Page 19 of The Precious Secret of a Loving Governess
With a gasp, the couple who were embracing broke apart, their lips pulling away from one another in a hurry.
It was Lady Ingles and Mr. Smith.
Lady Ingles pulled back quickly and nearly pushed Mr. Smith from herself in an effort to straighten her gown and appear as if nothing had happened at all. But it was too late and she knew it. They had been caught.
“Oh dear,” Lady Ingles whispered in a panic.
Victoria remained silent, unmoving. She had no idea what to say. Then, as if an afterthought, Mr. Smith fled the space and disappeared from her sight.
“Miss Jamison?” Lady Ingles began.
Then in a sudden panic, she moved herself directly at Victoria, grasping her hand in a desperate motion. Victoria tried to pull away but the woman’s grip was strong. She couldn’t escape it.
“Let me go,” she demanded.
“I cannot. You don’t know what you saw,” Lady Ingles said in horror.
“I believe I know exactly what I saw. You cannot pretend that it did not happen,” Victoria replied, disbelieving that this woman would try to claim that something else had been occurring.
“No, no, it wasn’t that at all. You see, we are old friends. And once, a very long time ago, when we were young, we were…” Lady Ingles trailed off, her voice a surge of panic.
“You were what? What were you, Lady Ingles? And what sort of woman are you now?” Victoria demanded.
“Oh, Miss Jamison, we were lovers once. But it was a very long time ago, as I said. This was a mistake. It was not the sort of thing that shall ever happen again,” she said in desperation all over again.
“I cannot believe that it has happened now. Are you mad? What were you thinking?” Victoria asked quite openly, a bit of the old version of herself slipping into the conversation.
She would not be the hesitant governess now. No, she was furious to see that Lady Ingles would treat the Earl with such a disdain as to shame him like that. What was the matter with her that she would abandon her engagement for an old love affair with a man who was clearly too old her for?
Or if he was not too old now, then he must have been when their affair first began. Lady Ingles was hardly older than Victoria and she thought that if the romance had begun long ago then Miss Ingles must have been a very young woman and Mr. Smith would have been in his thirties or forties already by then.
“I cannot imagine what you must be thinking,” Victoria said with shock in her voice.
“Oh, I know. It is the very worst of things that I have done. But please understand, I love the Earl. Not only that, but I care very much for Marian. She needs a mother and I know that the Earl wants me to be such for her. That is his true wish in marrying me.
“This was a mistake and one that shall never happen again. You have my word on that. So I must ask you, knowing that it shall be a great difficulty, please do not tell him what you have seen,” Lady Ingles begged.
Victoria was caught off guard by that request, shocked that she would even be asked. Although she had seen no evidence of love between Lady Ingles and the Earl, he still ought to have been respected.
But Victoria considered Marian. It was true that she needed a mother; she needed someone to care for her and love her. If this was the only option, or at least the best option, how could she stand in the way of it?
“What did you say?” she questioned.
“I asked you not to tell the Earl of Hanover. It would ruin him. It would ruin us. And I promise you that this shall never happen again. I am a faithful woman, even if you cannot believe that just now, in this moment,” she promised.
Victoria eyed her warily. She knew that she was compelled to tell the Earl, but something inside gave her pause. It was the thought of Marian losing another mother, another woman who could be that for her.
“I-I won’t. I shall refrain from telling him,” she promised, not knowing why.
The relief that flooded the face of Lady Ingles was evident and her grip loosened.
“Do you promise?” she asked.
“Yes…I promise,” Victoria answered, taking a deep breath and still asking herself why she was making such a commitment to this woman.
“You are quite an incredible young lady, Miss Jamison. I shall not forget this any time soon. I am eternally in your debt and ever grateful to you. If there is anything at all that I might do on your behalf, just say the word,” Miss Jamison said in a rush.
“I want nothing from you,” Victoria replied dryly, still in shock at what she had seen and the silence she had agreed to.
