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The fondness in her tone suggested that she and his daughter had shared quite a nice day together. In fact, since Miss Percival’s starting at Thistledown Manor, all seemed to have been going remarkably well. Watson could not remember the last time that a problem or complaint had been brought up regarding his daughter.
“May I ask what you both did today?” he asked. He was indeed curious to learn what his daughter had been doing all day but part of him was merely happy just to listen to Miss Percival speaking. Her voice was calming to him, helping him relax after a long day on business in town.
“Well, this morning we had our usual music lesson in which Lady Amy chose the flute which I found quite surprising as she has had a great fondness for the pianoforte of late,” Miss Percival explained. “Then we went for our usual midmorning walk in the orchard and spent some time looking at insects, plants and other such things and I asked Lady Amy to help me identify them in a couple of the books which we carried with us….”
Watson lost himself in the words that spilled like a gentle stream from the governess’ lips and before long he realised that he had been staring at her long past the moment when she finished telling him of their day.
“Are you quite well, Your Grace?” Miss Percival asked, looking slightly concerned even as he cleared his throat and quickly looked down at the desk before him.
“Yes, Miss Percival, and I am quite glad to hear that the two of you have had such a wonderful day,” he admitted with a smile, feeling his cheeks growing red. It was now most definitely his turn to be embarrassed though he had no idea why he should feel such a way. After all, he was the duke, and she was his employee. She had no right to judge whatever it was that he did in his own study.
Do not be such a fool, Watson!he snapped at himself, knowing that even though she was only his employee, she was far more than that. She was a member of the family, just as he had assured her the night before. “I rather hope that tomorrow I might be able to join the two of you during one of my daughter’s lessons.”
His gaze flickered up just in time to see Miss Percival looking a little startled. She quickly seemed to recover herself, clearing her throat gently before she responded, “Of course, Your Grace, though I had believed that you would be in town all day as you so often are.”
Watson’s stomach clenched at that. He could not very well scold her for her words, after all, they were true. He did spend so much time away from home of late and the truth was that he hated it just as much as his daughter did. Yet there was little he could do about it.
“I apologise, Miss Percival. I know I am not very present at home these days but tomorrow I have a rare day off,” he told her, feeling his heart skip a beat at the thought of being home all day with not only his daughter but also with the beautiful governess.She is not here for me,he reminded himself firmly.She is here wholly for Amy!“I would like to request that you and Lady Amy join us for tea tomorrow.”
Miss Percival seemed to sit up straighter at that. “We, Your Grace?” Her eyes sparked, and she looked as if she were holding her breath.
“Yes, as I have some rare time at home, I thought it would be a good idea to invite Lady Florentia and her mother to tea to allow them both the chance to get to know my daughter better.”
Was that a hint of negativity Watson saw flash in Miss Percival’s hazel eyes at the mention of Lady Florentia?He could not be sure but something in his gut told him that it was.
Yet when she responded, there was a genuine smile upon her lips, “I am sure that Lady Amy and I would be pleased to attend tea with you, Your Grace.”
Watson was most relieved at the thought of having Miss Percival there during the time when his daughter and Lady Florentia would meet again. It was his only hope that his daughter would not act up entirely with her governess there to keep an eye on her. The girl always seemed much more behaved whenever Miss Percival was around.
“Miss Percival, I must admit something to you,” Watson said with a deep sigh, glancing down at his desk for a moment. He played with the corner of a piece of paper before finally looking up again and finishing, “I feel I have failed in the raising of my daughter, and I fear it was a failure I made long ago.”
He was not entirely sure why he was admitting such a thing and yet to get the words off his tongue felt good, especially when faced with the calm and collected governess who so rarely appeared to judge him for anything that he said.
“I am unsure of your meaning, Your Grace,” Miss Percival responded with one golden eyebrow raised. “What could you have possibly done that you believe you have failed? The way I see it, Lady Amy is a fine girl, and she will be a remarkable young woman when she comes of age.”
Watson’s heart swelled to hear the woman talk of his daughter in such a way yet there was still a hole in his gut that told him he was right, and nothing would change that.
“I fear I have failed with my daughter due to my lack of giving her a mother to look up to,” Watson admitted with a deep sigh. He struggled to meet the governess’ gaze as he added, “I believe that I ought to have remarried much sooner for her sake. Her mother would have wanted me to.”
The governess looked quite shocked indeed at his confession, but it was Watson who was even more shocked when she began to shake her head with determination.
“I do not believe that is true, Your Grace,” she responded firmly. The conviction in her words made Watson’s thoughts falter for just a moment, wondering whether maybe she might be right.
“Though I did not know the lady, I do not believe any woman would settle for any woman raising her child who had not been properly considered first. I think in these matters it can be a good idea to take a step back and wait for things to feel…right.”
Her words reached deep inside Watson and he felt instantly as though she had wrapped her delicate fingers around his heart. Never in a million years could he have imagined that someone such as Miss Percival could know exactly how he had been feeling for all these years.
“I do believe that Lady Florentia is a fine noblewoman from what I have heard of her,” Miss Percival continued and although her words sounded genuine, there seemed to be a breathlessness to them as though she were having a hard time getting them to fall from her tongue.
Does she truly mean that or am I merely hopeful?he asked himself, half wishing that there was someone who could just tell him what to do and whether he was making the right decision or not.
“I fear that I have allowed my guilt to get in the way of moving on,” he admitted, feeling his throat constrict. Miss Percival leaned forward slightly in her seat, clearly intrigued by his continued confessions.
“Your guilt, Your Grace? May I ask what you are guilty of?”
“It is my fault that my daughter has grown up without a mother,” Watson admitted, his teeth clenching around the words. It was perhaps the first time that he had ever admitted them aloud, and it caused his heart to hurt to do so. As did seeing the way that Miss Percival’s eyes darkened with suspicion.
“How so, Your Grace?”
