Temptation Of A Governess. Sarah Mallory

      Lady Frances tensed and Alex wondered if she thought the barb was directed at her.

      ‘You are probably right, old boy.’ Wollerton nodded, enjoying his wine and oblivious to the tension around the table. ‘Not that you ain’t charming when you want to be,’ he added hastily. ‘It’s just that most likely you didn’t think it necessary to charm a servant.’

      ‘Miss Grensham is not a servant,’ retorted Alex, unaccountably annoyed. ‘She is the children’s guardian.’

      ‘But that does not give her the right to monopolise your property,’ objected Lady Frances.

      Alex might agree, but something compelled him to put Diana’s point of view. ‘She considers Chantreys the most suitable place for the children at the present time.’

      Sir Charles was about to deal, but he hesitated as if a thought had struck him.

      ‘Perhaps, my lord, you should demonstrate that the lady is not a...er...fit and proper person to have responsibility for your wards.’ He sat back, smiling in a way that made Alex dislike him even more. ‘How difficult can it be?’ he drawled. ‘Wollerton here says you have charm, when you wish to use it. Seduce the wench and send her packing.’

      ‘Miss Grensham is no wench, Urmston,’ Alex retorted coldly. ‘She is a lady.’

      ‘But Sir Charles has a point,’ remarked Lady Frances, her tone smooth and reasonable. ‘Perhaps not seduction,’ she said quickly, observing Alex’s frown. ‘But if some gentleman were to take her fancy, if she wanted to marry, she might be more willing to compromise over the little girls’ education. And consider the advantage to the lady; she could exchange the drudgery of being a governess for a much more respectable station. She would be a married woman and have a man to protect her.’

      Alex watched Urmston deal out the cards, but his mind was on Frances’s words.

      ‘That might be possible,’ he said slowly. ‘If she were to marry she could no longer look after the girls. And why not school rather than another governess? My brother’s will provided Miss Grensham with a handsome sum, so she would not be a penniless bride.’

      And she was not unattractive, if one liked dainty, red-headed women, he thought, regarding Lady Frances’s voluptuous form.

      ‘Yes,’ he mused. ‘It might just work. I know several fellows in want of a wife.’

      ‘Well, there you are then,’ murmured Sir Charles. He finished giving out the cards and turned over the last one. ‘Hearts,’ he declared. ‘Hearts are trumps.’

      * * *

      The second meeting with Lord Davenport had left Diana angry and unsettled. She was appalled at her own behaviour in encouraging the earl to kiss her; just the thought of it sent a shiver running through her. She was even more appalled to realise how much she wanted him to do it again. Quite reprehensible! Clearly in future he must not call unannounced. She decided, therefore, that she would write to him, telling him as much. The letter was written and despatched before she broke her fast the following morning, but even before it could have reached its destination she was regretting the rash impulse. Her tone had not been at all conciliatory and she was sure the earl would take offence. However, when the timorous side of her nature suggested that she should write again and apologise her spirit rebelled strongly. Lord Davenport must acknowledge that he was as much to blame for the lapse in decorum.

       Why should he? He is an Arrandale, after all.

      The thought came unbidden and Diana was obliged to acknowledge the truth of it. Even the late earl, for all his staid and respectable nature, had possessed the famed Arrandale arrogance. They went their own way, convinced of their superiority, and she had no reason to think Alex Arrandale was any different from the rest of his family.

      The thought remained with her for the next few days, contributing to her mood of restless anxiety. It became so bad that one evening, after saying goodnight to the children she did not go immediately downstairs but instead went to the schoolroom, walking around and idly touching the familiar objects.

      Was she being unreasonable to keep the children at Chantreys? It was perfectly understandable that the new earl would wish to make use of his properties and since he was an Arrandale, she was in no doubt that any party he brought to Chantreys would be far from respectable. The society pages of the newspapers she read often mentioned his name in connection with the more notorious of society’s hostesses. She had a shrewd idea that he considered Chantreys would be the perfect place to bring his latest flirt.

      That he refused to do so with the children in residence showed he had some sense of honour, but Meggie and Florence were not his children and it was clear he saw them as an inconvenience. She had learned a great deal about the family since becoming governess to the late earl’s children. James and Alex had been brought up to want for nothing, an army of servants to obey their every whim, but their parents had been shadowy figures with little time to spare for their offspring. Margaret had always said it was a blessing James had turned out as respectable as he had done, but was it any wonder if his younger brother had grown up to consider nothing but his own pleasure? No, Diana was sure he would not give up the fight to remove her and the girls from Chantreys.

      Well, perhaps she would write to him again and suggest a compromise. She would offer to take Meggie and Florence away for a few months. The earl had offered her the use of any of his other properties, or perhaps they might remove to the coast. A spell of sea bathing might prove beneficial, as long as Meggie and Florence knew they could return to their home afterwards.

      ‘It is certainly worth pursuing,’ she murmured as she blew out her candle that night. But her encounter with the new earl of Davenport had roused her spirit and she was reluctant to capitulate too easily. No, she thought as she settled down to sleep. She would not write immediately. It would do the new earl no harm to savour his defeat for a little longer. However, a little over a week after the earl’s visit, a letter arrived from him that sent all thoughts of compromise from her head.

Chapter Four

      ‘How dare he?’

      Diana screwed the paper into a ball and threw it into the corner. She paced about the morning room, hands clenched and muttering angrily, thankful that she was alone and could allow her temper full rein. The letter had been waiting for her when she returned from a walk with the girls and, recognising the seal, she had sent the children off with Nurse as soon as they had all removed their muddy boots and outdoor clothes.

      She had braced herself for the earl’s response to her letter, expecting at best a suggestion for another house where they might reside, or at worst an angry condemnation of her presumption in opposing his will, even an ultimatum, but not this missive couched in the politest terms, telling her that he intended to bring a party of friends to the house and was giving her a month’s notice of the visit, that she and the children might be prepared.

      ‘How very considerate of you, my lord!’

      Her words echoed around the morning room, but although her indignation remained, her anger was cooling. She picked up the paper and smoothed it out, then she sat down on a chair to read it again.

      Perhaps he expected her to panic at the thought of his visit, to demand that he find another home for his wards immediately, but what if she did not do so? She nibbled her finger. He might be selfish and hedonistic but she did not believe he would hold a truly outrageous party while Meggie and Florence were living in the house. Diana made a quick mental survey of the building. The nursery and schoolroom were on the top floor, there would be no reason for visitors to venture so far. The children would not be able to have the run of the house, as they did now, but it would be May, so they would be able to spend much more time out of doors. She glanced at the clock. There was no time now to reply, but once she had concluded the children’s lessons she would compose a letter to the earl. A polite note that would leave him in no doubt that she would not allow the children to be chased