving her a fragile, precious appearance much more fitting to a London ballroom than the Scottish Highlands. She appeared delicate. He blamed it on the rose hue to her cheeks and her lush full lips, including a plump cupid’s bow. He swore he had seen her face before, but that only must be because her face was that of many an Italian master’s muse. The same beautiful face was painted and sculpted all over Italy when he last visited. And now she stood before him, her eyes full of distrust and annoyance… as well as an edge of desperation and fire.
“Follow me. We can discuss a few matters in my office.”
“Do you have time? I wouldn’t want to be a strain on your schedule.”
He scoffed, rubbing his hand over his forehead. He felt the panic rise up in his body and threaten to overcome him. Not now. He couldn’t allow her to see him like that. Miss Bancroft was a stranger, and he meant to keep it that way, no matter how damn beautiful she was.
And she was.
That was the terrible truth of it.
“I deserved that, likely.”
“Certainly,” she said, waving her arm for him to proceed down the hallway.
He tripped, muttering under his breath before she shoved the candle in her hand in his direction. “Someone should light a few. This place is a mausoleum.”
“Feels like it most days, in more ways than one.”
“I apologize. That was insensitive.”
When he stopped and opened the door to his office, Gabriel gestured for her to enter. Miss Bancroft stopped next to him, tall and confident as she looked a spell at his mouth, then up to his eyes. She was thinking. He could see the thought play over her features, but just as suddenly, it disappeared and she slipped inside, leaving him there in the doorway wishing he knew that private thought. Instead, he was only left with the intoxicating scent of her perfume—honeysuckle and vanilla.
He hadn’t time to organize his office or sort through what was left behind by his brother. But as most of the books were covered in dust, and the room was musty and dark, he guessed Tavish didn’t use the space much. Gabriel remembered his mother had the room locked after his father’s death.
“I hired ye to mind my nieces,” he said, leaving the office door open. He didn’t wish to frighten Miss Bancroft. Though the ire she provoked was extraordinary.
“You did. And I have. Alone today, in fact, without any instruction.”
He sank down in the leather chair and pushed aside the dried inkwell. “I had other business…”
“I remember. So, imagine what it was like for me, sir, to enter this castle and introduce myself to my charges who were less than enthused to meet their governess.”
Mrs. Malcolm was correct. The girls needed a woman in their life. He had written to his sister, Elsie, upon learning of Tavish’s passing, but she had only responded with a short note. He didn’t expect her to come after what had happened between herself and Finn Wallace. She was living with an elderly aunt in Edinburgh.
But this woman, Katherine Bancroft, couldn’t be the answer either. She had a smart mouth on her and was as fiery as little Lorna when she was refused chocolate. Some part of him was interested in the way she challenged him. But again, he hadn’t the time now.
It would be best to find someone who wouldn’t fight him on every decision. Weren’t governesses meant to be meek?
“If you wish to dismiss me, I would like to know why. And I wouldalso like a letter of good recommendation as I have done nothing wrong.”
Maybe she hadn’t, but he had.
Time and again, in fact.
And now he was back in Scotland to face it all, and this new governess was only going to bring about trouble, not the peace his family so desperately needed.
“I’ll agree for ye to stay on temporarily, for two weeks, Miss Bancroft. After that, we’ll speak again about the arrangement and see if it works for us all.”
