Page 10 of The Governess’ Unlikely Suitor (The Dashworth Brothers #2)

O nce again, Jane led her through the long corridors of the house.

As she’d feared, the hours spent in her bedroom alone had been impossibly dull; her only entertainment had been to stare out of the window onto the wide avenue below.

It was fascinating to watch all the grand carriages coming and going and the staff who maintained the fronts of these grand houses, but even so, the time had dragged.

‘Do you think you could show me to the library later?’ she asked Jane as they turned around another bend. ‘I should like something to read.’

‘I have heard the duke is very protective of his books. I am not sure if I will be allowed.’

‘Oh, that is…’ Disappointing, depressing, soul-destroying? Any one of those adjectives really. She was likely to die of boredom at some point in the coming months. At least she would get to eat a lot of delicious cake in the meantime.

‘I am to show you to the family dining room,’ Jane told her, whipping around another corner. ‘Tonight dinner will be in the larger one, which is used only when guests are in attendance.’

‘Right.’ Kate’s stomach felt hollow and she did not think it was solely because she had hardly had anything to eat since she arrived at the grand house earlier.

Boring though sitting alone in her room was, at least she was not making a fool of herself in front of nobility.

Her mouth went dry as they made their way down another long corridor; she wanted to tell Jane to stop, that she needed to return to her room…

but to do what? This house was too big, the people too different from her.

As a governess, she’d lived in grand houses, but she’d been confined to only some of the rooms and the reality of their opulence had previously passed her by.

Even then, the places had been nothing like this.

The soft rugs they walked upon probably cost more than she earned or would ever earn.

Learning how to dine with dukes in one afternoon was not something she could do.

Her breathing came quicker as Jane began to slow.

She was out of her depth; she should not be here.

Perhaps she should ask these people to help her find a governess position far from London, somewhere she would not meet her previous employer.

If they were prepared to provide her with a dowry, surely they would not mind writing a reference for her, and with a reference from a duke she could go far.

They would probably be relieved to be released from the burden of looking after her.

‘Here we are, Miss.’

‘Where?’

Jane gave her a look that suggested she thought her new mistress was not in possession of all her wits. ‘At the dining room, Miss.’

‘Ah yes.’ Pausing on the threshold, she glanced back at Jane, who smiled indulgently.

‘I promise you, Miss, this is the right place.’

‘Right, of course.’ Wiping her hands on her dress, Kate stepped into the room, unsurprised to find it was only the broad-shouldered Edward who was waiting for her. It seemed fate, or perhaps something less whimsical, was throwing them together. Two people who really didn’t want that.

He turned at her approach and she was once again struck by how tall he was. If she had a mind to lean against him, the curve of her cheek would rest against his heart. She frowned to herself; whyever was she thinking of leaning against him? She would never get closer to him than five or so paces.

‘Emily and Freddie are not able to join us,’ said Edward, looking past her to Jane. ‘Perhaps your maid… Jane, is it?’ His brow crinkled as her eyebrows rose. She nodded, surprised he knew the name of a servant with whom he would have nothing to do. ‘Perhaps Jane should remain.’

Without speaking, Jane bobbed a curtsey and made her way to the corner of the dining room, placing herself discreetly on a chair.

Edward stepped a little closer to Kate, the faint hint of his cologne tickling her senses.

‘Are you happy to proceed?’ he asked. ‘I do not wish to make you uncomfortable if you would prefer to wait until my sister-in-law is not indisposed.’

‘If you have other things you need to…’

‘I am not the type of man to offer my time if there is something else I should be doing. I am entirely at your disposal. However, you do not know me well and I can understand if you do not want to spend the afternoon with a strange man.’ He tilted his head slightly, some hair falling into his eyes, which he impatiently pushed back.

‘I am not strange . I meant only that I am a stranger to you. If you would prefer Emily to be present, we can wait.’

The air in the dining room seemed to still as his words settled on her.

She was aware of her own heartbeat pulsing in her throat, the soft in and out of her breath and the gentle rustle of Jane’s clothes as the maid fidgeted in her chair.

No one had ever shown her the level of consideration Edward had just suggested.

Not only had he realised the awkwardness of the situation for her but he had offered her a way out.

It wasn’t much on the face of it; the basic consideration of another person’s feelings.

It shouldn’t shock her, but it did. He’d been stern with her so far, almost as if he were angry with her for some reason, but now she wondered if she had misjudged him.

‘Thank you for your consideration, but I will be more uncomfortable at a dinner, floundering over which item of cutlery to use, than practising with you now. Your family has been very kind to me; I would not wish to embarrass any of you.’

He waved a hand. ‘You do not need to worry about that. We have Christopher and Freddie to bring shame to the Dashworth name.’ He grinned and she smiled back, recognising the brotherly teasing, something inside her relaxing; perhaps his earlier gruffness had been down to something else entirely and not her arrival, the months in Chorley’s household making her more judgemental than she’d been before.

‘Where would you like me to start?’ he asked.

‘Presume I know nothing.’

‘Very well. We’ll start at the beginning then.

Imagine you have stepped into the receiving room where we will start the evening.

’ He scratched his head, swivelling on his heel and walking a few paces away from her towards the entrance of the room.

‘Other guests will be announced and you will be introduced as a friend of the family. We will make small talk, some of it pleasant, some of it unfortunately dull. Once everyone has arrived, Tobias, that’s my brother’s given name, will lead us into the dining room, because without him showing us how to make it through the wide doors, we would not be able to find our way. ’

Seeing a hint of his disarming smile again, she risked, ‘Everyone knows the greater the title, the greater the ability to lead those of us lacking.’

He laughed and a small thrill shot through her. ‘Indeed. And those of us without one are mindless sheep in comparison to their greatness. Tobias will sit at the head of the table, even though he hates hosting duties with a passion.’

‘If he despises it, why is this meal taking place? Surely his name is eminent enough that he does not need to put on a pleasant show for other people in the Ton.’

‘That is a good question and one I am sure Tobias would ask if he were of a more talkative nature. Emily believes we should become more civilised, for our niece’s sake.

There are rumours in the Ton that the four of us Dashworth brothers are…

’ he scratched his head as though searching for the words there ‘…less than perfect. She is insisting on these meals at least once a month to enhance our reputations. We are to be totally redeemed by the time Charlotte is of an age to marry. Emily even plans to host a ball in the upcoming season and she loathes those with a passion.’ His nose crinkled slightly and she guessed he did not overly care for the idea himself.

‘Tobias cannot argue with the logic of it. Like the rest of us, he would die for our niece and, even though these dinners are probably worse for him than death, he puts up with it because he wants the best for her.’

‘I take it you do not want to be a party to the ball if you can help it.’

‘I enjoy dancing as much as the next man.’

‘Which is not very much.’

He tilted his head to one side. ‘It is not so much that I do not like it; I think it is more the expectation of the situation.’

‘Expectation?’

‘Have you heard the phrase about single men being in want of a wife?’

Her heart leapt strangely. ‘You have read Pride and Prejudice ?’

‘There is no need to sound so amazed. I have read it, and what’s more, I thought it very entertaining.’ A smile played around the corner of his eyes, the fine lines crinkling slightly, and her whole impression of him realigned itself.

‘I do not remember the wording correctly, but I think there is something in there about a single man who possesses a good fortune being in want of a wife.’

‘I do not recall the exact phrase either, but the author’s acerbic comment was quite correct.

Mothers seem to want dukes for their daughters’ hands in marriage and if the duke is not available, then they target his brothers as the next best thing.

’ His eyes went comically large and she bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from showing her amusement at his outrage.

‘That sounds like a serious problem,’ she said as straight-faced as she could manage.

‘Hmm,’ he said, crossing his arms over his large chest. ‘I feel you are laughing at my difficulties.’

‘Your suffering is great, I am sure.’

When he smiled this time, her heart fluttered.

‘I am glad you can see the difficulties I face, but I am prevaricating. Where were we?’

‘The exalted Duke of Glanmore was taking his seat, I believe.’