The Colonel's Ungovernable Governess : A Pride and Prejudice Vagary

Chapter Eleven

Edward had gone looking for the twins, though he had asked several maids after Miss Lambert, rather than Vincent and Victoria. He had reasoned that the twins were always with Miss Lambert, or so he told himself. He was quite irritated with this need to seek the woman out constantly. When he reached the kitchen, he paused, out of sight, to listen in on the conversation between Miss Lambert and his brother’s cook.

“Did I tell you that you might claim several of my rolls for these ducklings?” Mrs. Turner asked, but not in an angry tone.

“If you wish me to entice them outside, I require something more tempting than my pleas,” Miss Lambert argued.

“They should not be in my kitchen,” Mrs. Turner declared, but again, not in a scolding manner.

“You do not mind the children sneaking down to visit with the ducklings,” Miss Lambert cajoled. “You enjoy having the children about; otherwise, you would not keep extra biscuits in the jar.”

“I’ll have me none of your sass, missy,” Mrs. Turner asserted, but she was laughing as she did so. “Nice to view the young ones being children is all I can say in me defense.”

“They are adorable,” Miss Lambert observed.

“Who?” Edward asked as he stepped into the room. “The ducklings or the twins?”

Miss Lambert’s shoulders rolled into place, having lost the easiness of a few moments earlier. “Both, would you not think, Colonel?” she challenged.

“I understand the need for the twins to come below stairs, but why is it necessary for the ducklings to be underfoot?”

“Because their mother is nowhere to be found. If we do not feed them, they will die. The twins have expressed a concern that the ducklings mimic their own circumstance. Under that assumption, Mrs. Turner and I thought it best to feed the ducklings. If such an expense is too much for the estate to assume, you may take the cost of feed from my pay.”

“Such is not necessary. Yet, I am concerned the ducklings could cause an accident in the kitchen. We could create a pen to enclose the ducklings inside until they are strong enough to release into the wild. I think it would be good for the twins to tend the ducklings—to become responsible for their survival. Do you object, Miss Lambert?”

“I do not, Colonel.” She bent to capture one of the ducklings. “We could begin by placing them in the stables, do you not think, sir? More than several chickens are often found within.”

“A good compromise,” he agreed. “I will set a couple of the men to constructing an enclosure. I would wish the children to assist with some of the tasks, which would mean you should oversee their efforts. I do not wish them to grow up thinking themselves due privileges simply because of their position in society. You do know where they are at this moment, do you not?” he added so he might appear to have been searching for the twins.

“Lady Victoria is with Lady Annabelle. Lady Annabelle is supposedly assisting her sister with Victoria’s needlework, but I planned to check in on them in another quarter hour to assure myself all is as it should be. I found no reason to deny Lady Annabelle’s request for her sister to join her after so long a separation. As to Lord Vincent, the boy wished to work on his research for the Jennings family tree. I promised to show him something of how one might look when finished. In reference to overseeing their work on the pen for the ducklings, I shall see to it, Colonel,” she responded smartly. “Is there anything else, sir?”

“Yes, I would like to speak to you privately if you do not mind. , in the study in five minutes.” As he walked away, Edward had no idea why he had asked her to meet with him privately. The woman was too much of a temptation. Whenever he was in her presence, he wished to touch her.

He had barely reached his desk when she knocked on the open door. “Mrs. Turner says these are your favorites. They are fresh from the oven.”

Edward eyed the raisin-laced biscuits. “It was good of Mrs. Turner to consider my favorites. You may set them on the desk.” He did not dare leave the security of having a space between them.

She set the plate on the desk and lifted the lid on a small bowl of sugar on the tray and began sprinkling it across the warm soft biscuits. It clung to the dough quickly, and she licked the sugar from her fingers. It was all he could do not to catch her hand and suck her fingertips clean. Like it or not, a small groan escaped his lips.

“I knew you would approve,” she said as she circled the desk to hold the plate with one of the biscuits sitting upon it, which she lifted to his lips. “Taste them while they are still hot.”

Angry at himself for desiring her, he caught her wrist. “What game do you play, Miss Lambert?” he hissed.

“No game, Colonel. I simply meant to see you treated with a bit of happiness. You have taken on so much, what with the children and all. I know you must be terribly worried for your brother.”

“I am accustomed to duty,” he declared as he snatched the plate from her fingers and set it on the desk. “Duty to my family and my country is all I have ever known.”

“Duty to everyone but yourself,” she said softly. “So very sad. Everyone deserves a moment or two of happiness.” She shoved her shoulders back in a motion that often mimicked his response. It made him very sad, for he never wanted anyone for whom he cared to know the “despair” he often experienced. “I should go.”

“No,” he responded. “I have not yet tasted the biscuits. Do you mind offering them again?”

She looked at him oddly, but reached for the plate and lifted the biscuit to his lips. He was confident she knew what was to come. She did not look away from his steady gaze. When the biscuit touched his lips, he only took a nibble. Though it was a tempting morsel of pastry, the sweet biscuit was not what he desired.

As if his hand had a mind of its own, he took the plate and returned it to the desk. “If you do not wish this, Miss Lambert, you should step away now.” When she did not move, he gently drew her into his embrace, providing her the opportunity to change her mind. “This is more to my taste,” he murmured as his lips covered hers. Heaven surrounded him. Her warmth. The scent of rose water. The feel of her along his front. He had just parted her lips with his tongue and was prepared to deepen his kiss, when she suddenly pulled back, shoving against his shoulder.

Although his body screamed otherwise, he permitted her to do so without reaching for her again. Though, he desired her more than his next breath, he would not force himself on her.

She looked at him warily. “We should not become involved,” she rasped.

“You objected to my kiss after all,” he said in clipped tones, he could not hide.

“No, I wished your kiss. The kiss was a necessary part of this ‘dance’ we are performing. Your kiss was more than pleasant—it would be odd if I did not desire it.”

“In many ways, you are the most remarkable governess God ever created, though we both know you were never meant to be a governess. I do not know whether I should encourage you to remain with the twins or send you packing. You are nothing of the nature of any governess I have ever encountered. Should I dismiss you or encourage you? You are truly a conundrum, Miss Lambert.”

She raised her chin in hauteur. “As are you, sir,” she retorted.

“Should you not already be married?” he continued, ignoring her response. “By your own words, you are nearing your majority. Was there no one on the Continent who thought to tame you?” he demanded.

“I could ask the same of you. Mrs. Darcy says you are two years senior to your cousin, making you somewhere around two and thirty. And as to those on the Continent, who says I never had a ‘love’?” she said in a huff of apparent frustration, which went a long way in calming his own temperament, while wondering what man would dare to walk away from her. “Did you mean your ‘should you not already be married’ as a proposal, Colonel?”

“If I choose to propose to you, you would have no doubt regarding my intention,” he quipped.

“I thought perhaps you might believe since I accepted a kiss from you that I expected you to propose. I do not. Not now. Not ever.” With that, she stormed from the room, calling over her shoulder, “Please do not choke on the biscuits, Colonel. You are to escort the children to the fair today!”

* * *

Jocelyn made her way to the school room, though she would have much preferred to seek out Mrs. Darcy’s advice regarding how to think upon what just occurred, but the lady would likely demand the colonel extend his hand to Jocelyn, and, until she reached her majority, Jocelyn required her parents’ permission to accept, assuming the colonel acted honorably. She supposed they could cross into Scotland, not so long removed when in Lincolnshire than if in London, but she did not wish to be married over the anvil.

Despite wishing to remain in her quarters and consider what could and could not become of a relationship with the colonel, Jocelyn washed her face and hands and sought out the twins to instruct them on what would become of the ducklings. “When you return from the fair and and perhaps part of tomorrow, though it is a Sunday, you two are to assist whoever the colonel chooses to build an enclosure for the ducklings. The ducks cannot be underfoot in the kitchen. For now, they may be found in the barn. I have told your uncle we all would be happy to assist.”

“Was Uncle Edward angry with us?” Victoria asked.

“Not with you,” Jocelyn thought. “Of course not,” she assured the child. “The colonel understands children must be children, though he quite reasonably saw the danger of one of the kitchen staff falling over one of the ducklings and harming himself or herself to the point of not being able to earn a proper wage.”

“They might spill something hot on themselves or another,” Vincent reasoned.

It was not often the boy saw the danger for someone else, and Jocelyn took his words as a blessing. “You should be prepared to depart after the midday meal, so take your outer wraps with you when you go below. And do not forget a bonnet and gloves, Victoria.”

“Will you be wearing a bonnet also,” the girl asked.

Jocelyn explained, “I shall not be attending the fair with you. I am but a governess.”

“That is not fair,” Vincent declared. “You deserve . . . a day . . . of pleasure, too.” Evidently, the boy had come to depend upon her, which was a pleasing idea, but, for the first time since joining the Fitzwilliam family’s household, Jocelyn realized the obligations she had assumed. Would Vincent be capable of trusting another after she departed? In reality, she must do so sooner, rather than later, so as not to harm the boy.

“I am telling Uncle Edward we will not go without you,” Victoria declared.

Jocelyn knelt before them to say, “You will attend, as Mr. and Mrs. Darcy delayed their return to their home estate in order to spend the day with you. Moreover, your sister has returned, and you would not wish to disappoint her.” She straightened the line of their clothes as she spoke.

“It is still not fair,” Victoria said with a pout.

“It is how things are done. Now, we must go below for the meal. Be assured you have everything you will require with you.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Within minutes, she was directing the twins to chairs near where their sister would sit. Then she stood along the wall with the other servants.

Mr. and Mrs. Darcy entered together. They were laughing about something the lady must have said in the hall. The love they shared was evident in every little gesture they exchanged. In many ways, viewing them together made Jocelyn very sad, for she did not expect to know happiness in marriage. She had burned many bridges when she had run away from her parents’ home. Her father and mother would have no choice but to place her wherever they could find someone who would accept her impetuous spirit.

“What are you doing along the wall?” Mrs. Darcy asked.

“I am employed in this house, Mrs. Darcy,” Jocelyn said softly, so as not to make a scene of her choice.

The woman looked to her husband, who shrugged his response just as the colonel entered with Lady Annabelle on his arm. “Is something amiss?” he asked upon viewing Mrs. Darcy’s visible irritation.

“I thought,” Mrs. Darcy said, “it was settled that Miss Lambert was to eat with the children either in the schoolroom or at this table. Has something occurred of which neither Mr. Darcy nor I have been made privy? I would not mean to tell you how to run the estate, Colonel, but, as Miss Lambert is here at my suggestion, I would not have her treated poorly in my absence.”

“There must be some mistake,” the colonel said. “When were you told not to eat with the children?”

“Earlier, sir, you questioned whether I should remain as a governess, as you thought I did not perform as one. Therefore, I assumed I should practice the customary perceptions of how a proper governess goes on. Though the estate has, in my weak observation, employed several ‘proper’ governesses who did not encourage Lord Vincent and Lady Victoria to learn a variety of subjects nor address proper behavior. One must make up his mind as to which approach is required in their instruction. Am I or am I not required to create new experiences for them? To oversee not only their preparation for school but also their manners and decorum?”

“I want Miss Lambert,” Vincent said stubbornly.

Lady Annabelle said, “The colonel will know what is best.”

The gentleman presented Jocelyn a look that could strike a person dead, but she was accustomed to a variety of men who ruled countries, rather than a simple household, so she easily smiled demurely. “Until their parents return and overrule my orders, I will make the necessary decisions regarding the tending to Lady Lindale’s children. As I also hold duties to the Army, I must have someone who will consider both the education and welfare of Lord Vincent and Lady Victoria in my absence. In my opinion, Miss Lambert has demonstrated good sense in her approach in teaching the children and should be presented the opportunity to choose what and how to teach them. I will claim as part of my acting administration for this household the same latitude and ask you to join us at the table, Miss Lambert.”

“And at the fair today,” Vincent added.

“And at the fair,” the colonel said grudgingly. “Everyone sit. The meal is waiting. Mr. Torrence, please serve.”

“Yes, sir.” All the servants scrambled to place food on the table.

Meanwhile, Jocelyn circled the table to sit with the twins, while the Darcys sat beside Lady Annabelle, who did not appear, in Jocelyn’s opinion, to agree with the colonel’s decision. Had the girl arrived home early to take advantage of the colonel’s presence without her parents’ oversight or was something more intriguing on the horizon?