Page 65 of The Moonstone Governess
Daire avoided the question. “She seems to have worked a miracle with Matthew.”
“Yes, and impressed me immediately. Felicity, too. They are very clever young ladies, and very kind. Matthew sensed it, too. He’s already quite attached to them.”
Daire sighed. “I never thought of myself as an ogre. But he is still in fear of me.”
“Because you look so much like Morgan. There is nothing you can do about this for now. One can only hope the boy will grow out of it in time. He is still wary around me, as well. It is family he distrusts because it is family who has hurt him.”
Daire settled in the chair beside her. “What brought you out here ten days early, Juliana? And why did you not simply settle into rooms at the Kestrel Inn? Thaddius would have known to give you the best.”
“London became intolerable,” she said, her smile faltering. “The heat, the odors, and the house simply became too much for me to manage on my own, especially with Matthew acting out constantly. That last governess, Miss Standish, was horrid. I caught her hitting him with a ruler. Then she had the gall to declare the boy was at fault for failing to learn his numbers.”
“He knows them very well. In fact, he counted for me just a few minutes ago and did it perfectly.”
“Oh, dear heaven. And still that horrid Standish beat the soul out of him? I sensed something was terribly wrong. Daire, it all became too much for me. I felt as though I had trapped the poor boy in a prison. So I dismissed Miss Standish, packed up the household, and came straight here. I know it was earlier than planned.”
“But why stay at the house when the rooms have not been put right yet?”
“I’ve lived under far worse conditions, and so has Matthew, that poor child,” she replied. “I chose to move us in because there is room for the boy to run around here. He could not have done so at the inn, although it looks to be a lovely place to stay. We weren’t here more than fifteen minutes before Miss Angel had us settled and Matthew was following her like a puppy everywhere she went. She told us that she was the governess you had hired, but she is obviously so much more.”
Daire nodded. “She is. I’ve never seen anyone operate as efficiently as she does.”
“When we told her we had not had our supper, she commandeered her uncle’s wagon, rode off to town, and returned with meals for us all. And I mean all of us, the entire staff. Not only did she bring back meals, but she also had a picnic hamper filled with strawberry tarts, lemon cake, ginger cake, and tall bottles of lemonade.”
He chuckled. “Sounds like something Brenna would do.”
“Brenna, is it? I thought there might be something between the two of you.”
“It is only a professional friendship.”
“I see. By the way, she told me to tell you that she put all the meals on your account.”
Daire threw back his head and laughed. “Did she now?”
“Yes. She also said you would find it amusing. But I think it is Brenna that puts the smile on your face.” She cast him a knowing look, but did not press him with more questions. “While the staff and I settled in, she took Matthew into the poppy field for a picnic supper. It was only to get him out of the way while everyone bustled in and out to unload our trunks. But the boy did not realize this. They were on an adventure. It was as though the world opened up to him in that moment. He thinks she is a fairy princess.”
Daire could not help but grin. “Sometimes I think so, too. I’ve never met anyone quite like her, Juliana. Clever, earnest, organized…innocent. Kind. Brave. Honest.”
“Daire, are you opening your heart to the girl?”
He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “My heart? What heart?”
“The one you keep securely hidden in darkness. But it seems that girl is pure sunlight, and you cannot hide from her.”
His grin faded. “I don’t know. Maybe. Much too soon to tell.”
He wasn’t like Jax, able to decide in a moment that a girl he’d seen—and not even spoken to yet—was the one he would marry. Yes, he’d felt an immediate attraction to Brenna. But that was a far thing from being ready to make a lifetime commitment, especially to someone like her. She believed in a love match.
He, on the other hand, wanted anything but a love match. How could he pledge to be faithful and loving when he had survived all these years by keeping his heart locked away?
Yet he had contemplated marriage to Brenna from the first.
More than contemplated it, since she was constantly in his thoughts. Even now, he was eager to return to her side.
“Brenna is taking us to Westgate Hall this afternoon,” Juliana said, breaking into his momentary thoughts. “Would you care to come along? After all, you are the boy’s guardian, and it would be appropriate for you to join us now that you have unexpectedly returned from Plymouth.”
“I’m here with Jax. It would be too much of an imposition for both of us to simply show up unannounced at the marquess’s door. Enjoy your afternoon with Burness and his wife. Matthew will have fun with his little nieces, Ella and Imogen. His twin boys are probably a little too young to play with him, but it is good to have other children around no matter their age.”
“Oh, I agree.”
