Page 53 of The Precious Secret of a Loving Governess
“Yes, well, we all make foolish decisions at times,” Victoria replied to him.
She continued to watch the couple that moved together with each step. Lady Ingles glanced away from the Earl and her eyes landed on Victoria and Mr. Smith. It caused her a brief moment of faltering, so quick that Victoria figured no one else had even noticed it. But soon, Lady Ingles was back to herself, graceful and smooth as ever.
“Might I explain to you about our past and what it was that you saw? I imagine that Lady Ingles had already done so, but I should like to add a defense if you would approve,” Mr. Smith requested in a kind and gentlemanly way.
Victoria was surprised by his demeanour. She had expected him to be a foul man or the very sort who would love to tear a beautiful woman away from a wealthy man. But Mr. Smith was gentle in his words and sincere in his sadness. It compelled her to listen to him, even when she could not understand.
“Please. I should like to understand what it was that has passed between the two of you,” she permitted.
In truth, she wanted to know nothing less, but thought that perhaps this could give her an explanation and help her decide further as to whether or not she was right to remain in silence or if the Earl ought to have been told by now.
“Thank you,” he sighed in relief.
The song on the floor of the hall changed and Victoria noted that the Earl and Lady Ingles had separated from one another to dance with different partners. For the briefest of moments, his eyes caught Victoria’s and a perplexed expression came over him at seeing her with Mr. Smith.
But soon he twisted away, back into the dance.
“Lady Ingles and I,” Mr. Smith began, “were childhood sweethearts. My father managed the property of her family. We were quite lowly back then as it was before we owned any of the estates that we do now. And as a man of such humble beginnings, you can imagine that I was not seen as anything respectable by her family.”
Victoria considered his situation as a man who rose to wealth, quite the opposite of her own status. She had been a woman from whom all wealth was stripped away.
“I see,” she nodded.
“Well, it was rather difficult as we grew into our positions as well as getting older. When I was a young man and Lady Ingles was nearing the time in which she would make her debut, we finally began to find moments, just the briefest of times, in which we might steal words with one another.
“I expressed my love to her in those stolen moments. And to my utter surprise, she expressed hers in return. I had never imagined that she would love me as I loved her, but alas, she did. And with that in mind, it became easy for us to begin dreaming of a future together,” he continued.
Then, a look of pain greyed his face. Victoria could easily predict what had occurred after that. It was no great secret how these things went. She was no fool.
“As you can imagine, it did not go well when Lady Ingles finally confessed her love for me to her parents,” he sighed. “I was not present at the time and I think that was a great relief to the both of us. Her father would more likely have murdered me than allowed me to wed his daughter.”
Victoria nodded, remembering what her own father had said at times about the foolishness of marrying beneath one’s station. Of course, much had changed for him, but Lady Ingles would not have had such a luxury of her mother and father growing to understand the world differently.
“They would not agree to our match. I am a man of a humble background and she is a woman of noble parentage. So the idea of any sort of union between us would never have been acceptable by their very reasonable standards,” he said.
“Reasonable?” Victoria questioned. “I think there is very little that we can deem reasonable about an unjust society.”
Mr. Smith grinned at that, allowing the slightest of laughs to escape his lips.
“I imagine that you understand that better than most. And while I am sorry for what happened to your family, I can appreciate that you understand the lack of justice,” he remarked to her.
Once more, Victoria cringed that her story was so well known in society. But she thrust the concern away. For the moment, she was content to live in the pain of Mr. Smith and ignore her own. No matter how brief the moment might be, she appreciated the freedom of not having to think about it.
“I am sorry that they did not allow the two of you to marry,” she said in reply, keeping the conversation focused on him.
“Yes, well, it is Lady Ingles for whom we ought to feel sorry,” he sighed.
Victoria looked at him sharply and immediately Mr. Smith’s eyes widened and he began to explain what he meant.
“Oh, I meant no disrespect to the Earl. He is a wonderful man. Any woman would be lucky to wed him. I only meant that it was upon learning of our affections for one another that her mother and father approached the Earl. He knows nothing of our past,” Mr. Smith explained.
“He knows nothing?” Victoria asked, needing confirmation.
“Indeed, he does not. And while we had that one indiscretion that evening you found us, there is nothing more between myself and Lady Ingles. We understand that she must marry him. But she was not the one to choose him. It was her mother and father, of course,” he continued.
Victoria had assumed as much, although it was a shame. The Earl was such a tremendous man and the fact that he was marrying a woman without knowing that her parents were simply using him to keep her away from a lower class man was a shame.
“They informed him what a suitable wife she would make. I must say that no truer words have been spoken. And although she is young, I believe she shall make a wonderful mother to his daughter,” Mr. Smith added.
