Page 72 of A Governess' Unbridled Passion
“Davina, leave Miss Alice to see to my nephew,” Lord Phillip demanded as he, too, entered the room. “Where is my niece?”
“I am here, Uncle Phillip,” a little voice called out as the sound of little footsteps came running down the wooden stairs. “Aunt Davina made me sleep upstairs with her. And we left Jacob down here, all alone. I hate her!” Lady Beatrice yelled, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.
“Miss Alice! she suddenly called out, not having seen her immediately. The girl ran into her governess’s arms, and Miss Alice held on to them both.
“Everything is well now, Lady Beatrice,” Alice said, hushing the child’s tears. “You are to go back home.”
Alice felt so relieved to have the children in her arms at last. They were distraught and tearful but, on the whole unharmed, and that was all she could have prayed for.
“Come, children, let us go upstairs for half an hour,” Alice suggested. She believed that to be the best option as she didn’t want the children overhearing the angry conversation between the duke and Lady Davina. “Your aunt and uncle need to discuss things between them.”
“Thank you, Miss Alice,” Lord Phillip said as he watched her take the children up the steep rickety staircase. “Do come back down if there is nowhere comfortable to wait up there.”
Alice didn’t reply as she carried Lord Jacob into the one bedroom. In front of her was a large bed where she placed the children. She sat on the bed with them, taking hold of a picture book on top of the covers.
“There is plenty of comfort for them up there,” Lady Davina barked at the duke from downstairs. “Do not insult me in such a way. I have taken good care of your children, but I needed your attention, and it seemed the only way.”
“It is so typical of you, Davina, to make others suffer at the cost of your own needs,” Phillip said, but his voice was quieter. “Children at that!” he added, a little louder.
Alice could still hear their conversation, so she decided to distract the children. She opened the tatty-looking book, which was held together with worn string. “Look, Lord Jacob, it is the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, with the pictures drawn in wonderful colours.”
Little Jacob reached out to grab the book, but his sister stopped him. “No, Jacob, do not tear it. Will you read it to him, Miss Alice? It will stop him from moaning. I am so happy to see you, and I promise I will not cry again.”
Alice smiled, thinking they had every right to moan after spending the night with their aunt.
“Are you listening, Lord Jacob?” Miss Alice asked as she began the story. “Look at the picture of Little Red Riding Hood. She is standing with her mother,” she pointed out and then read the words. “Said her mother one day, to your grandmamma, and take Tim’s custard, a nice Pot of Butter and Cake.”
But all the while she read the book, she could hear the heated conversation downstairs.
“Phillip, why can you not see that all this dilly-dallying with that servant woman is not good for your reputation?” Lady Davina purred, and Alice guessed she was trying to tempt Lord Phillip to her ways.
“I have told you before, Davina, my private life is none of your business,” Lord Phillip replied.
Alice attempted to speak louder so her voice went over the sound of their voices from downstairs.
“My uncle does not like Aunt Davina, does he?” Lady Beatrice asked, looking up at Alice with innocent, blue eyes. “I do not like her, Miss Alice. You will take us home and away from her, please promise?”
It was clear that Lady Beatrice could not be distracted by the book, so Alice changed tactics.
“Let us play our finger game you like,” Alice suggested. They’d made up the game years ago in a counting lesson, and it was one of Lady Beatrice’s favourites.
“Can we do Little Piggy Goes to Market first for Jacob?” Lady Beatrice asked with enthusiasm at changing their entertainment. “It will help him to laugh,” she added, looking at her brother with a dimpled grin.
Miss Alice began the nursery rhymes, but the voices downstairs were still overheard.
“I gather you have come to discuss the arrangements for our marriage?” Lady Davina’s voice called out as if she were speaking loud on purpose. Not that she ever had a quiet voice, but Alice wondered if it was for her benefit.
“Most certainly not!” Lord Phillip responded, sounding insulted.
“Then I will take the children, Phillip. If not today, then some other day when you least expect it,” Lady Davina threatened. “I am their legal aunt, and you cannot change that. Do not expect me to disappear out of your life so easily.”
Lady Beatrice was still unsettled and clambered from the bed with the little book in her hands. Alice didn’t stop playing with Jacob but kept an eye on Lady Beatrice to ensure she stayed in the room.
“I will put the book back in this drawer where Aunt Davina got it from,” Lady Beatrice explained to her governess, who nodded back to her. As she pulled open the wooden drawer, her eyes widened as she stared at the drawer’s contents. “What a wonderful treasure box, Miss Alice. Like in the stories you read for us at bedtime,” she called out in joy.
Alice clambered from the bed to close the drawer so the child didn’t touch anything. But when she, too, saw the contents, she gasped in shock. It was stacked full of shiny, silver items, all taken from Haroth Hall.
All this time it was Lady Davina taking the silver. She is the thief,Alice told herself as she took out a single, heavy candlestick.
