A Governess for the Brooding Duke(62)

“Miss Darrington.”



“I am a human being, Your Grace, and I feel I cannot take any more of this. And yet I cannot let them down.” Finally, she broke down and cried with gusto.



Try as she might, she could not take in enough breath with which to steady herself, and it seemed as if the fit of upset which had seized her would never let her go.



Suddenly, quite unexpectedly, she felt herself enveloped in the Duke’s embrace. He had taken a single step towards her and had wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her into him until her face was buried in his chest. He did not speak at all, not once. He simply held her there for what seemed an inordinate length of time. Georgette could feel him gently patting her back, his grip upon her never slackening once until she finally began to breathe normally again.



Finally, he released her. Georgette stood upright but kept her eyes averted from his own. She was greatly ashamed of her appearance, knowing that her face must be red and dreadfully tear-stained and her eyes quite raw.



“Your Grace, I cannot think of a single thing to say, and I would beg that you dismiss me,” she said quietly.



“Miss Darrington, I shall not dismiss you. Not from my home, and not even from this room. But I shall release you,” he said kindly and patted her arm gently before turning to open the door for her.



“Thank you, Your Grace,” Georgette said and gracefully left the room.





Chapter 22



The next few days had passed quite uneventfully, albeit Georgette had felt rather uncomfortable. In truth, she had quite dreaded happening upon the Duke anywhere in Draycott Hall and felt herself to be somewhat scurrying about the place in a furtive manner, rather like a badger making its way into its set.



It was clear that Mrs Wells had no idea what had passed between the Duke and Georgette in that room after she had left. She had been dismissed from the room so very forcefully that the woman must have wondered if her plan had worked at all. Of course, seeing Georgette the very next day, it was likely very clear to her that the Duke had not dismissed the new governess from her position.



And there was no doubt in Georgette’s mind that that had been exactly the aim of the spiteful, stupid nurse.



However, she had fed neither the woman’s spite nor her curiosity and had chosen to say absolutely nothing of the incident. And every day, five minutes before the nurse was due to collect the children from the schoolroom, Georgette opened the door wide, clearly indicating she had nothing to hide.



“I am glad you stayed, Miss,” Ffion had said the very next morning when Georgette had arrived exhausted and puffy-eyed into the schoolroom.



She had been worried all night that the girls would simply think that she had gone. After all, by the time she had returned to the schoolroom, it was beyond half past three, and Mrs Wells had taken them from the maid who had been looking after them. It was obvious that they had both worried all night that they would not see their dear governess the following day.



“Ffion, I would never leave you voluntarily. I just could not imagine it,” she said and ruffled the girl’s hair.



It had taken two full days to settle Eleri and Ffion back down again into something like the comfortable learning they had enjoyed before Mrs Wells had been so spiteful. Defiantly, Georgette had continued with their quiet, secret Welsh lessons. She had begun to show them how the alphabet they had been learning in English worked in Welsh, and the little girls had stared with wide-eyed interest at the differences.



In truth, Georgette had felt extraordinarily nervous when teaching them, and yet she was most determined to carry on seamlessly, for fear that the girls would be convinced that any trouble caused by the nurse was in connection with their Welsh speaking.



Of course, Georgette had been very honest with the girls, making it very clear that whilst she and their Aunt Cynthia were most keen for them to embrace their own heritage, they ought only to speak Welsh with them for now. They had taken the news quite easily and had implemented the little rules designed to protect them flawlessly.



Georgette was quite heartbroken by the fact that she found it so necessary to put the girls under the pressure of keeping secrets when they were so very young. And yet she could not help thinking that it was greatly outweighed by the idea that they would be forced to conform to everything English.



When Georgette awoke on the fourth morning after her dreadful experience in the Duke’s study, it was to find a miserable looking Daisy outside her door.



“Daisy, whatever is the matter?” Georgette said with a voice full of concern. “Really, you look quite devastated.”