Page 36 of The Earl's Disguised Governess
“Florence, please,” she muttered. “I will have no more of this nonsense. You are about to enter society. This is no time for immature games.”
“No, it is not. Because apparently, society will teach me how to snoop around other people’s belongings.”
“Lady Florence.” Claire’s voice was sharper now, and the young girl stood up straighter. But the truth was she had hit close to home, for her own father had done that to her belongings, finding anything of value, and Lady Florence did not know Claire had been in the same society she was preparing for. She needed to pretend she was speaking from a governess’s point of view. “Your lessons must continue. Now.”
The girl blinked at her as if playing foolish. “I shall not.”
And then Claire thought of something rather clever. She knew Lady Florence had a penchant for historic buildings, and she had met this Lord Victor at the assembly hall, which Claire knew from her own love of history, was opened several decades ago. It would be a perfect segue into getting Lady Florence to talk to her again.
Claire looked askance at Lady Florence. “How about we study somewhere else today?”
***
The question was enough to pique Lady Florence’s interest, and within the hour, the two of them were ready to leave for town and had their carriage take them to the centre of Bath. For there was the vastly impressive sight of the Roman baths, and that was exactly where Claire intended to conduct her history lesson that day.
Lady Florence’s eyes flicked over the ancient building with disinterest as they exited their carriage. She let out a great sigh as Claire led them into the main area where the bath itself was, overlooked by balconies above and old stone platforms, with stairs descending into the water.
“I am bored, Miss Gundry,” Lady Florence said in a flat tone, attracting the stares of some men walking by. They glanced at the young woman, likely thinking her another spoiled debutante-to-be, unappreciative of the beauty of history.
“Then we shall participate in something,” Claire said cheerfully. “Look, there is a guided tour. How about that? You can hear—”
“I do not wish to.”
Claire stiffened before she forced a smile. “Very well.”
She looked around herself at the beauty of the scene in front of her, attempting to imagine the Romans in here, readying themselves for their baths.
“It is a strange notion to think of the users of this bath not having their own baths in their homes,” Claire said, attempting yet again to get Lady Florence to talk to her. But she still eyed Claire with discontent, still stubbornly awkward around her, as though they were strangers forced to be reluctant friends.
“We have our own baths now,” Claire muttered. “I wonder what advancements we are yet to discover. Perhaps to the Romans, personal baths were a strange notion.”
“Hmm,” Lady Florence said, not listening. The girl from even just two weeks ago would have been overjoyed at these sights; Claire was sure of it. She would have discussed the advancements, would have made her own guesses and asked what families attended the baths and how it worked. She would have shown an interest.
But the angry Lady Florence Claire guarded now was hurt and stubborn, and Claire knew she could not continue ignorantly. She’d had quite enough of the stubborn tantrums. Her employment was at risk, and—well, she missed the bubbly, quietly intelligent girl.
“Come with me,” Claire said insistently. She walked over to a bench that was tucked further back from the pool, relatively sheltered by the floor above them. Expecting Lady Florence to be stubborn about that, too, Claire was happily surprised when her young charge did actually follow her and sat alongside on the bench.
“What is it?”
“I must explain to you my concerns,” Claire said. “About your … letter. And before you speak over me once again, I know that you are angry, but you shall listen to me. I am yourgoverness, and you are to be tutored by me. Well, here is my lesson today, and it is not on the Roman baths or French or the pianoforte. It is in men, Lady Florence.”
Lady Florence looked taken aback at her speech, and it was perhaps that surprise that finally got Lady Florence’s attention. It was incredibly hard-won, but she had it.
Claire’s expression schooled into something serious. “Lady Florence, you must listen good and carefully now. You are indeed approaching your debutante. Lord Bannerdown would not tell you this, for he is likely unaware, as are many men. And Lady Katherine … well, I believe she is of the mind that any male attention is good, but that is not always the case.”
She sighed and continued, “When I was younger—around seven years ago—I met a man and was positively taken by him. We danced together at my very first ba—” She paused, trying to reframe her experience as a late debutante. “We danced together when I was attending a dinner party.”
Lady Florence frowned.
“Not unlike the one Lady Katherine hosted,” Claire said, hoping Lady Florence would fill in gaps she couldn’t bear to fill with more lies. So, she gave veiled truths instead. Lady Florence nodded slowly. “And he was dashing, scholarly. He enjoyed culture, much like me. We bonded over a love of arts and history, and we corresponded with lengthy letters where we quoted plays to one another. It was very romantic and lovely. However, Isometimes would receive his letters every day for a week, and other days, he would leave me without for two weeks. His interest was very … inconsistent, and it wounded me terribly. I ached to hear from him; I would not eat nor sleep well during the weeks he left me waiting, and my mood would be elated when I did finally receive word.”
“He was busy?” Lady Florence asked, finally engaging with Claire.
Claire shook her head. “No. I truly believe he was playing a game where he expressed interest in me for his own gain in one moment, only to almost neglect what we had built the next.”
“Were you courting?”
Claire nodded. She and Lord Simon, him only one year her senior, even when she had entered society quite late at the age of twenty, had been positively in love … Or so she had thought. Looking back, she realized her foolishness and his very unpredictable interest that had altered her moods from day to day. She had spent her days hoping that that day would be one that he thought of her and took an interest in her.
