Page 16 of One Night of Surrender
Val’s butler, Sadler, welcomed him home, but the deep crease in his brow said something was amiss.“What’s going on?”Val asked without preamble.
“We have additional guests, Your Grace,” Sadler said in a low tone as he closed the door.
Val removed his hat and gloves and handed them off to a footman.“Guests plural?”
“Lady Barkley has arrived, and she is not alone.”
Whom would she have brought with her?Had something happened to Barkley’s son at Oxford?“Is it their son?”
“No, I’m afraid it’s a new governess.”
Bloody hell.Val immediately wanted to go find Isabelle.Which he absolutely should not.He allowed logic to tamp his outrage.The girls needed a governess who would teach them—how had Barkley put it, lady stuff?—the things Isabelle couldn’t.That had to be the new woman’s purpose.
Still, he couldn’t quite dismiss a lingering feeling of unease.“We have plenty of room.”
“Actually, we do not.The two governesses will need to share a chamber.”
Val recalled the size of Isabelle’s room, particularly the narrow bed, which, because he was a lecherous scoundrel when it came to her, had commanded his attention.“It’s not large enough.”
“We’ll have to make do, sir.We’re working on it now.”
“Keep me apprised.I want to see how you manage—I have grave doubts.In the meantime, I’ll be in my study.”Because he couldn’t very well seek Isabelle out.
As Val passed the library, he heard voices through the half-open door.Angling himself, he peered inside and saw Barkley leaning against the wall.His face was pinched and his arms were folded tightly across his chest, making him appear distinctly uncomfortable.
“It’s not fair!I will never like her!”The sound of a girl bursting into tears rent the air, and Miss Caroline came running from the library, nearly bowling Val over in her haste.She didn’t even pause as she tore past him.
Her rapid exit had opened the door further, and now Val could see entirely inside—just as the occupants could see him.
“No, I’ll go after her,” Lady Barkley said to Isabelle, who had started toward the door.“She’smydaughter.”
Lady Barkley, a reed-thin woman with prematurely graying hair and a small mouth that was currently drawn into a tight moue, strode toward him.The moment she saw him was reflected in the widening of her dark eyes and her sudden stop.She dropped into an awkward curtsey.“Your Grace.Please pardon my daughter’s behavior.”
“I’m sorry to see she’s upset.”
Nodding, Lady Barkley thanked him for his concern and moved past him sedately, her shoulders stiff as an overstarched cravat.
Val took in the scene in the library.Barkley had pushed away from the wall, but seemed only more distressed given the lines fanning from his mouth and eyes.Miss Spelman had gone to wrap her arms around Isabelle’s waist.An unknown woman—certainly the new governess—stood at the opposite end of the room, her face pale and her hands clasped tightly in front of her.She looked to be a few years older than Isabelle and appeared perhaps even more upset than Barkley.What the hell had happened?
“Beatrice, let Mrs.Cortland go.She’s not leaving straightaway.”
Isabelle patted the girl’s back and bent her head to murmur something in her ear.Miss Spelman nodded, then extricated herself from Isabelle.Tossing a glare toward her father, she turned and started toward the door.Like her mother before her, she offered Val a curtsey before she left.
Barkley sent an apologetic look toward Val.“My apologies for this disruption.Allow me to present our new governess, Miss Shipley.”His attention was not on Miss Shipley but on Isabelle.
Miss Shipley dropped into a deep curtsey.“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Your Grace.”She kept her gaze directed toward the floor.
“Welcome.”Val wanted to throw her and Barkley out so he could have Isabelle to himself.No, he wanted to punch Barkley first.He’d said Isabelle wasleaving.He’d bloody let her go.
Val got to do none of those things because Isabelle gave him a brief curtsey and murmured, “Please excuse me.”
Then she was gone, and Val had to root himself to the floor to keep from following her.
CHAPTER 6
By the time Isabelle reached the third floor, she felt as if she might burst.The anger and hurt and sadness had bound together during her ascent and formed a ball of fire that threatened to burn her from the inside out.
The door to her room was open, and a pair of footmen were attempting to wrestle a second bed into the small space.
