Page 1 of A Governess' Unbridled Passion
Chapter 1
1815: North Yorkshire Moors, Haroth Hall
“Lady Beatrice, however did you manage to get your lovely curls into such a mess?” Alice questioned the five-year-old, trying to hide her exasperation. “We need to look our best for the new duke, so let me put some extra pins in your hair.”
“I want Nanny to do it,” Lady Beatrice demanded, throwing one of her childish tantrums. The little girl didn’t like how her governess tugged her blonde curls.
“I know you do but look over there.” Alice pointed as she allowed Lady Beatrice to look over at Betsy, her nursemaid and nanny. “She’s so very busy with Jacob. He is much younger than you and takes a lot longer to get ready.”
Lady Beatrice smiled as her nanny waved back. “He’s only two,” Betsy called over. “You can’t be expecting him to dress himself yet,” the old nanny tried to explain to the little girl.
“What’s a new duke, Miss Alice?” Lady Beatrice asked, confused over what all the fuss was about anyway. “And why is Papa not going to say hello to him too?”
Alice looked over at Betsy, worried about how to answer such a question. The Late Duke of Haroth, Lord Robert Tilbury, had only died a month ago after being murdered in a highway robbery. How to explain that to his children was still something Alice struggled with. She’d been their governess since the birth of Jacob after their mother died giving birth to him. Alice adored the children with all her heart, and her heart ached sorely at the latest tragedy to hit their lives.
“If we get ourselves ready, we can go along and find out who the new duke is, can we not?” Alice tried, though she knew there was no way a five-year-old would ever understand the seriousness of the situation.
How does one tell a child that the man they’re about to meet is taking over her father’s estate? Not only that, but the new duke might also send the children away if he was so inclined to do so. Lord Phillip Tilbury was the younger brother of their father. He’d been abroad for so long that many household servants couldn’t remember much about him. The servants who could remember him had all said that he had been unruly and a bit of a rake as a youngster.
When the late duke inherited the Estate of Haroth, his younger brother had gone to oversee the plantation in the Americas. Now though, he’d been recalled to take over the main estate and step into the role of the dukedom.
“Hurry up in there,” a voice called out. ‘The carriage is arriving down the driveway.”
It was Clara’s voice, the housekeeper of Haroth Hall, warning them all to get a move on. Alice looked over at the open nursery door, but Clara had already disappeared past it. She was no doubt dashing down the main stairway to join the line-up of servants, all awaiting the arrival of their new master.
“Are you ready, Nanny?” Alice asked as they needed to join the line of servants together.
“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Betsy replied. “But don’t go too fast down those stairs. My old bones won’t do rushing.”
“Come along then, Lady Beatrice,” Alice said, taking hold of the little girl’s hand while Nanny carried the two-year-old toddler, Jacob.
The dark wood staircase shone shiny with beeswax polish, as did the matching dark wooden panels on the walls. Alice stopped on a little landing halfway down, waiting for Nanny to catch up. She took the moment to peek through the staircase window and see if they would make it on time.
“Oh dear, he’s already getting out of the carriage,” Alice cursed. If he was a stern type of fellow, he would be annoyed at them for being late.
“Oh, deary me,” Nanny said, puffing loudly. “Let me catch my breath a moment, dear. We seem to have been rushing all afternoon.”
Alice waited and continued to watch the scene outside unfold while Nanny held onto the dark balustrade.
“What can you see out there, Miss Alice?” Nanny asked.
“He looks like a handsome fellow,” Alice replied, smiling because she liked what she saw. “Tall, like his brother. Very well dressed, considering he’s not long since crossed the Atlantic.”
“Who are you looking at, Miss Alice?” Lady Beatrice asked, trying to clamber onto the window’s large ledge.
“It is the new duke and is your uncle too,” Alice told her.
“What is an uncle?” Lady Beatrice asked as Alice picked her up so she could see through the glass.
“It means he is your papa’s brother, and he’s going to love you, I am sure of it,” Alice explained. She’d been praying at the back of her mind that he wouldn’t be too strict with the children as they weren’t used to such ways.
“Is Papa there?” Lady Beatrice asked, excitement in her little voice.
“No, little one, not today,” Alice answered, worried at the disappointed look on the little girl’s pretty face.
“Here, Nanny, let me carry Lord Jacob, and you take Lady Beatrice’s hand,” Alice suggested. “We need to get moving because he’s making his way down the line of servants.”
“I want to be with you, Miss Alice,” Lady Beatrice began to cry. “Papa will not be there.”
