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He was torn between admiration for her spirit and frustration with her slippery answer. “Could we not agree that as this is, as you pointed out, a unique situation, we could find some sort of compromise on what the role includes?”
“What exactly are you wanting to add into the contracted role, Your Grace?” She now sounded both suspicious and worried. “I may not be qualified for what you are about to ask,” she reminded him, and Gil felt a surge of guilt. The poor young woman probably feared for her wages.
“Your position is safe, have no fear, my dear Miss Jones. But, as you pointed out, everyone’s education ought to continue.” He watched as she appeared slightly mollified but continued to pay close attention to his words and expression. “I fear I succumbed to my daughter’s pleas far too readily. Nine years old is too young to have left the schoolroom. I do wish her to continue learning. You pointed out that she is articulate and literate. But that should progress, not stagnate, wouldn’t you agree?”
“I most heartily would agree,” she responded promptly. “But I have no formal training in how to offer instruction, Your Grace. Are you ready to trust your daughter’s continued education to one such as me? When I mentioned continued education earlier, I had been thinking about reading literature and exploring the globe, things like that.”
Gil nodded, pleased that she was open to his new idea.
“Perhaps we could meet together periodically to discuss where you are in your discussions with Adelina and what I think she ought to still learn. There are many years yet before she needs to enter Society.” There was a pause as the girl nodded, seemingly deep in thought over his words. “Could you tell me what you know of what is needed for a young lady such as Adelina to know before she makes her debut?”
A strange expression flitted across Miss Jones’ face. Gil thought she seemed irritated by the question but he couldn’t imagine why. She answered readily enough.
“A young lady needs to know how to converse politely with anyone she might encounter. She ought to also know how to control a conversation or situation in case she finds herself in an uncomfortable environment. She ought to have a reasonable grasp of her Debrett’s so that she will know what is expected when introduced to new people, although for Adelina, as a duke’s daughter, she will take precedence in most situations, so that ought not be difficult. But still, knowing who’s who will make things more comfortable for her, as everyone else will be sure to know.”
Gil’s lips twitched in amusement over the dry tone of her last statement, but he was distracted as the girl continued on in her recital. “Adelina will most likely contract an advantageous marriage to a nobleman.” Gil didn’t understand the controlled tone of her voice as Miss Jones said that. It was as though she were making a concerted effort to not have any emotions on display over it but before he could question her, she carried on. “As such, she will need to know how to deal with servants, how to plan menus, how to budget her pin money.” Miss Jones paused in thought as though warming to her subject. “I expect you’ll be generous in her dowry, so it isn’t likely she will need the skill of economizing, but I do consider that an exceedingly useful skill for any woman to have, as you never can tell when your circumstances might change drastically.”
Gil’s heart squeezed with sympathy as he thought she might be referencing herself. He didn’t know much of her history, but she was obviously gently born and yet in straightened circumstances to have sought employment. “So I can see how it would be easy enough to incorporate many aspects of a formal education into the overarching topic of preparing for one’s future.” Suddenly, the girl looked at him speculatively. “Anyone who says girls don’t need an education is truly ignorant, wouldn’t you say? Even the impoverished need to be educated or they’ll never be able to change their circumstances.” Her eyes widened. “Or is that perhaps the point?” Horror filled her expressive face. “Do you think people are opposed to educating girls and the poor as a means of keeping control over them?” Suddenly tears flooded the beautiful young woman’s eyes, and she looked at him as though beseeching him to tell her she was wrong. Unfortunately, Gil could not. His heart squeezed for her even as it sped up in response to their evident similarity of thought on the subject. But he couldn’t think of a way to comfort her despite his urge to pull her into his arms. He swallowed the urge but still almost reached for her hands.
“Miss Jones, I beg of you,” he began rather desperately, concerned that she might be about to cause a scene. But before he could go much further, she seemed to gather herself and blink her emotions away.
“My apologies, Your Grace. It seems I allowed my tongue to run away with me there for a moment. But do you think I’ve encapsulated what you would expect Lady Adelina to know in order to be prepared for her debut? I think, too, things like geography, world history, and current affairs ought to be covered as well in order for her to be well informed and conversant without”—she offered him a droll face—“turning her into a bluestocking.”
“That does sound well-rounded, thank you, Miss Jones.”
“But I do think your suggestion of meeting to compare notes, as it were, is a good idea. I wouldn’t want to go off on a tangent and forget something important. We do, though, as you said, have many years to prepare.” She then grinned at him, causing him to have to catch his breath once more. “This is going to be great fun, Your Grace. I do thank you once again for offering me this position, despite my lack of training as a governess.”
“If you had been trained as a governess, Adelina wouldn’t have been pleased. She was determined to have a companion, not a teacher.”
“Do you know why?” The frown on her face mirrored the concern the duke himself felt on the subject.
“No, and I haven’t felt comfortable to pry the answer out of her. I was hoping you might know.”
“Not yet. I’ve been just trying to get to know her and gain her trust first. But little girls in a flock can be beasts, so it might just be that she didn’t enjoy the environment.” She paused suddenly before skewering him once more with her gaze. “Or perhaps, she was concerned for her father. Adelina has a very tender heart, Your Grace. It’s possible she thought you were lonely without her.”
Gil wanted to laugh over the suggestion but then the mercurial Miss Jones’ expression changed once more.
“That wouldn’t explain her aversion to having a governess, though,” she said with another frown before sighing and shrugging. “Well, getting myself tied up in a knot over the speculations isn’t going to help anyone. I will do my best to find out what was behind it, Your Grace, but I cannot promise to divulge it to you if she asks me not to.”
He was taken aback by her suddenly fierce tone, but Gil couldn’t help respecting her all the more for it. He nodded his head in acceptance.
“As long as I have your word that you will do your very best to assist her in overcoming any hurts she may have received, I will accept that you might have to keep her secrets. But if you need assistance, do not hesitate to ask for it.”
“Very well, it’s a bargain, Your Grace,” she said while sticking her hand out to shake on it.
Gilbert Barrington, sixth duke of Rathnelly, had never shaken hands with a woman before. He had kissed the backs of many a hand, he had taken many hands in the steps of a dance, but he had never shaken a woman’s hand. It was a singular experience.
His daughter’s companion did not wear gloves, for one thing. Her slim, elegant hand appeared fragile and felt so as she clasped his much larger one, but the firm grasp belied that appearance. A surge of possessiveness infused him, filling him with the sensation that he never wanted to let go. Gilbert quickly rejected the feelings and had to remember not to reject her hand just as quickly, lest he injure their newly formed alliance.
