Page 52 of A Governess' Unbridled Passion
“Perhaps I should put my words another way so that you can better understand my position,” she said, raising her hands in the air. Her voice was stern, showing she didn’t like his tone.
“If you do not dismiss that woman, you will find that nasty little rumours will be spread about over your mistress. That is what she is, is it not? The gossip will only reflect the truth. Let us see what that does for her reputation. It can only show her in her true light, and she will never get a decent position ever again.”
“It is a shame that jealousy rules your head,” Phillip said, softening his voice as he didn’t want others to hear that she was in his room.
“Hah! Jealousy, you say?” she barked. “And why would I envy a servant?”
“Because Miss Alice is the one I have fallen in love with, while you are nothing to me,” he replied, keeping his answer short and to the point.
“Love?” Lady Davina practically screeched the word. “I do not seek love, Phillip. I have men falling over their feet in France. Men who will give anything for me to be in their lives, but I am cautious in who I choose. However, I have a proposition for you that could end any distasteful stories.”
“I am sure you do, stepsister, but I doubt I want to hear it,” Phillip snapped, wanting to simply kick this woman out of his room.
Should you take me for your wife,” Lady Davina continued, ignoring his statement. “I will allow your dirty little affair to continue.”
Phillip stood up, ready to give in to his anger. “My relationship with Miss Alice is not a dirty affair, and she is not my mistress. She is the only woman I will marry, so put your claws back in and leave my governess out of your sordid little schemes.”
As he stood up, he felt the effects of the excessive alcohol he’d drunk earlier and wavered in his stance. Phillip was in no mood to deal with his stepsister right now and wanted her out of his room.
“Imagine the scandal you would cause, Phillip, should you marry a servant!” she called out, adding a sinister laugh to her revelation. “You know perfectly well that you can never marry that woman.”
“Oh, and you think that marrying my stepsister will not cause a scandal, too?” he pointed out as he moved away from her.
“It is the only way you can continue your affair,Your Grace,” she said, emphasising his title to mock him. “I seek only what any lady desires; a secure marriage that will provide me with the comforts I deserve. It is time for me to return to the bosom of my English family. And you get to sleep with your strumpet. What more could you ask for?”
Phillip had no answer to her crudeness. The room was spinning as his sight faltered. He could see her swaggering towards him, and before he could stop her, she had pressed her lips onto his. It seemed to take him forever to pull away because his mind didn’t seem to connect to his body.
He pushed her away in disgust, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
“You had better get used to kissing your future fiancée, Phillip,” she said, giving him an ominous smile. “It is your only option if you want that promiscuous woman to keep her reputation intact.”
Phillip felt his fury building up, “The only woman who is about to lose her reputation, Davina, is you. Now leave this room before I have you evicted from my home altogether.”
His words seemed to resonate with her as she stared back at him with wide eyes but said nothing. He needed only to get through this night, and tomorrow he would deal with his stepsister once and for all.
“This is not the end of the matter, Phillip,” she said, baring her teeth as she practically growled at him.
“I will have my way because this family owes me. Consider me as a wife, and I assure you that I will be a good one. I will leave you to live your life, so long as mine is comfortable too. Unless you want your neighbours to know you allow a harlot to teach the children. I do suggest that you take my offer with all seriousness. Good night,mon amour.”
With her last words, she marched to the door, opened it, and then slammed it shut as she exited. Phillip breathed a heavy sigh of relief at her departure. Never was he going to marry that woman, but for now, all he needed was some sleep. Tomorrow would be another day to get his head around what to do with a stepsister living dangerously on the edge of his tolerance.
Although he was furious at her insults over Miss Alice, he knew he couldn’t think clearly. His mind was fogged over with the excesses of trying to drown his sorrows. He’d drunk far too much rum, wishing Miss Alice was by his side.
Collapsing onto his bed, he shuffled around to peel off his top clothes. About an hour later, after drifting into fitful naps and waking up shivering, he finally managed to climb underneath his blankets.
In the back of his mind, he was furious. And so, he thought of making love to Alice, which helped his mind to simmer down until he felt relaxed and calm. That’s what his English rose did to him. She made him happy and content and woe-betide any who threatened her. He would defend her to the death if he had to, so from tomorrow, his stepsister better tread with the utmost care.
Chapter 27
Phillip awoke the next morning with a pounding headache and seething anger. If he recalled rightly, his annoying stepsister had tried to blackmail him the evening before. The more he thought of it, the more annoyed he became.
Getting up, he dressed in the pants he’d thrown on the floor the previous night and still wore the same shirt. Leaving his room, he marched to knock on Mr Eli’s door, hoping he’d not gone to breakfast early. When the door opened, he breathed a sigh of relief and let himself into his friend’s room. Mr Eli looked much smarter than he did, but for now, he had no care for such things.
“And a good morning to you too, Phillip,” Mr Eli said in surprise as he closed his bedchamber door. “I can tell by looking at you that something’s bothering you.”
“Oh, you think so?” Phillip replied, not meaning to take his irritation out on his friend, but the fury was boiling inside him as he paced Mr Eli’s floor. “And I can tell you, Eli, I have good reason to be so vexed.”
“Things could never go well for you when you go and fall in love with your governess,” Mr Eli said, guessing at his friend’s mood.
