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Her reaction was spontaneous. She leapt to her feet, threw a nearby vase at him, and growled, low and threateningly, “Get out, and if you don’t, I shall scream loud enough to bring down this entire house around your ears!”
Faith, that should have sent him off. Instead, swaying slightly and with bloodshot eyes, he sneered and took a step towards her.
She threw the chair she had been using at him, but he ducked it, ran at her, and grabbed her arm.
Magic came to her rescue. It swirled around him, lifted him off the floor, and flung him out of the room. She rushed the door, locked it, and once again, without even having to rub her ring, she called on her magic and pushed a dresser in front of it.
Her fear of Sir John had taken precedence over caution, but he was drunk and would not remember details—hopefully. She spelled the door so his key would not work again. Magic. It had become a living entity within her. She had but to need it, and it was there. She would have to be careful.
* * *
By morning, realizing matters were now intolerable, Sassy knew what she had to do.
Sir John was unabashed and unashamed. He had come up to her after breakfast. “Sooner or later,” he threatened, his eyes mere slits in his fury, “I shall have you.”
She knew he would be forever hovering about, ready to pounce on her. He was without principle, and although she might be able to put a stop to it by informing Lady Margate of his behavior, she found she simply could not tell her benefactor such a thing.
She went looking for Lady Margate and found her sitting at her writing desk in the study. Sassy had an idea and hoped fervently that she would be able to implement it. She would take on a position as a governess.
As she broached the subject, Lady Margate put up a hand and frowned. “Enough … impossible … your dear father—”
“I think I would make a good governess,” Sassy interjected. Silently she said to herself, My father would not wish me to remain exposed to Sir John’s advances. However, she could not find it in her to say that to dear Lady Margate.
“Nonsense. What woman would want you under her husband’s gaze? Absurd child … that is out of the question.” Lady Margate sighed. “I did hope you would be happy here. I have such great plans for you. Of course, not until your mourning period is at an end … but …”
“There must be something I could do, for I simply cannot stay,” wailed Sassy, wringing her hands. “I adore you, my lady—I always have—but you know I have never liked to be idle.”
Lady Margate was a kind-hearted woman, and observant. Now and then Sassy suspected Lady Margate knew her son was something more than merely a bit of a cad.
Her ladyship eyed her thoughtfully. “Has it gotten that bad?” Then she added, “Ah, I see that it has. Very well then … let me—” She stopped herself and then said with some excitement in her tone, “Netherby Halls!”
She put a plump finger to her lips. “Indeed. I think you will like that.” She sighed but then put on a hopeful smile. “Perhaps you will get your bearings during this very difficult time in your life.”
“Hmmm. Sounds intriguing. Is it a school?” Sassy returned.
“Yes. My dear friend Edna took to running the school when her husband died. It was a pet project of his, you see. It is a very prestigious school for orphaned girls of the gentry. Sometimes, young girls are left orphaned and penniless, but they have gentle backgrounds. The school is maintained by subscriptions and very little else.” Lady Margate clucked. “Perhaps she has an opening … it is just that, well, Sassy, you are not just the daughter of a local vicar. You are the daughter of a prominent aristocratic family, and how the Earl of Wollington will look at my part in this, my dear, I don’t know.”
“I am only a member of that branch of the family by blood. They have never bothered with me, so I doubt that they would care even if they were to inquire after me, which after all this time, even after my mother’s and now my father’s passing, they have not done.” She shook her head. “This sounds … perfect for me.”
“Actually, I am not certain that it is anything I will allow to go on indefinitely, but I am confident it will be good for you to keep busy and give you a chance to adjust. However, I am hoping that once you have satisfied this need to be independent, you might come back to me. Sassy, you are, well, there is no other way to say this—you are simply ravishing, and to be quite blunt, there isn’t another young woman that could come close to you. The only thing you lack is a large inheritance, but you are not without some income, and you
have your family’s name behind you, no matter what we may think of them.” Lady Margate sighed. “It is not the time to launch you in London just after your father’s passing—well, not this year at any rate—but next year, if you decide you are ready, then you will come back to me and we shall take London by storm, you and I.”
Sassy hugged her ladyship. She had been a friend of her mother’s, and Sassy had known her all her life. “Oh, but I don’t know if I could afford the wardrobe I would need for a London season, my lady, and I don’t indulge myself with fanciful notions …”
“Absurd child, I have so many lovely things that do not fit me, and we can alter them quite nicely for today’s ‘look’ and your figure. In addition to that, I mean to outfit you with a few new things as well. After all, your mother was my dearest friend. ’Tis the least I can do, and don’t wave any objections at me. My pocket can well afford it, and I have always wanted a daughter. What fun! So then, what say you?”
“Then, yes. I do promise you that if Netherby does not work out, I will come back to you, and then, well, we shall see.” Sassy played with her fingers and sighed. “The thing is, I shall be too old to launch on the marriage mart, and the thought of the entire business is most daunting.”
Lady Margate laughed out loud. “Absurd child!” She smiled fondly and waved her hands in a ‘shooing’ motion. “Off—go for a walk while I jot off a letter to Edna. Indeed, the only thing that worries me is that you will have to travel on your own to Bristol. That doesn’t sit well with me.”
“I will manage,” Sassy said.
“Hmmm … I can perhaps send that little chambermaid—oh dear, what is her name?”
“Dolly.” Sassy smiled. “No, you must not do that, for then she would have to travel home alone.”
Lady Margate laughed. “That is part of her job. No, go on, and we shall see how the rest is to be managed.” She suddenly stopped. “Why did I not think of it at once? I shall send my John with you.”
