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‘How old are your daughters, Major?’
‘Gwendoline is twelve years old, and Wilhelmina is eight. They are quite normal, Miss Wrenn—high spirited, perhaps, but not demons.’
‘I do not doubt it. But you said you have three children, sir?’
‘Yes. My son, Giles, is fifteen years old and for the past few years has been under the tutelage of a learned reverend. When I arrived in Hampshire I discovered that this gentleman has accepted a much more attractive position as bear-leader to a young gentleman embarking upon the Grand Tour. However, Giles need not concern you; once we are settled in the north, I will engage another tutor for him.’
‘You said you are leaving town at the end of next week?’
‘Yes, on Friday. I have property in Lancashire that requires my attention. I want the governess to travel with us, and to take charge of the children on the journey.’ Again Juliana found that harsh stare fixed upon her. ‘After what you have heard, are you still eager for this position, Miss Wrenn?’
She sat up and adopted her most businesslike tone.
‘I think it would suit very well, sir, if we can agree terms.’
‘Miss Wrenn, I hardly think you are in a position to make demands….’
‘Then we need discuss this no further.’ She rose. ‘Let me see, today is Saturday, your advertisement should be published on Monday, at the earliest. No doubt your secretary is very efficient; if he interviews the candidates quickly, I suppose it might be possible to engage a suitable person in time to travel on Friday, assuming he has received suitable references, of course…’
He held up his hand.
‘Very well, Miss Wrenn, you have made your point. Can you supply me with suitable references?’
‘I am sure Mr Pettigrew will vouch for my character, and you may apply to Miss Shaftesbury at the Academy in Clapham. As to my education, you can test me, if you so wish.’
‘No, I do not so wish!’ he growled at her. ‘Pray sit down again, madam, and tell me these terms of yours.’
Resuming her seat, she gave him a beaming smile.
‘They are not really so outrageous. I will engage to look after the children, Major Collingham, and educate them for the next four months, that is, to the end of September. I would like you to pay me a lump sum at the end of that time.’
‘How much?’
Juliana took a deep breath and named her price.
‘What?’
She winced, but held her ground.
‘You said you were willing to pay a king’s ransom for this service, sir; I think you will agree that it is hardly that, but it would be sufficient for me to rent a little house in, say, Harrogate or Bath, and support my family by teaching. That is all I ask, Major.’
There was no more she could say. Juliana forced herself to sit still while the Major stared at her, his fingers drumming on the desk top. The remuneration she was asking was high, but discreet enquiries of her cousin had convinced her that the Major could afford twice that sum. Now she only needed to hold her nerve. She smiled to herself; perhaps she had something of her father’s gambling spirit after all. At last he spoke.
‘Very well. I will have Brasher draw up an agreement today.’
She found she had been holding her breath, for it now came out in a long sigh.
‘Thank you, sir. I will not disappoint you.’
‘I trust you will not. I shall make sure you do not get a penny if you do not keep your side of this bargain. One more thing. What do you propose to do with your siblings for the next four months?’
She hesitated.
‘I am hoping to persuade my cousin—’
He shook his head.
‘Pettigrew is a lawyer and a bachelor. I’d wager he knows less than I do about children. You had best bring them with you. They will be companions for Gwen and Minna on the journey, and there will be plenty of room for them at Blackthorpe.’
‘Th-thank you.’
He stood up and came round the desk towards her.
‘Then let us shake hands upon it, and I will send for the children.’
Juliana rose and put out her hand. As he took her fingers in his strong grip she looked up into his face and wondered how she had ever managed to bargain with such a man. At close range he was even more intimidating. His eyes were as hard as granite; his countenance bleak and unforgiving. Dangerous. But even as she began to wonder if perhaps she had made a mistake, she saw a gleam of amusement in his grey eyes.
He said, ‘Now what are you thinking, Miss Wrenn?’
She did not even consider prevaricating.
‘That you would make an implacable enemy, sir.’
His grip on her hand tightened.
‘True. But I am also a very good friend. Which would you have, Miss Wrenn?’
Juliana could not break away from his gaze. A small voice in her head was warning that he should not be asking her such a question. She swallowed and tried to answer calmly.
‘Neither. I look only for a fair employer.’
He stared at her, a faint crease in his brows. Juliana looked down at his hand, still holding her own. Abruptly he released her and walked towards the window saying,
‘I—um—I plan to marry—when we arrive in Lancashire: a neighbour’s daughter, widow. There is an arrangement between the families. It has long been agreed. My wife will, of course, take over arrangements for the girls’ education.’
‘Then why not wait until you get to Lancashire to employ a governess?’
Even as the words tumbled out, Juliana wished them unsaid; she had signed no contract yet, and she did not want him to change his mind. The Major did not hesitate over his reply.
‘I had considered that, but their nurse is far too old to have sole control of the children on such a long journey.’
Juliana’s evil genius prompted her to play devil’s advocate once more.
‘But—forgive me—did you not say you will be travelling together, as a party?’
He turned to look at her, his brows raised in surprise, and just for a moment she thought there was a shade of unease upon those harsh features.
‘I know nothing of the needs of young girls,’ he said shortly. ‘If it was only Giles, I should not hesitate. As it is—’ He broke off. ‘I shall summon the girls to meet you.’
He strode over to the door, barking his orders to a lackey.
Moments later, two little figures trooped into the room.
‘Goodness, that was very prompt!’ exclaimed Juliana, smiling at the Misses Collingham.
They were dressed in identical redingotes of claretcoloured wool with matching bonnets. The eldest girl raised her eyes, so like her father’s, and looked directly at Juliana.
‘We were waiting in the hall for Aunt Louisa, Papa.’ She addressed the Major, although she kept her eyes upon Juliana. ‘She is taking us for a drive in the park.’
‘Well, I shall not keep you long.’ Major Collingham beckoned them to come forward. ‘I want to make you known to your new governess. Gwendoline…’ He paused as the older of the two children bobbed a curtsy.
Juliana curtsied back.
‘How do you do, Miss Collingham?’
‘Gwendoline was twelve years old last month,’ said the Major. ‘And this is Wilhelmina.’ He nodded at the smaller child, who stepped forward and bobbed, saying as she did so,
‘And I’m eight.’
‘Indeed?’ marvelled Juliana. ‘You are very grown up for eight, I think. I am very pleased to meet you both.’
‘Miss Wrenn will be joining us next week,’ said the Major. ‘You will have your first lesson with her at two o’clock on Monday—yes, Miss Wrenn, did you say something?’
‘So—so soon,’ stammered Juliana. ‘I thought we should get to know one another first.’
‘If that is what you wish to do, Miss Wrenn, I have no objection, as long as you do it in the schoolroom.’
‘And out of the way, Major?’ she murmured, bringing that frowning stare upon her again.
Whatever retort the Major was about to make was interrupted as the door opened and a tall woman in a rose-pink pelisse erupted into the room.
‘Damon, do you have the girls here? I was about to take them out.’
‘The children are here, Louisa, dressed and ready for you. I was introducing them to their new governess. This is Miss Wrenn—my sister, Lady Varley.’
Juliana found herself subjected to a head-to-toe scrutiny and forced herself not to fidget. Her walking dress might not be as stylish as Lady Varley’s fine wool pelisse, and one small ostrich feather could not compete with the three nodding plumes that adorned Lady Varley’s high-crowned bonnet, but she knew her simple attire was perfectly suited to a young lady of modest means, and more than adequate for a governess. Lady Varley seemed to agree, for she gave a nod of approval.
‘So, Damon, you have found someone already. How clever of you.’
The Major’s lips curved up slightly.
‘It would be more accurate to say that Miss Wrenn found me.’
Lady Varley waved one pink-gloved hand.
‘Whatever the case, it would seem that I need not take the children out with me after all.’ She paused, glancing down at the two little faces looking up at her. ‘But they are dressed now, so I suppose I must. Come along, then. The carriage is at the door and you know your father does not like to keep his horses standing!’
She hurried the children out of the room, turning at the door to say, ‘We shall not be too long, Damon. I have to stop off at Madame Fleurie’s to look at the new muslin she had brought in for me and then I shall take the girls for a quick turn around the park, to give them an airing before dinner.’
‘You must not mind my sister, Miss Wrenn,’ remarked the Major as the door closed upon the little party. ‘She felt obliged to come to London with the children when their governess walked out. She has not yet forgiven me.’
‘That was very good of her; some aunts might have considered it sufficient to send the children with a servant.’
‘Ah, but then I would not have felt obliged to pay for the gowns she has ordered from Madame Fleurie.’
Juliana was surprised into a laugh, which she quickly stifled—levity was not becoming in a governess. She should take her leave. As if reading her mind, Major Collingham walked to the door.
‘Very well, Miss Wrenn. I will send my carriage to Bouverie Street on Monday morning at, say, eleven o’clock. You will bring your brother and sister with you. I shall have rooms prepared for your arrival.’
‘Thank you, sir. You are very good.’
‘No, it is a business arrangement. My man will have the contract ready for you to sign when you arrive.’ He bent that hard gaze upon her again. ‘I shall expect you to earn your money, Miss Wrenn.’
She met his gaze squarely.
‘I expect nothing less of you, Major Collingham.’
She hurried back to Bouverie Street and made her way directly to the kitchens, where Mrs Churwell was waiting to hear her news. Juliana could not suppress her elation.
‘He’s hired me,’ she cried. ‘Major Collingham is sending the carriage here for me on Monday, and he says Thomas and Amy can come too. I was most surprised at that, I can tell you, but it is ideal for us all.’
‘Oh, well done, dearie! I’m that pleased for you, I really am.’ The housekeeper turned to the footman, who was relaxing in a chair with his feet up on the fender. ‘You hear that, Lawrence? Miss Wrenn is to be a governess to the Major, and him a hero of Waterloo, no less!’
‘Is he? I never knew that.’ Juliana smiled, taking off her bonnet and placing it on a side table.
‘Aye.’ Lawrence poured himself another mug of ale. ‘My brother was in his regiment, the 30
Foot. They fought off the French at Quatre Bras. Praised by Lord Wellington hisself, they was. But that’s not all.’ He grinned. ‘Devil Collingham, they call him. Heard it from the man’s groom hisself, I did, last time I delivered some papers to the house and stopped off for a glass of daffy on the way back. Devil Collingham—devil on the battlefield, and devil in the bedroom. They say in Brussels it was nothing for him to pleasure three women in one night.’
With a shriek Mrs Churwell cuffed him round the ear.
‘I’ll have none of that talk in my kitchen, my lad! You had best get back upstairs, now, before the master starts shouting for you. Go on, now! Don’t you be taking any notice of what Lawrence says,’ she added, when the footman had lounged away. ‘I don’t hold with servants’ tittle-tattle.’
‘No more do I,’ agreed Juliana. She looked up at the housekeeper, a mischievous twinkle in her green eyes. ‘However, it seems I have just made a pact with the devil!’
Chapter Three
‘Well, what do you think of her?’ Wilhelmina whispered to her sister as Lady Varley gave her instructions to the driver. Gwendoline wrinkled her nose.
‘Miss Sevenoaks was much prettier, except when she had been drinking too much, then her face became very red.’
‘Well, I think she’s pretty,’ replied Wilhelmina. ‘And she had kind eyes.’
Gwendoline gave her a nudge as their aunt climbed into the carriage.
‘Whispering again?’ Lady Varley shook her head. ‘I hope this new woman Damon has hired will teach you both some manners.’
They travelled in silence to New Bond Street; when they reached the fashionable dressmaker’s establishment, Lady Varley took the children into the shop, declaring she would prefer to keep them under her eye. The girls gazed around them in wide-eyed wonder. At first glance the walls seemed to be decorated in rainbow colours, but closer inspection revealed shelves from floor to ceiling, packed with rolls of fabric, shiny silks and satin, soft muslins and cottons of every shade. There seemed to be half a dozen ladies in the room, but the girls soon realised that these were life-size dummies displaying the very latest fashions. Madame Fleurie herself appeared from the back of the shop flanked by two simpering assistants, each carrying rolls of creamy-coloured muslin for Lady Varley’s inspection. The modiste curtsied, bowed, flattered and fawned over her patroness, uttering so many compliments in her lilting French accent that Gwendoline turned away, her lip curling. She led her sister to a satin-covered couch, half-hidden between rolls of fabric and piles of hatboxes.
