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A Governess for the Brooding Duke(12)

By:Bridget Barton




“Well, at least you do not have to share as many of the servants do.” The tone of Mrs Griffin’s voice led Georgette to very much realize that the servants’ rooms, and possibly Mrs Griffin’s room itself, were very much inferior to the one that she would inhabit.



“Quite so.”



“I think you have everything you need here,” Mrs Griffin said, clearly a little upended by Georgette’s very short and succinct response. “And through that door, there is a small hanging closet for your gowns,” she said, and then looked significantly at the large wooden trunk.



No doubt she thought that the new governess had far too many personal possessions. Still, that was something that Mrs Griffin would have to come to terms with without any input from Georgette. Not one hour into her new employment, and already Georgette was entirely tired of everybody she had so far met at Draycott Hall.



“It would be as well if you simply stayed in your room for the rest of the day, Miss Darrington.”



“Why?” Georgette asked coolly.



“Because you are not due to meet His Grace until ten o’clock tomorrow. Dinner will soon be served and, since you are taking yours in your room, then you might just as well be here to receive it.”



“Indeed.”



“Once your dinner things are taken, there really is nothing left for you to do today.”



“And who is to take me to His Grace tomorrow?”



“I shall be taking you.”



“And shall you be collecting me from here or should I make my way downstairs?”



“There shall be no need for you to leave your room until I collect you. A jug of warm water and a bowl will be left on the small table outside your room at seven o’clock. At eight o’clock, your breakfast will be left on that table and the jug collected. And a few minutes before ten o’clock, I shall come to collect you.”



“Thank you,” Georgette said, feeling a little trapped by the idea that she would be keeping to her room the rest of the afternoon, through the night, and into the next morning.



“I am sure that Mr Pearson has told you that there are no other members of staff sleeping in this part of the attic. They are quite on the other side of the house. However, His Grace inhabits rooms below this part of the attic, and so you would be advised to tread very carefully. He is not keen to hear noise and would certainly be most disappointed to hear anything at all coming from your room. Please take care not to make too much noise.”



“Yes, of course,” Georgette said, looking at the woman incredulously. Quite what noise she thought Georgette might make in the middle of the night was beyond her.



“Well, I shall leave you. Dinner will be served in about two hours.” And with that, Mrs Griffin turned on her heel and strode away, leaving Georgette entirely alone.





Chapter 5



Georgette simply lay in her bed, the events of the day before turning over and over in her mind until she heard a sound outside her door. There was a very definite clunk as a porcelain bowl and water-filled jug was set down on the small table in the corridor outside her room. Looking at the clock on the wall, Georgette could see that it was seven o’clock precisely.



Waiting until she heard the gentle footsteps disappearing, Georgette rose from her bed, stretched, and walked noiselessly across the room to the door.



Just as she had expected, the jug and bowl were on the table, and she lifted them and carried them into the room. Placing them down onto the nightstand, she lifted the jug and tipped the water fully out into the porcelain bowl.



Georgette hastily removed her nightgown and, reaching for one of the washcloths that she had unpacked from her trunk, plunged it into the water. She gasped and drew her hand out sharply, dropping the sodden cloth onto the floor. The water was absolutely stone cold. For a moment, Georgette simply stared down into the bowl in a haze of confusion. It was not possible that warm water would have cooled completely in the rather simple journey from below stairs to her own room in the attic.



Of course, Georgette knew well that the water had never been warmed at all. She had been given cold water with which to wash, and it was certainly no oversight. The whole thing had been quite purposeful.



Knowing that she had never been treated so unfairly in all her life, Georgette felt sudden tears stinging her eyes. Had she not already suffered enough that she also needed to put up with the spite of the servants?



Taking a deep breath and blinking hard, Georgette resolved that she would not allow such vile and childish behaviour to reduce her to weeping. Instead, she crouched down to retrieve the sodden washcloth on the floor and, plunging it back into the bowl, she set about washing herself thoroughly with the uncomfortably cold water. No wonder the three previous governesses had left this place.