A Governess for the Brooding Duke(24)
Georgette, despite not having all the facts, was forming something of a picture in her mind. Owing to the childish insecurities of the servants and the bullish dismissal of any complaints by a guardian so detached from his charges that he ought to be ashamed, three governesses had come and gone in quick succession, and the tiny girls had suffered for it.
With just a few words and their sad little countenances, Eleri and Ffion had told her quite clearly that they had liked and grown close to each of the governesses, only to have them disappear suddenly and without explanation.
Georgette could not help thinking how dreadfully unsettling it must be for two little girls, no longer in their own country, never mind their own home. If they had lost their own parents, the continual loss of young women they had formed rather instant attachments to would likely have been not only upsetting but must also have made them a little afraid—as if nothing was safe or solid in their little world.
The very thought of it brought sudden and unexpected tears into Georgette’s eyes, and she had to blink rapidly to disperse them before they fell. The idea that the nurse, the dreadful Mrs Wells, was the only constant in the lives of the girls was quite insupportable to Georgette, and she determined at that moment that she would not willingly leave them.
As hard as it was going to be, and as spiteful as many of the servants had proved themselves, Georgette was a grown woman, and she knew she must do everything in her power to make Eleri and Ffion feel safe and loved.
Chapter 9
“I had not expected to see you quite so soon, Aunt,” Hamilton Whitehall said, immediately regretting his tone.
Whilst he had not particularly wanted to see Lady Cynthia Lyndon on that day, still he knew that he had no cause to be quite so ungracious. After all, his Aunt Cynthia was his only living relative.
For a moment, Hamilton stopped in his tracks. He had been making his way over to the drinks table to pour himself and his aunt a rather modest sherry when the idea assailed him that Lady Cynthia Lyndon was not, in truth, his only living relative. There were, of course, the children. Eleri and Ffion were his relatives also, even if he could not bear to look upon them.
“Is that your indelicate way of telling me that you had not wished to see me today, Hamilton?” Lady Cynthia was so very much like his mother.
His mother and Cynthia had been sisters; twins, in fact. Of course, Hamilton’s own mother had not lived long enough for him to have truly known quite how she would turn out in middle-age but, in truth, he rather thought that his Aunt Cynthia was a very fair indication.
Lady Cynthia, now beyond her sixtieth year, had the sort of hair that one could never truly tell if it was still blonde or if it had, indeed, finally turned grey. It rather seemed to him to be somewhere in between, and he wondered at the fairness of colouring of the females in his family. Hamilton could not help thinking of their very fairness as wholly feminine.
“Forgive me, Aunt. I daresay I am a little out of sorts today, and I am rather afraid that when I find myself in such low humour, I am very much better left to follow my day in solitude.”
“As an apology, Hamilton, I shall accept what you say. However, I cannot pretend to be at all happy with the idea that you find yourself in such low humour for so much of the time. I do not particularly enjoy the fact that you seem to spend so much of your time in solitude. I do wish that you could find some way to overcome all of this.”
“Aunt, there is nothing to overcome,” Hamilton said, feeling the familiar annoyance and frustration begin to rise. If only she would simply take him at his word and let him be. “And I am becoming a little tired of your attempts to fix me when, in truth, there is nothing to fix. I am quite well and make no apology for the fact that I much prefer to spend a good deal of my time in my own company.”
“I do not seek to fix you nor insult you, Nephew. Rather, I should quite like to let you know how much I care, and that is all. But I see that you are quite determined to have nobody care about you in all the world, for that is the only explanation I can find for your taciturn behaviour.” From the tone of her voice, Hamilton could sense that his aunt was becoming equally annoyed.
However, his mood had become such that he no longer sought to silently chastise himself for his attitude. Rather, he was beginning to feel increasingly justified in his manner.
“And is that what you have come all this way to tell me, Aunt?” he said shortly.
“I had no idea that I could only attend your home if I had specific cause. Perhaps you would simply like me to leave, Hamilton?”
“Aunt Cynthia, you do not need to leave,” he said with only the merest hint of a conciliatory tone. “And of course, you do not need a reason to attend Draycott Hall. Forgive me.” He shrugged in such a way as he hoped that she would recognize that he was in no way genuinely asking for forgiveness. In truth, he did not think he needed to.