A Spy's Devotion (The Regency Spies of London #1)(31)
“No, Phoebe, I’m not perfect. But I suppose I can be thankful Mr. Dinklage’s mother didn’t approve of me, so that I wouldn’t have to admit to him that I don’t love him and don’t wish to marry him.”
Phoebe threw her arms around Julia. “I can’t imagine any man not falling in love with you. I’m sure I love you as much and more than I could love any sister.” She pressed her cheek against Julia’s.
Julia’s heart swelled with love for the impulsive girl. She was the one person in all the world who actually loved her.
Phoebe released her. “I must go. I am going riding with Maria Cotter and her brother in an hour.”
“Even after you called her a liar?”
“Oh, she never minds what I say. Besides, she said she would look like a ninny going riding with only her brother.”
Phoebe opened the door to find a servant in the hall, who curtsied to her and then handed Julia a letter.
“For you, miss.”
“Good-bye, Julia.” Phoebe skipped down the hall.
Julia closed the door and focused on her letter. It was from Sarah. Julia opened it and started to read.
My dear Julia,
I am getting to know my new pupils and enjoying teaching them—mostly. The boys are not very scholarly or interested in books, but one of the daughters, Catherine, is a sweet-tempered girl who likes to please me. Her brothers, however, make her cry at least once a day. They can be so trying.
Truly, I was very lonely in my first days here and missed you and Phoebe and the rest of the Wilhern household most keenly. However, my employer’s son, Mr. William, has been very attentive to me. Can you believe we are the same exact age, born on the same day? He brings me little gifts—nothing that I shouldn’t accept, lest you scold me, dear Julia—a flower from the garden or some printed papers. He is home from school and hopes to become a barrister in a year or two. I’ve never met anyone so humble and sweet. He doesn’t mind that I am a governess. He seems to enjoy my company and seeks me out when I’m in the garden taking my walk in the mornings. I must confess, I look forward to our conversations more than anything, and I’m certain my life would be one long drudgery if not for Mr. William. Therefore, you mustn’t scold me, Julia. I just cannot do without this innocent distraction, for it is completely innocent.
And now I am most anxious to hear how things stand between you and Mr. Dinklage. It is my greatest wish to receive a letter from you saying that you have been able to engage Mr. Dinklage’s affections, and he yours, and you are to be married as soon as the banns have been read.
God bless you, Julia, for your friendship to me.
Yours devotedly,
Sarah Peck
“Oh, Sarah.” That her friend could be so imprudent as to form an attachment to her employer’s son. She must write immediately and put her friend on her guard.
But perhaps the man did have feelings for Sarah, and perhaps those feelings would translate into a proposal of marriage. It wasn’t completely unheard of. Although Julia couldn’t remember a single instance in which a gentleman’s son had married a governess. All the stories she could remember had ended in the ruination of the governess’s reputation. Story after story crossed her mind of a governess who had fallen for the charm of her employer’s son—or some other gentleman—who had then taken advantage of her and left her heartbroken and ruined.
If Sarah thought being a governess was bad, how much worse off would she be once her character was defamed to the point that she would no longer be accepted in a respectable home?
But Julia was thinking too far ahead. Sarah surely wouldn’t do anything so imprudent. If the man didn’t have honorable intentions toward her, she would not fall for his trickeries. Sarah was a morally upright girl.
Still, her letter gave Julia enough alarm that she vowed to, as kindly and gently as she could, write a letter that would warn Sarah of the dangers of being too familiar with her employers’ son. It was worth the risk of straining their friendship.
Julia turned back to the letter she had already started, dipped her quill in her ink pot, and prayed her words would be as well received as they were meant.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Season was well underway. Phoebe had been despondent the past few days as Mr. Langdon had not been amongst the guests at the last two balls they’d attended. Had he returned to his regiment in the Peninsula?
The next Tuesday, Julia scanned the street for Mr. Langdon’s familiar face as she and Miss Appleby, Felicity’s spinster aunt, who was taking Felicity’s place as her visiting companion, made their way down Bishopsgate Street to visit the Bartholdys. She wasn’t hoping to see Mr. Langdon, precisely. She was only curious, for Phoebe’s sake, and wanted to find out if he had quitted London or would be turning up at the next ball. But did this explain the way her heart fluttered when she saw a hat ahead that looked like Mr. Langdon’s? The way she held her breath until she saw it wasn’t him after all?
It didn’t mean anything. Why would she want to see a man who had such a penchant for teasing her, especially about Mr. Dinklage? Certainly Mr. Langdon had learned by now that Mr. Dinklage had thrown her over because of his mother’s disapproval, and that Mrs. Dinklage had sent him away for the rest of the Season to keep him safe from her.
Safe from me. How ludicrous. But if he married Julia and was cast off by his mother, she would settle the estate upon his younger brother, and he who had been destined for wealth would forever be poor—because of her.