“Not you, too,” she complained, as she started to lose her composure all over again.
“I’ll have you know I am doing much better than I did the first time,” he countered with a smile. “It is not any easier giving you away, but I am not the same emotional wreck I was when I had to give away my first daughter.”
Georgiana laughed a little as she accepted his handkerchief for her eyes. “I remember that. You were worse than Aunt Adelaide.”
At that moment, the music signaled it was time to walk down the aisle. She took a deep breath as she handed Jonas back his handkerchief, which he tucked into his pocket out of sight.
“Do you want a piece of advice, my dear?” he whispered.
She looked up at him incredulously. “Advice? For me?”
“Yes. I recall from somewhere that you should not worry about anything but the person you are going to marry. Just think about them and how happy they make you and how much you love them. Concentrate on that, and nothing else will bother you or make you nervous.”
And then they were walking forward, a host of butterflies in her stomach, as her uncle’s words started to sink in. Then, her eyes met Walter’s, who was looking at her as though she was the most beautiful thing in the world.
The awe in his eyes seemed to bring to life the advice she had just been given. So, she concentrated only on him without any difficulty, and her worry and nervousness seemed to vanish almost instantly.
She wanted to tell him how handsome he looked, how happy she was to be marrying him, how amazed she was that this day had finally come, and so much more.
But that would have interrupted the ceremony since she wasn’t supposed to be talking other than saying her vows. So, she tried to tell him all that with just her eyes, feeling he was saying the same to her with his own.
Finally, they reached the part of the ceremony when it was time to recite their vows to each other. His voice was gravelly with emotion, and Georgiana felt her own voice quiver, as well, when she said hers in reply.
She had been unable to resist smiling when he nearly fumbled with the ring because he tried to put it on her finger without taking his eyes from her face.
A moment later, and she was basking in the glow of having them pronounced husband and wife and the feeling of the ring on her finger. In the crowd of guests, she saw practically all the people she knew and loved; all of them smiling as they shared her joy.
There was no mistaking the pride on some of their faces, nor did she miss the blush on Felicia’s face as Ambrose looked at her. Waiting until he was looking at her, Georgiana motioned with her head that he should go and talk to her, a hint which seemed to make him blush a little himself when he understood it.
Her gaze returning to Walter, she knew there was no denying they were irrevocably in love with each other. The vows they had just made to each other were just a symbol to the world of what they already felt.
Perhaps, one day, she would be able to share the joy of Ambrose and Felicia. But whatever the future held, she was assured Walter would always be by her side, and that was all she needed.
The Extended Epilogue
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What the Governess is Hiding-Preview
Prologue
The Flames
Six-year-old Ailsa Johnson held on to her governess's hand tight as the world burned down around her. Her four-year-old sister Davina was in Miss Kathy's other arm, cradled against her side like a baby. The younger girl was screaming and crying wildly. Ailsa wished she were a baby, or at least a bit younger, so she could sob like that too.
The water engines were working hard, water pouring out of their massive pumps. Six firemen held each hose, trying their best to save Ailsa's burning home.
"Where are my mummy and daddy?" she asked, her Scottish-accented voice trembling when she spoke. "Miss Kathy, tell me they are n’ae still inside."
“Aren't,” Kathy corrected absently, mostly out of habit, Ailsa supposed. They'd been working on elocution lately, and their father wanted them to be able to speak like English ladies, in the event they went back south. Her hand tightened around Ailsa’s. “And I don't know where they are, love. I don't know.”
“I want my mum!” Davina shrieked. “Miss Kathy! Take me back in! I dinnae care about the fire at all, I just want Mum!”
Miss Kathy's usually lovely warm voice sounded hollow and empty. “I know you do, sweetheart,” she said. Ailsa glanced up and could see how the governess's eyes were focused intently on the flames, the fire's reflection dancing on her hazel irises.
“Are they gonnae … I mean, are they going to die?” Ailsa asked, biting her lip to stop the scream threatening to break from her lips at the thought. “Mummy and Daddy? Is the fire going to take them?”
Miss Kathy didn't answer. The three of them were covered in soot, and the hem of Davina's dress was charred. Kathy had pulled them both out of the nursery, crying out about the fire, shouting as loud as she could. Ailsa was sure that if Miss Kathy weren’t there looking after them, she would have dived right into the flames to go back for their parents.
Ailsa's parents were Lucas and Isla Johnson, the Lord and Lady of Gretness, their lands situated in the Scottish Midlands. They weren't only Miss Kathy's employers – they were also her friends. She had been here as a nurse when Ailsa was young and had also been a nurse for Davina, until the two children grew up enough to have a governess.
Ailsa was six now, nearly a young lady. She didn't need a nurse, but she was glad Miss Kathy had stayed on as their governess. If she hadn’t, they might have been lost in those flames.
“What about Kitty?” Davina whined desperately. The cold wind felt strange as Ailsa looked up at her little sister, especially with the blazing hot flames of their home burning in front of them. “We need to get Kitty, and Mummy, and Daddy!”
"Kitty's just a dolly, Dina,” Ailsa tried to reassure her, using the pet name their father often called Davina. “The firemen will get Mummy and Daddy out, and then we'll get you a new one. Is n’ae that right, Miss Kathy?”
“They'll do their best,” Kathy told them again, though Ailsa saw she looked sad. “They'll do everything they can, girls. Don't worry. I'm here.”
But Ailsa did worry. She had once visited a farm on her father's land shortly after a fire had burned down the pigsty. She'd seen the destruction, and though she didn't understand it, she knew none of the pigs that didn't get out were left alive.