Chapter 20 #2
Caroline would not be manipulated onto her side.
After checking on the sisters in the schoolroom, where they were working on their work with Jenny Drew watching over them, Caroline headed downstairs and into the morning room. She met Hadleigh as he was coming out.
“Lady Caroline? I thought you were with the girls this morning.”
“I’ve been asked to receive someone for a visit in a couple of minutes.” Caroline chose her words carefully. “Would you be so good as to let them into the morning room? Hopefully, it won’t take long.”
“Very well.”Hadleigh gave her a small bow. “I’ll make the cook aware that we’re going to need tea and biscuits.”
“Not just yet, Hadleigh. I doubt my … guest will be here very long.” Caroline hoped she wasn’t, anyway. “I’ll ring for tea if we do stay long enough for that.”
“As you wish, My Lady.”
Hadleigh walked away, and Caroline entered the morning room.
Shaking her head, she began to pace the room.
Why on earth had she said to Hadleigh that she had a guest and not given her name?
It was going to be obvious that Lady Mary was the guest in a moment.
Her nerves had got the best of her; she couldn’t exactly hide someone like Mary Chadwick coming to the house.
She needed to regain her composure before she did something stupid.
As she waited, Caroline found her mind turning over what could be the reason Lady Mary wanted to speak to her.
More than likely, it was about the children, but if it wasn’t?
Could it be she wanted Caroline to get David on her side so he would look more favourablyon her?
It wouldn’t be the first time someone had asked a servant to do that.
And Lady Mary hadn’t exactly conducted herself in the best way the day before.
David might say he didn’t want to marry her, but it wasn’t any of Caroline’s business.
He had to do this for his family and his title.
That was what should matter to him, even if that meant marrying someone inappropriate for him in terms of temperament and attitude. Lady Mary was a complete mismatch.
Of course, that was in Caroline’s eyes. And she was very much biased. She had never thought it was so difficult to watch someone she loved get married to someone else. Caroline didn’t expect the pain to come with it.
Now she understood why it was described as heartbreak; her chest felt so tight she was sure it would crack.
The sound of carriage wheels had Caroline wanting to rush to the window, but she stopped herself. She shouldn’t look so eager to see who it was. Hopefully, it wasn’t David returning from wherever he went.
Shortly after Caroline opened the letter at the breakfast table, he said just the day before that he was going to meet Joseph for a meeting elsewhere, but he didn’t specify what was going on beyond that.
It seemed the perfect opportunity to meet with Lady Mary if David were out of the house; the woman had written that she needed to speak with Caroline as soon as possible, if Caroline felt she couldn’t wait until her next afternoon off.
If he came back now, he would ask questions, and Caroline wasn’t sure what to say.
A short while later, after the front door opened and closed, Caroline could hear muffled voices, the door to the morning room opened, and Hadleigh came in.
“Lady Mary Chadwick, Lady Caroline,” he said, giving her the barest of eyebrow raises.
“Thank you, Hadleigh.” Caroline smoothed her hands on her skirts. She wasn’t about to explain herself. “Show her in.”
Hadleigh stepped aside, and Lady Mary practically swept in. Behind her was a petite girl in a maid’s uniform with black hair pinned back from her face so severely that Caroline was surprised that her features weren’t pulled taut.
“Lady Caroline,” Lady Mary sniffed as she looked Caroline up and down.
“Lady Mary.” Caroline gave her a small curtsy. “To what do I owe this visit? I was quite surprised to get a letter from you yesterday.”
“Well, it’s not a social call. I have something important to discuss with you.”
“I see.” Caroline moved towards the bellpull. “I’ll ring for some tea.”
“I don’t want any tea. I won’t be staying long enough for that.” Lady Mary adjusted her gloves so there weren’t any creases. “I just came here to speak to you about a matter that needs to be addressed immediately.”
Caroline stopped. This sounded very cryptic, and she was already beginning to get tired of it. Lady Mary liked to be in charge of things, including a conversation. Caroline had forgotten about that.
“Alright, then. What’s this matter that needs to be addressed?”
“I don’t want you around the Duke of Bayntree anymore.”
It took a moment for Caroline to make sense of the words. She stared at her.
“What did you say?”
“I think your relationship between the duke and you is inappropriate, and I don’t want that to get in the way of our courtship.”
Caroline was reeling from this declaration. She found herself swaying, and she inwardly shook herself. How could this woman have known what was going on? How did she suspect?
Caroline tried to play dumb.
“I … I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Lady Mary snorted.
“Don’t play innocent with me, Caroline. It’s not a good look on you. I saw how you and the duke were when I came to tea that afternoon.”
“But we didn’t do anything except talk. How could you think anything was inappropriate between us from just that?”
“I saw how you looked at him,” Lady Mary sneered. “And I watched the duke stare at you as you walked away. There is clearly something between you, and I don’t like it.”
“Nothing like that happened.”
“Are you calling me a liar?”
Caroline held up her hands. Lady Mary was starting to become somewhat volatile, and she didn’t want a drawn-out war of words.
“I never said that. I think you just misinterpreted things.”
“I didn’t misunderstand anything. There’s something between you two, and it’s not acceptable.”
“David …” Caroline silently cursed herself when she didn’t catch herself in time, and Lady Mary’s eyebrows shot up.
“The duke and I are childhood friends. I know our social status is different now, but I’m his governess now, nothing more.
We can’t turn off our previous relationship for our current status just so quickly. ”
Lady Mary folded her arms. Her expression said she clearly didn’t believe it.
“If you expect me to take that as the truth, then you clearly don’t remember how I can get the real truth out of people.”
“You mean by threatening to spread gossip about someone around the ton? You do realise that it just makes you look worse by spreading said rumours.” Caroline shook her head.
“I don’t know why you’re so upset about this.
The duke and I are employer and governess, and that’s it.
If you believe you saw something between us, then that’s in your head. ”
“So you are calling me a liar.”
“I wouldn’t go above my station and do that. Now that would be poor etiquette.”
Lady Mary snorted.
“Well, it has to stop. Immediately, if possible.”
“You don’t want me to talk to the duke about his sisters’ schooling?”
“I’d rather you didn’t have any interactions at all. After all, the two of you have a previous history, and the tension is palpable.”
“Why are you so invested in this fantasy, Lady Mary?”
Lady Mary’s eyes flashed. Her jaw tightened. It was like the ability to be a genteel woman had long gone.
“This is not a fantasy, Lady Caroline. I know what I saw. I will marry into the family soon, and I don’t want to see you around.”
“You’re asking me to leave?”
“Of course. I can’t have you under the same roof while I’m married to the duke.” Lady Mary’s mouth twitched. “Besides, if Henrietta and Gwen are sent away to school, you won’t be needed anyway. There won’t be any need for you here.”
Caroline could feel her own frustration building. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Getting upset at the woman wasn’t going to get them anywhere. If anything, Lady Mary had the upper hand simply because she was the lady and Caroline was a member of the household.
She had to choose her words carefully and make them sound convincing.
“You know the duke won’t ever let that happen. He loves his sisters, and he won’t send them away.”
“Once I get in his ear, he’ll listen to me. I will be the one who tells him what he should be doing. Having his young sisters under the same roof is not exactly good for a newlywed couple.”
“He’s their guardian,” Caroline reminded her. “And they’ve recently lost their father. Do you really believe it’s a good idea to separate them from their brother so soon after that?”
“They’ll be fine. Children are resilient. They can cope without him.”
“That sounds so callous, Lady Mary.”
Lady Mary shrugged.
“It’s nothing compared to what I normally say about children.
I hate them. They’re so annoying, especially when they’re little.
I like them when they’re babies and unable to do anything, but I'm not interested once they start moving around and talking back. And at ten and fifteen? They are probably the worst ages.”
Caroline couldn’t believe she was hearing this. She had suspected that Lady Mary didn’t care for children, but to have such an attitude about them and wanting to ship them off so she didn’t have to see them sounded cruel.
If David were aware of this, he would not be happy.
He wanted children of his own. Having Lady Mary as their mother would be scary, if not downright dangerous.
Caroline had heard of mothers who didn’t have much of a loving connection to their children, but Lady Mary would be making sure there was no connection.