Page 17 of The Duke and the Enigmatic Governess
“I have not and will not use discipline on a tiny child who lost her mother a few days ago. Also, Your Grace, you can direct your anger at me as I set up this play day, after I might add, discussing with Mrs. Driscoll and Nurse Walters. Sasha has spent a lovelymorning playing creatively in this magic kingdom until you joined us and began speaking in a tone which I take exception to.”
Her nostrils flared, as she threw her head back, filled with fury at the injustice of the duke’s words.
He took a step toward her and for a moment, Audrey thought he was about to take her in his arms. She stepped back and held his gaze, then saw the irritation and anger drain from his face, and at that point a tiny voice called out from the armoire.
“I’ve been hiding a long time, Miss Banks. Shall I come out now?”
“No, my pet,” she soothed. “I’m just talking to His Grace, who has come to our magic kingdom. I shall come and find you in a moment.”
“I thought it was an evil ogre,” came the reply. “I was frightened you might be eaten by it.”
“It is just His Grace, and he is leaving now.”
“I will overlook your using my bedchamber as play space, but please refrain from doing this again. A man has to work, dash it.” The duke had the last word as he turned and left the room.
Audrey went to the armoire and her heart melted as she saw the tiny figure playing with the cut-out dolls.
When Sasha had gone for lunch and a nap, Audrey went to walk in the garden, remembering the puddle dancing with a smile. She spotted a daisy in a corner of the lawn. She loved daisies, and hoped she would be with Sasha in the summer when they could make daisy chains. A small headache was pulsing in her temple, and she thought the fresh air would revive her.
What absolute stupidity to come bounding upstairs and speaking to her in that tone. He could have set back Sasha’s confidence levels. I will make sure I have as little to do with my employer as possible.
She sighed, watching a robin sitting on the branch of a cherry tree in full blossom.
At least it shows there is some energy and life in the man,Audrey thought to herself.
Since the meeting in the library, he had been a little cold and distant with her, very different from the warmth of that evening. He had been so serious and formal that she wondered if she had imagined the warmth and close connection of that conversation just a few evenings ago.
Despite his angry words, there had been a fire in his eyes which melted away the coldness she had felt around him for the last couple of days.
She decided to do what she always did when she felt this way. After breathing in the fresh spring air and feeling her mind clear, she made her way back to the house. She was aware of a growing attraction to the duke, but even though she was now a lowly governess, she would not be spoken to like that. No man should launch into such a tirade before carefully finding out what was happening.
Audrey thought it likely it was due to a moment of frustrated anger, due to being confined in close quarters. Until today, he had shown no signs of being another male tyrant. Maybe they had been making a lot of noise, but it didn’t require a set down and instructions to be quiet.
She wished she had someone to talk to, yet she knew that even her best friend Franny would find it difficult to make sense of this situation. Franny was unaware that Audrey had left Rowton Castle, but Audrey knew, with certainty that Franny would tell her to reveal to the duke her true identity, and not make a situation more complicated than it needed to be.
Dear Franny, she always believed in plain speaking. Maybe she would write to Franny this afternoon. There was something comforting about at least one person from her previous lifeknowing what had happened, and she did not need to tell her where she was.
The house was cool, and she made her way to a sitting room near Mrs. Driscoll’s parlor where she had noticed a spinet.
As Audrey calmed down, she remembered the gentle eyes and kind words of the duke, and how, if she had still been Lady Audrey Rowe, she might have considered letting him near her heart. The heat of a moment of irritation about noise levels was preferable to the cold scheming of a man like her brother Ethan.
She liked the duke, even in a bad temper, and wished they could build on that moment of intense connection. It was not to be, as Lady Audrey had disappeared and Lettie Banks, the governess, had taken her place.
As her fingers found the notes, she played the memories, absorbed in the harmonies of the music. She would stay here and play for a while. She felt no hunger today and would retire early. Tomorrow, she hoped for a return to energy and positive spirits.
Chapter 5
Jude stared out of the window at the gathering dusk. Twilight, that time between light and darkness. At this moment he longed for darkness, and to close out the tumult of emotions coursing through his body. He needed to be out of this place, this confinement in the house, away from this madness, his elegant townhouse turned into a nursery with the threat of sickness hanging over them. The quarantine period must soon end.
A faint knocking at the door made him look up, it was Mrs. Driscoll, and he knew from the look on her face that something was very wrong.
“Mrs. Driscoll?”
“There’s no easy way of putting this, Your Grace. It’s Miss Banks. She returned to her room early with a headache, after not feeling hungry at supper. She told me she felt a little melancholy and wanted an early night.
“I decided to check on her, as we are in quarantine, and she had a headache,” Mrs. Driscoll continued. “She is delirious with ahigh temperature. It’s come on so rapidly. She seems very sick. I fear the worst. We need Dr. Carstairs.”
“Where is Sasha?” Jude asked. “We must make sure the child is apart from Miss Banks.”
