Page 46 of The Earl's Disguised Governess
Her eyes lit up. “Then I believe she will not miss me, no.”
“Please join me.”
Together, they walked to the library, and once there, Ernest glanced down the hallway to check it was clear before heclosed the door. He did not like implicating his ward’s governess in such a way, but he did not want to be overheard.
“You have found the rider?” Miss Gundry pressed, her face alight with excitement. “Who is he?”
“Mr Courtenay caught a lead about an artist hosting a salon in the art gallery in town. So, we went to have a look around and, well, we found not Victor but his brother. It turns out they are the two sons of the Marquess of Tuberville.” He paced, looking at the window, but he thought he heard a sharp intake of breath. “We spoke with Lord Simon, the older brother. Lord Victor is our rider, though. He is a year older than Lady Florence. But Lord Simon seemed very troubled by the news, and I was almost sorry to relay it to him because he indeed confirmed that his brother is rather … quick-handed with the women. He tries to woo many at a time. Lady Florence is not special to him, though I wish it were otherwise. He has promised to further investigate with his brother on our behalf.”
Where he expected some response from Miss Gundry, he got only silence. He frowned, turning back to her. “Miss Gundry? Miss Gundry, you have grown rather pale. Is everything all right?”
“I …” Her eyes were wide, her face suddenly white as a bedsheet. “I … I think I may need to sit down, Lord Bannerdown.”
Chapter 16
Her breath came short. She was very familiar with Lord Simon Tuberville, the oldest of two sons of the Marquess of Tuberville. But she had not known his younger brother was Lord Victor Tuberville.
The room spun around her as Ernest held her shoulders and eased her into one of the reading chairs in the library. A place she usually found comforting made her feel trapped and confined as the memories of her former life came to haunt her.
How fitting. She had been played by the older brother, and six years later, it was happening to Lady Florence with the younger Tuberville brother. Her chest and neck flushed with warmth, and she swore she saw stars.
Distantly, Ernest’s voice reached her, but she could not focus until he was right there in her vision, and she could focus on it properly.
“Miss Gundry? I am right here. Do not fret.” His words were awkward but kind, and she clung to them desperately to ground herself. “We shall protect Lady Florence at all costs. The Tubervilles are likely rather important, but I believe I can reason with them if I simply meet them.”
Claire managed to nod, but her mind was elsewhere. It floated far away, somewhere far from Little Harkwell, far from Bath, even, and she was in a ballroom, excited for her debut, seeing Lord Simon for the first time. She recalled those kind green eyes that had met hers across the ballroom as if they were fated to meet and knew theirs would be the first dance.
Claire had been swept up.
Ernest’s eyes met hers now, reminding her that her old life was buried. She was someone new now. She had long left that life behind her. His face was gentle, open, and she did not know how to respond to his kindness, but she wished to.
Except all that rose to her mind to say was every secret she had held within herself.
Claire could not keep her past a secret from Lord Bannerdown for much longer.
“We shall protect her,” Claire whispered, nodding. “We shall because … because I have the biggest warning of all to share with her.” She twisted his fingers in her lap. “And with you, Lord Bannerdown. You were right to be angry with me the other night for protecting Lady Florence’s secrets, and I fear you will be angry again at me now, but I must confess my own secrets.”
“What secrets do you mean, Miss Gundry?” He paused before taking a moment to pull up a chair next to her. Around them, the library slowly became more open and comfortable again now that her fainting moment had passed. Instead, it was replaced by a fleeting courage that Claire knew she had to grasp with both hands if she was going to survive this conversation.
“I know Lord Simon Tuberville,” she admitted. “Or, rather, I did know him.”
“I am confused.” Ernest frowned. “You mentioned this was your first governess role. Did you perhaps serve in their household?”
“I … No, Lord Bannerdown. I was courted by him six years ago.”
Ernest’s eyes widened. He blinked, looking away from her. “I see. I … How did you meet?”
Claire inhaled shakily. “We met at my debutante ball.”
Ernest gazed at her, confusion pulling his brow together and turning his mouth down. “Miss Gundry, please forgive me, but I am rather confused. You are a governess.”
“Claire Gundry is a governess,” Claire whispered. “But Lady Claire Garner was not. And that is who Lord Simon courtedupon my entry into Society. It was a spring ball when cherry blossom trees were grown indoors, and their petals scattered over the ballroom. It felt magical the night I met him. Magical and beautiful. Candlelight softened the room, and the smell of chocolate was in the air. Wine flowed and music played, and I was excited, on the precipice of my future.” She stared past him, her gaze on the window. “And there he was, standing amongst a group of other young men. Lords, barons, earls. They were all there, eagerly awaiting the next prettiest debutante that caught their eye.”
“Miss Gundry … You mean to tell me you truly are a lady of the Ton?”
“I was,” she confessed. “I was the daughter of the Marquess of Flogsend, Richard Garner, in Bristol. He was reclusive but well-liked. A man who knew where to put his money so I would have a better life. Or so I thought. I had one glorious Season in Society before … before he passed away.” Her breath hitched. She could barely look at him for fear of losing her nerve. “He wanted to invest in businesses that often failed, and he gambled too highly for comfort. Not only did I need to fend for myself after his death, but I was informed that my father’s debts could have filled the entire upper story of Flogsend House with how steep they were.”
She shook her head, her chest tight with her confession. “I needed to settle his accounts, and with Mother not present in my life, for she left me when I was six years old, I had no option but to sell Flogsend and pass it to another good line. However, I did not consider that due to my father’s gambling habits andseclusion. I did not have any family I knew of that would help me. It took me many years to pay off his debts and keep some money for myself. It was just enough to get me out of Bristol and into Bath to begin my role here, but that is all I had.”
