A cat? But they make me sneeze!
Still, how could he refuse? The girl had asked so earnestly, and both her parents were gone. “Stephen, you can arrange an animal, can’t you?”
“Wait, Uncle, Kitty isn’t—” Ailsa started, but Stephen spoke over her.
“Of course, I can, Richie,” he said. “Anyway, ladies, I’m very sorry, but your Lord Uncle and I have some preparations to make before we leave. Miss Kathy will take you round to say your farewells.”
The group separated, the men walking off in one direction and the governess and girls heading in another. When they were clear of the crowd again, Richard sighed.
“Well,” he said, “The most painful part is done. I wasn’t expecting to add another person to my staff today, that’s for sure.”
Stephen shrugged. “Well, a built-in governess can only be a good thing. You know how tiring finding the right person for a job can be.”
He sounded so confident. Richard wished he could share his friend’s attitude. Perhaps it came from being the son of a duke’s affair with a black London shopkeeper? It was an open secret, of course – but nonetheless, he’d been passed off as the legitimate third child of the duke’s marriage and raised alongside his white brothers. Maybe it came from hearing and dismissing rumors all his life – rumors that were, of course, true, but that didn’t seem to bother Stephen unduly. Whatever it was that made him so easygoing, Richard envied it.
“A good thing?” he asked. He glanced over to the other side of the area, where Miss Wright and the girls had stopped to talk to someone else. He couldn’t help the uneasy feeling in his stomach, which seemed to hint that something was about to change forever. Richard didn’t like change very much. It had taken everything from him. “If you say so, Stephen. I certainly hope you’re right.”
Chapter 2
The Governess
The new governess at Beresford Manor was a proper young woman of mysterious background named Kathy Wright. At least, that was what most people thought. Katherine was glad, as the little white lie had made it much easier to steel herself to return to England after four long years of anonymity and freedom.
But I had to come back. I couldn’t very well abandon the girls to London without me. Bad enough that…
Katherine cut off that thought, her eyes filling with tears, as they had every time she’d thought of her deceased friends over the last week. They’d been so good to her after everything. She was loath to think what position she’d be in now if Isla and Lucas hadn’t stepped in to help.
“At least I’m in the countryside rather than in London,” she muttered to herself as she fixed her hair in the mirror above the fireplace in the schoolroom. Katherine wasn’t vain, but she knew she was pretty enough. She strove to present herself as well as possible, especially when on duty. It was good for the girls to see how a lady should behave.
Ha! As if I, of all people, can talk of how a lady should behave.
She scowled, brushing the thought away. Instead, her mind turned back to the days spent journeying from Scotland to here. It had only been the four of them in the carriage – Katherine, the girls, and the affable earl. The duke had gone ahead on business.
Katherine had taken a liking to Stephen immediately. Who wouldn’t? His kindly manner, the way he put the girls at ease, and the way he cheerfully leveraged his noticeable physical differences – she admired it. She thought she might have already found a good friend in him.
Then, when she had arrived here, she was reacquainted with Richard, Lord Beresford. He was reserved and quiet, the polar opposite of his friend. And yet…
“Do you often travel, Your Grace?” she’d asked him.
“As often as most men,” he’d replied.
Another time, she’d spied some flowers in a vase and idly asked, “Which is your favorite color, Your Grace?”
His green eyes had blanched as if in pain under his red-brown hair, but his only reply was, “I have never thought about it, Miss Wright.”
It didn’t seem to matter what question she had asked over the past week – general or personal, big question or small, he avoided answering. This was a man determined not to speak about himself in any way.
So, why do I find him so intriguing?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a hesitant little knock at the door. She fixed a smile on her face and opened it, revealing the two Johnson sisters standing there, hand-in-hand, ready for their daily lesson.
“Miss Kathy!” Davina whined immediately. “Ailsa will n’ae let me go play!”
“That’s because it’s time for lessons, Dina,” Ailsa said sternly. Katherine had to hide her smile. It always made her giggle how much Ailsa acted like a little mother toward her sister.
“But I don’t want to do lessons,” Davina protested furiously.
Katherine saw the tell-tale signs of a four-year-old tantrum about to spring forth, and knew she had to intervene immediately. “Well,” she said, “Nobody wants to be stuck in this stuffy classroom all day. I have a good idea, though – why don’t we go outside? It’s a lovely day, and we can have our lessons there.”
“By the loch?” Ailsa asked excitedly, then frowned. “I mean, by the lake?”
Katherine decided not to comment on the mistake. “Yes, why not? Does that sound nice, Davina?”
Davina looked uncertain for a moment, then said, “Are there ducks?”
“I think so,” Katherine replied.
“I like ducks,” Davina said, nodding her head. Before the other two could react, she had already turned and started walking away from the classroom. Katherine smiled to herself, took Ailsa’s hand, and followed.
***
The gardens of Beresford Manor were breathtaking in a very English way. While their Scottish manor had overlooked wild fields and farmland, these gardens were beautifully kept. The grass was uniformly and neatly trimmed, an array of flowers of all colors – roses and tulips, the kind of neat, well-kept gardens Katherine remembered from her own childhood.
The lakeside held its own beauty. The water was a clear blue, reflecting the sky. A perfect image of the manor was reflected on the shimmering water too, towering imposingly, just as it did in real life.
It was quite an old building, large, and stonewashed in a way somewhat different from the general contemporary style. Katherine thought it must have belonged to some medieval country lord and been continuously renovated since then. Still, the high arches and the ivy growing on the side s– natural against the uniform – was not just beautiful but genuinely enticing.