The Wicked Governess (Blackhaven Brides Book 6)(21)

A daughter who chose to be mute for reasons he either could not or would not reveal to her.

Nevertheless, there was a shared awareness between them now, a shared bond of closeness.

Teaching Rosa the following morning, she found herself longing for a glimpse of him, awaiting luncheon with much more than normal anticipation.

And yet, when luncheon came, he barely looked at her. He seemed more distracted than usual, hardly spoke and reserved his one smile for Rosa, ruffling her hair when she caught his hand to see if he was well. He finally excused himself from the room.

“Busy,” Miss Benedict observed vaguely. “Always busy… And what will you two be doing this afternoon?”

“A little arithmetic and then some watercolor painting, I think. And if we finish early enough, I wondered about walking into Blackhaven. Perhaps a vehicle could be sent to bring us home again?”

“Oh dear, I don’t know! Blackhaven,” Miss Benedict said with the same kind of distasteful dread as she might have mentioned London stews, or even hell. “You had best speak to my brother first. I don’t think…” She trailed off, choosing to finish her luncheon rather than her sentence.

It was while Caroline was correcting Rosa’s arithmetic that the unfamiliar sound of carriage wheels on the stony drive attracted them both to the schoolroom window. A smart, familiar carriage was driven up to the overgrown front terrace and a coachman got down to open the door and let down the steps.

Lady Serena, now Lady Tamar, emerged, closely followed by her sisters, Maria, Alice, and Helen. Caroline’s heart lifted at once.

“How wonderful!” she exclaimed.

But of course, she could not run down there to greet them, no matter how much she might wish to. She was the governess. Lady Tamar might or might not have come to see her, but if she had, no one would admit it. Caroline would have to wait and simply hope that the Benedicts would receive Lady Tamar and then, perhaps, summon Rosa and Caroline…

Rosa gazed at her, brows raised in interrogation.

“My old pupils,” Caroline said warmly. “With their sister, Lady Tamar.”

Rosa walked back to her desk, but not before Caroline had seen the familiar, anxious look on her face. Rosa didn’t like change or the prospect of it.

It seemed to be difficult for both of them to concentrate after that, so it was a relief in several ways when the maid stuck her head around the schoolroom door. “Miss Benedict says will you and Miss Rosa join her in the drawing room.”

Rosa dragged her heels a little. “You will like the young ladies,” Caroline assured her. “Lady Helen is only about a year older than you.”

And doubts Caroline might have harbored as to how the Braithwaite ladies would regard her after the countess’s unfair dismissal, fell apart at once.

She had no sooner entered the drawing room and glimpsed the lovely Lady Tamar seated beside the vague and fluttery Miss Benedict, when a Helen-shaped cannonball hurtled into her. There were no ladylike curtsies and handshakes as she’d taught them. Even Lady Maria, almost sixteen, hugged her with enthusiasm.

Caroline emerged from the multiple embrace with self-conscious laughter. “So much for discipline and self-restraint,” she said severely.

“We are sadly in need of you,” Lady Tamar said warmly, although she offered her hand in a more civilized manner than her siblings. “How are you, Miss Grey?”

“I am very well, as I can see, are you!” She turned to find Rosa shrinking back against the wall, and held out her hand, beckoning. Rosa came with reluctance. “Will you allow me to present my new charge, Miss Rosa Benedict? Rosa, this is Lady Tamar and her sisters, Lady Maria, Lady Alice, and Lady Helen Conway.”

With a kind smile, Lady Tamar held out her hand, and Rosa curtsied slightly grudgingly.

Miss Benedict, meanwhile, was sipping her tea, watching Rosa in a worried kind of way. In Caroline’s experience, children were better sorting out their own relationships, so she merely said lightly, “Don’t overwhelm Rosa all at once. And she does not speak, so you must observe how she does communicate.”

With that, Caroline crossed to Miss Benedict and thanked her for the opportunity to meet her old pupils.

“Well, I can see how fond you are of each other,” Miss Benedict said sadly. “Tea, Miss Grey?”

Caroline accepted a cup and sat opposite Miss Benedict and Serena, who occupied the sofa.

“How is Lord Tamar?” Caroline asked politely and was touched to see a hint of color tinge Serena’s creamy skin.

“He is very well and sends his regards.”

“And your lady mother and his lordship?”

“Ah, they are well, too, and set off yesterday for London at last.”

“Ah.” So, she’d simply been abandoned to her fate after all. Curiously, it didn’t hurt as much as she’d expected it to.

“But he has not forgotten his obligation to you,” Serena said hastily. “In fact, that is one reason I came to call on Miss Benedict. We would very much like you to return to Braithwaite Castle at your earliest convenience.”

Caroline’s eyebrows flew up. This was not how she’d expected things to happen. She searched Lady Serena’s open face. “Ah. I think this is your idea and not Lady Braithwaite’s.”

“Miss Grey, Braithwaite and I both know my mother will relent in the end. In fact, if my brother chose to lay down the law, he could—and will if it becomes necessary. My sisters need you.”