A Governess for the faithless Duke (Regency Romance) (Regency Tales Book 3) (6 page)

“I cannot accept your attentions, Your Grace. Such a connection is not permitted between us.”

“Do you believe I would do anything to hurt you?” he asked.

She shook her head, unable to speak.

“I am in love with you, Charlotte Williams. You have completely captured my heart.”

“I cannot believe you, Your Grace,” she whispered, distressed more than she could understand. “You do not know what love is. Nor do I. We barely know each other.”

“Believe me when I say I know what love is now. I am sure you know of my reputation with women, but I assure you that I am a changed man where you are concerned.”

Dumbfounded, Charlotte could only stare at him. She wished she could believe that what he said was real, but the evidence to the contrary was overwhelming. She would not become another rejected woman. When he reached for her, she backed away, avoiding his gaze, and after a long, breathless moment, he walked away. She didn’t know where he went, though she observed him leaving in the carriage next morning. Meanwhile, she finally began to see a change in the pallor of Mary Anne’s skin. Her fever broke at last, and by evening her cough was less ragged. Eliza continued to mend quickly, though she was still too weak to sit up for more than an hour at a time. The days melted into one another, and by the weekend, the girls were much improved.

Charlotte had not seen the Duke since his unexpected kiss in the garden four days earlier, and their confrontation in the schoolroom. She was grateful for the reprieve, though she wished things could be different between them. She could still remember vividly how her whole body heated up when his lips touched her hand, and the warmth of his breath on her skin made her whole arm tingle. Even now, her heartbeat raced as she thought of him, and of the effect that his very nearness had upon her. She would have to find a different position, she realised. She could not live here, in the same house with him, any longer. There was too much at stake for her to be foolish and harbour any hope that he might have serious intentions. And she couldn’t stay here where her heart would surely be broken.

The girls were asleep, and she had an hour or two to kill before she relieved Molly at their bedside. She was sitting in the schoolroom reading when the butler appeared at her door.

“Ah, Miss Williams,” he said, “The Duke wishes to speak with you about the girls.” 

He paused, looking around the space with appreciative eyes. The children’s artwork was displayed everywhere, and the light made them all look beautiful. Then he continued. “Please follow me.”

Putting her book down, she followed him out of the schoolroom, closing the door behind her, and dreading the meeting that was to come. Was she to be let go because she had refused to believe him? Would he try to force her to agree to an clandestine liaison?  She squared her shoulders, and by the time they reached his study door, she stood ramrod straight. Milton knocked, and then opened the door, ushering her inside before closing it behind her.

“Please, Charlotte, have a seat,” he began, and she sat down in the chair closest to the door.

“Would you care for a glass of port?” he asked.

“No, thank you, Your Grace.”  She kept her answers simple.

“You’re probably wondering why I have summoned you here,” he said.

Charlotte nodded. “I am, Your Grace.”

“I spent a day with your father before going up to London to procure an item that I needed for this meeting.”

He let the words fill the space between them, and Charlotte wondered what bad news he had taken to her parents, or why he had needed to visit them.

“As I have been telling you, you have far surpassed my expectations for what a governess can do. And I have formed a devoted attachment to you.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but he silenced her with a raised hand.

“I know that you do not believe that my feelings for you are genuine. But before I provide you with the first piece of evidence, I need to know what you will do when I prove that my feelings are real. How will you respond?  Will you still reject me, Charlotte?  Have I been wrong in thinking that perhaps you feel some attachment to me as well?”

Charlotte raised her eyes to his face, suddenly wishing she had accepted the glass of wine. She needed some liquid courage. She knew what he wanted to know, and knew it was only fair that she say how she felt as well. She could prevaricate, and so stop them from going further down the path on which they were currently heading. Or she could speak the truth, and prepare to have her heart ripped out.

“Do not think to lie to me, Charlotte,” he warned her, “for I will know, and it will displease me. I have told you that I will never hurt you, and I keep my word, when I give it of my own free will. So tell me plainly, how do you feel about me?”

She cleared her throat, and spoke quietly. “I also have formed an attachment to you, Your Grace.”

She could not look him in the eye, but suddenly, he was in her personal space, lifting her chin and staring into her eyes.

“My name is Edmund, my love,” he informed her. “Your Grace is who I am to others, not to the woman who loves me. And let me tell you plainly that I wish to marry you, and live with you in love and harmony,” he said. “And the proof that I am not misguided in my feelings is here, in this ring.”

He went down on one knee beside her chair, and opened his palm. On it sat the most perfect emerald ring.

“Will you be mine, sweet Charlotte?”  he asked her. “Will you marry me, and be my Duchess?”

Tears glistened in her eyes as Charlotte looked at the man she was finally free to admit that she loved. She could not speak, so she nodded, and he took her left hand, placing the jewel on it, and then leaned in to kiss her softly on the lips.

“You have no idea how much it means to me that you have trusted me with your heart,” he said. “I know that you have heard about the other engagements, and that I have left two others at the altar. It is all true. But I knew I could not marry someone I did not love, despite society’s expectations. And then I met you. You did not ask anything of me, unless it was for my nieces. You did not try to lay a trap for me because you wanted my wealth or status. Instead, you avoided me, and kept all our meetings professional. You showed love and care for my nieces, and respect for my status. I was helpless against the allure of your honest innocence and warmth.” 

He kissed her cheek and rose to his feet, pulling her up with him. “I promise not to leave you standing alone at the altar, sweet Charlotte. I have asked your father for your hand, and he has given his consent for me to address you. My Aunt Agnes will return to chaperone you until our marriage, and I will look to find a new governess for the girls.”

“No!” Charlotte finally found her voice. When Edmund looked at her in surprise, she said, “I will continue to teach the girls. They do not need another woman in their lives. They have me, they know me, and hopefully they will soon learn to love me.”

Edmund smiled. “I think we already have that covered, my love,” he said. “They have been working on a gift for you for quite some time, and I have been helping them with it. It will be unveiled at Christmas time, but trust me when I say it will provide another piece of evidence of the love that you inspire in us.”

Charlotte eyed him with delight. “When is your aunt arriving?” she asked, ever aware of the need to act with decorum.

“Later today,” he said. “She was privy to my intentions before she left the last time.”

“I will need to get ready, then,” she said. “I shall wear my new gown.”

The weeks that followed were filled with planning for their wedding. Charlotte continued to teach the girls, who had started to call her Aunt Charlotte, and insisted on keeping her tea engagements with Mrs Thomson, whom she informed that she would be making their tea meetings mandatory, in the same way that Milton and the duke had a weekly session. She knew that things would never be exactly the same as before, but she wanted to ensure that she kept herself grounded by remaining true to who she was.

Her wedding dress was being made by a goddess of high French fashion from London, and she had been up twice for fittings. After her second visit, as she and Edmund were sitting down to tea with Lady Agnes, Milton announced Lady Henrietta Aston and her sister Lady Sarah Aston. Charlotte and his aunt remained seated while Edmund rose to meet his uninvited guests.

“Ladies, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Edmund asked, ushering them in and inviting them to sit across from where he and Charlotte sat.

Milton brought in another tray for tea things for two more, and Charlotte poured the tea as they talked. She said nothing, leaving Edmund to make the necessary introductions and explanations.

“Rumour has it that you are once again attached, Lord Edmund,” Henrietta began. “We just wanted to confirm it. Mama gave us leave to visit as we heard that you, Lady Agnes, are now in residence, as well.”

Edmund smiled. “All the rumours are true, ladies. I am indeed attached again, and my Aunt Agnes is in residence to provide a chaperone for my betrothed, who also happens to be my nieces’ governess. Please meet Miss Charlotte Williams.”

He gestured toward Charlotte, who sipped her tea delicately, secretly pleased that she had managed to get what Henrietta Aston had so badly wanted, and all without trying. She looked up as he stopped speaking, and smiled brightly at them both.

“My darling, meet Lady Henrietta Aston, and Lady Sarah Aston. We are neighbours.”

The women were both obviously dumbfounded, barely managing to greet her, and then hurrying to leave, no doubt to spread some vicious story abroad about the woman the Duke had fallen in with. Charlotte didn’t care. She knew who she was, and what she was to the man she loved. She foresaw a future devoid of visits from the Astons, for which she was grateful in advance.

As the wedding day approached, the house began to fill with the wedding guests. Her parents, her sister, her aunt Anne and best friend Emma arrived first. The girls were to be her bridesmaids. Next came Edmund’s Aunt Jane and her companion, and his friend Tom, along with his father, Sir Algernon. Last to arrive were his cousin James and his wife. Eliza and Mary Anne were excused from classes for the week prior to the wedding, much to their delight, so that they could be fitted with new dresses and shoes. Edmund obtained a special license, which he had safely tucked away in his study. Neither he nor Charlotte were ever allowed to be alone together, his Aunt Agnes as vigilant as a Major-General.

On the morning of the wedding, the guests left for the chapel first, followed by Edmund, with Tom as his witness, and Charlotte was last to leave. She wore a cream-colored silk and taffeta dress with pink blush lace trim and embroidered flowers around the neckline and hem. She wore the earrings and necklace to match the ring Edmund had given her, and a sweet cap of lace and flowers. As she walked down the aisle on her father’s arm, Charlotte smiled as she recalled how certain she had been that this would never come to pass. To flout the expectations of society in this way was rare, and she knew her soon-to-be husband was making a great sacrifice for her, which only made her love him more.

The vicar read the service, they said their vows, signed the register along with their witnesses, and the ceremony was over. Edmund’s vows still rang in Charlotte’s ears: “With this Ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”  It gave her a sweet thrill because those words had been said to her. She blushed at the thought of how he would worship her with his body, and prayed it would be better than it was rumoured to be.

By noon they were back at Marbleton House, and an extravagant lunch was served. Charlotte and Edmund sat next to each other at the table, both wishing for the same thing…to be alone together for the first time in almost two months. They bore the lengthy meal with equanimity, though, knowing that soon, they could begin to enjoy the life together they thought they could never have.

The sun had long since set and the moon was on the rise. Stars twinkled in a clear sky, and a soft breeze brushed Charlotte’s skin. She sat cross-legged in the big armchair that Edmund had pulled up to the window when they had first arrived in their honeymoon cottage by the lake. She shivered slightly...the breeze carried the remnants of the cooling, refreshing rain that had fallen all evening. A sound behind her made her turn her head, and she saw her husband of less than a day smiling at her.

“Come back to bed, my darling,” he implored her. “I’m not done celebrating our wedding.”

She chuckled. “I thought you were asleep,” she said, though she didn’t move.

“Who can sleep with the world’s most beautiful and desirable woman curled up in his arms?  I am merely a man, my love, not a god!”

She laughed outright at his silliness, but rose and went back to his waiting arms. She had found that she loved being in his arms. She felt safe there, loved, adored. Edmund pulled her down to his face for a kiss, and when he had her trembling in a quite satisfying way, he asked,

“Are you happy, my love?”

He stroked her hair as he spoke, and when she nodded, he smiled. “I will do everything in my power to keep you happy. I promise,” he said, “for as long as we live.”

Charlotte leaned up to see his face, and smiled back at him. She believed him. It was that simple.

She looked forward to her happy-ever-after life with great anticipation.

The End