Page 73 of A Governess' Unbridled Passion
“Come now, children. I have decided it will be better if we wait outside for your uncle,” she said. Turning, she scooped up Lord Jacob and awkwardly made her way back down the rickety wooden staircase.
“See!” Lady Davina shouted out, pointing at Alice. “The woman is meant to be a governess, and she cannot even keep the children entertained for more than two minutes.”
“Actually, we are to go outdoors because we can hear everything being said, Lady Davina,” Alice said, making her way to the front door. “Oh, I do believe that this …” Alice paused to hold up the silver candlestick. “And all the other silver items upstairs belong to Haroth Hall.”
Lady Davina looked furiously at her, with Lord Phillip looking shocked. “So, you were stealing the silverware,” Phillip accused, glaring at his stepsister.
“We shall be outside, Lord Phillip, where the air is not so sour,” Alice said, putting the candlestick on a table.
Once Alice was outside with the children, she felt much better. She didn’t want to be anywhere near that French woman.
“Can we go and talk to the horses, Miss Alice?” Lady Beatrice asked, cheering up a little now that they were out of the little, dark house.
“Of course, we can,” Alice said with a jolly smile, carrying Lord Jacob so that he could pat the horse’s head too.
“Is Uncle Phillip cross with me and my brother?” Lady Beatrice asked, reaching out her little hand to touch the horse’s nose as it grazed.
“Why should he be, little one?” Alice asked, wondering why the child thought such a thing.
“Because we went with Aunt Davina when we should have been asleep in our beds,” Lady Beatrice replied. “We did not mean to do it, but my aunt said we were playing a game.”
Before Alice could reply, Lord Phillip exited the cottage, banging the door behind him.
“We can leave now,” he said as he approached them. Luckily, he changed his mood and shared a smile with them. “We are to have an adventure on the horses, children. Miss Alice, which child would you like to carry upon your horse?”
“Me, me, me first, Miss Alice,” Lady Beatrice cried out, waving her arms in the air.
Lady Beatrice wanted to ride with both of them and insisted that would be the best adventure of all. With that in mind, they agreed to keep stopping at exciting places like the river and a town. After they’d rested, they would swap the children around.
Soon, they were setting off on horseback, each holding a child to their front. Alice was pleased to be leaving Lady Davina and her dank cottage behind. Lord Phillip said not a word of what had resulted in any agreement with his stepsister, but Alice was confident he would tell her when the time was right.
Chapter 38
Phillip led the way, with Miss Alice and Lady Beatrice riding behind him. They meandered at a slow pace, not pushing the horses too much. They had endured enough on the ride outward bound, so it was important to go at their pace. He would have liked to have rested the horses before the return journey, but everyone was keen to leave.
The children enjoyed sharing the horses with him and Miss Alice. To help them overcome their experience with their aunt, he thought it best to make an event out of the journey, making lots of adventurous stops.
His thoughts returned to the agreement he’d made with Lady Davina. Once he’d become aware that she’d been stealing from him, she had little leverage over him. The last thing Davina wanted was for him to call in the constable again, only to treat her as the criminal that she was. She hadn’t even apologised for taking the silver items either.
But he believed the woman had been dealt a poor hand by his family after his father passed away. He’d not been involved in any decisions at the time, as he’d left to live on the family plantation in the West Indies.
His brother had given them a meagre cash handout on the premise that they would leave England or get nothing. There had been no regular settlement for Davina’s mother, as they hadn’t been married long before his father had sent her to live in their London home. From what he recalled, there may have been infidelity involved on the French woman’s part.
Phillip wanted to make amends to the child of his father’s young wife; after all, none of what happened was her fault. Though, to him, it seemed she might have a very similar character to her mother, devious and cunning. Nonetheless, he genuinely wanted to ensure that she was looked after because she was still family of sorts.
He’d agreed on a generous allowance to be paid to her every month. He’d also told her to keep the silverware and consider it all a gift from the estate. She’d pushed for more money, such was her nature, but he hadn’t given in. She could hold her head up high and live comfortably now; that was all he’d set out to achieve.
“Will we be stopping soon, Uncle Phillip?” Lady Beatrice’s little voice broke into his thoughts as he held tightly onto his nephew. Alice was not riding by his side.
Veering off their trail, Phillip led the horses to a stream he’d spotted earlier. They’d followed its trail for a while, so it was a good spot to water the horses.
While the children played, he spoke softly with Miss Alice, explaining what had happened.
“Do you think she might make another attempt to steal the children away again?” Miss Alice asked, and he could see the worry etched into her lovely face.
“For one thing, she will most certainly be returning to France; it was part of our agreement,” Phillip told her. “In a way, I felt a little pity for her. None of what happened with her mother and my father was her fault.”
“Perhaps not, but it does not stop her from being a scheming, cunning woman with low morals,” Miss Alice said. She showed no pity for the woman who had taken the children. “I worry that she has a legal hold on the children and may use that against you one day.”
