“You Lightholders are a curse!” Bassett spat as Ezra turned to go.
The duke paused. For once, he didn’t bother to deny his family ties.
“And I am the worst of the lot,” he said pleasantly. “Don’t delay, Bassett. You will not like the consequences.”
And then he left, confident that the lord would do as he had been told. After all, nobody ever denied Ezra Swifton’s requests.
Nobody except Letitia Knightley.
Andthatwas about to change.
CHAPTER 6
“Iam sorry, Miss Knightley,” bland Lady Bassett said, an unyielding look on her face. “But the offer is no longer available.”
“I am sorry,” Letitia said, though it was ridiculous thatshewas apologizing. Still, she didn’t know what else to say, not when she was here, in the Bassetts’ home, her satchel clutched between her fingers so tightly that her knuckles had gone white. “I just… I don’t understand.”
Lady Bassett pressed her lips together until a thin white line emerged around the edges.
“You don’t need to understand,” she said after a long moment. “The position is unavailable. Please leave.”
Letty’s heart was pounding in her chest. Only an hour ago, she had been embracing Sarah fiercely, promising to visit on her first half-day off. She asked her friend a dozen times if she hadenough funds to get by until Letitia received her first paycheck, and Sarah had, a dozen times, assured her that she did.
And then she had left, feeling reassured that things were finally turning her way.
And now this.
“But…” Letitia said, looking around wildly, as though she could find some way out of this, as though an answer was hiding between that ugly potted tree or the large vase full of half-dead flowers. “But you hired me.”
“And now, I am not hiring you.” Lady Bassett had a sour look, but Letitia had the strange impression that it wasn’t entirely directed at her. “I do not care to argue about this any further. Goodbye, Miss Knightley.”
The lady left with an aggrieved sniff. Letty stood, blinking in confusion, at the house she thought would be her home, at least for a while.
What was she supposed to do next? Slink back home and tell Sarah that she had somehow been dismissed on her very first day?
“Miss Knightley.”
Letitia looked up, expecting a footman ready to throw her out, and was surprised when she spotted a middle-aged gentlemanwith thinning, graying hair on top instead. She had never met him before, but this had to be Lord Bassett, though she had no idea how he knew her name.
She blinked away the desperate tears that had threatened to fall and gave the gentleman a polite smile.
“I beg your pardon, my lord,” she said, her bobbed curtsy knocked a little off-kilter by her heavy satchel. “I have just received the news that the position has been filled by someone else.”
This wasn’t precisely what Lady Bassett had said, but it felt better than “I just found out I was sacked for no reason.”
“I will be going now,” she concluded, trying to sound unbothered.
“Well, that’s actually what I wanted to speak with you about,” the man said amiably.
Despite herself, Letitia felt a flicker of hope ignite in her chest.
Of course, it wouldn’t be ideal to have a position in a household where the lady didn’t want her there. But Letitia could convince Lady Bassett that she was a good governess. She would stay out of the way, keep her head down, teach the children effectively… She could do it. And then, if things became untenable, she could seek another position. Maybe the Lightholders would even take her back after their year abroad. It wasn’t a perfect plan, butit was a better plan than her and Sarah both slowly starving to death.
“Oh?” she inquired mildly.
The amiable look melted into something cruder, and Letitia knew in an instant that she had hoped too soon.
“The position of governess isn’t available, it’s true,” Lord Bassett said, stepping into her space, angling himself toward her. “But we could make… another arrangement. A pretty girl like you...”
