From Governess to Countess (Matches Made in Scandal #1)(23)
‘Which neither of our suspects possess, you mean?’
‘Which very few people possess, I mean. I think we must look for something simple and easily obtained. If your brother was poisoned, given what you have said of the risk and the consequences, then the murderer would have to ensure that he committed as near the perfect crime as possible—no one else involved in making a poison, no one suspicious of any poison purchased, and a poison which produced something which looked enough like an apoplexy to fool a very well-respected doctor.’
‘A perfect crime, or a perfectly natural death. You think I am—what is the phrase, jumping up the wrong tree?’
‘Barking,’ Allison corrected, smiling, ‘and no, I don’t. I think you need to be sure, one way or another. I will do my best to help you, and hopefully by the time you have found Madame Orlova, I will have something definitive to tell you.’
‘I plan to head first for the Orlova family home and pick up the trail from there. You must not worry, Michael—dammit, Nikki’s man of business will look after things.’
‘It’s the children I’m worried about. I am a complete stranger to them.’
‘You know that I’m not really expecting you to teach them, only to ensure that they are taken care of? They have been perfectly content with their nanny and an escape from the schoolroom these last months. Time enough for them to return to their normal routine when this is over.’
‘Yes, but I would like to help them in any way I can. My heart goes out to them.’
‘I thought that you would be happy to be spared teaching duties, but you must do as you see fit. I trust you.’
‘You do?’
He drew her closer. ‘I do. I have every faith in you.’
She smiled up at him. ‘Thank you.’ Her fingers clutched his tightly. ‘You have no idea how much that means to me.’
‘Allison, before I leave I need to ask you if you regret last night.’
‘No, I don’t.’ A blush stole up her throat, but she met his gaze fully. ‘I am thirty-one years old. I will not pretend to innocence, though my experience is limited, for my vocation matters more to me than any man, and always will. But I am sick of the double standards which require a professional woman to be beyond reproach. I am tired of suppressing my feelings and I’m weary of having to disguise my looks. Last night was...’
She was blushing furiously now. ‘I think it was perfectly obvious how I felt about last night, but for the sake of clarity, since we have no time to dance around the subject, then let me tell you that I would be more than happy to—to carry on from where we left off on your return, on the strict understanding that it doesn’t interfere with our task.’
She looked so adorably flustered he wanted to kiss her. Which was the thing she’d asked him not to do. ‘Then for the sake of clarity, let me reassure you that I am similarly more than happy to continue on those terms.’
‘Then we have a deal.’ She held out her hand, the gesture of an English gentleman, intending to shake his, but that was a step too far for Aleksei. He kissed her fingertips lightly. And she exhaled sharply. And despite their agreement, his resolution weakened. She stepped towards him. He moved towards her.
‘Your Illustrious Highness. Forgive my interruption.’ The servant’s voice made them leap apart ‘You asked to be informed immediately His Serene Highness Duke Nicholas returned.’
‘Who?’ Allison asked bemusedly.
Aleksei grinned. ‘Nikki, and presumably his two sisters. Come, Madam Governess, it is time for you to meet your charges.’
Chapter Five
Aleksei had been gone almost three weeks, during which time Allison had made limited progress with her investigations and even less with the children. Which hurt. She knew she was being foolish, she had known they would view her as an interloper and what’s more Aleksei had made it clear that he did not expect her to launch any sort of charm offensive, yet she opened the schoolroom door each morning with a sinking heart.
Nikki stood to attention at his desk, looking as if he was about to salute her. Catiche and Elena rose reluctantly, dropping the most grudging of curtsies and sank back on to their chairs before Allison had even reached hers. Nikki’s nascent smile faded as Elena yanked him unceremoniously back into his seat, hissing something at him in Russian.
‘Good morning.’ Allison’s smile was fixed. She knew it was too wide and too rigid. She also knew it would not be returned.
‘Good morning, Miss Galbraith,’ the three children chorused in perfect and perfectly expressionless English.
Allison made a show of shuffling the papers and books stacked on her desk, studying her charges from beneath her lashes. She had been prepared for reserve, expected tantrums, these were troubled orphans after all, but this sullen display of outward compliance, she was finding very difficult to penetrate.
Catiche, at thirteen, was coltish, at that awkward stage between girl and young woman. She seemed to be tangled in legs grown too long, both embarrassed and proud of her burgeoning curves. Her features were maturing from childhood cuteness, too raw to be beautiful as yet, though with all the signs of beauty to come. As the eldest, it was to be expected that she would be most affected by the loss of her parents and governess, but Catiche hid it inordinately well, doing her crying in private, and refusing point blank to acknowledge any redness in her eyes when Allison had gently raised the subject. For the most part her expression was taciturn. Her eyes were disconcertingly Baltic blue, exactly like Aleksei’s and every bit as icy. The only emotion she made no attempt to disguise was a contempt for the English intruder.