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“I believe that…” the Duke began but he never got the chance to finish his sentence. Though Matilda believed that he might have actually been about to deny the request, his daughter never allowed him the chance.
The young lady jumped up from her seat so swiftly that it caused them all, including Matilda, to jump. “I cannot take this farce any longer!” she screamed and in an instant, she was racing toward the drawing-room door.
Lady Denby looked absolutely disgusted with the girl’s outburst while Lady Florentia looked devastated, likely because it had put a crimp in her plans to get closer to the Duke through his daughter.I can see you both,Matilda thought even as the women looked at her expectantly.
Slightly relieved at having an excuse to leave, Matilda quickly hurried to her own feet and curtsied with a quick apology. “Please forgive us. I believe you may have been right, Lady Florentia. Lady Amy is quite tired, indeed. I believe she might be in need of a little rest to restore her manners.”
When she glanced around at the Duke his expression was filled with concern. “Miss Percival, is it?” Lady Denby asked as though she had not already been introduced to the governess and knew very well her name. “I think you would do well to remind Lady Amy that one day my daughter may very well be her stepmother and she ought to remember her manners, whether tired or not!”
Matilda struggled not to visibly cringe at the woman’s words. The thought that Lady Florentia would be anything to Lady Amy made her feel sick to her stomach. She would not have put the poor girl through anything nearly so difficult.
Glancing once more at the Duke, Matilda half hoped that he would speak out against the older woman’s words, that he would defend his daughter against such harshly toned words and yet the Duke’s lips were pursed, and his cheeks flushed. She was not sure whether it was anger or embarrassment that lit his cheeks but either way, he remained silent.
“Your Grace, ladies, if you will excuse me,” Matilda said, choosing not to respond to Lady Denby’s comment directly. “I think I should go and check on Lady Amy and be sure that she is not unwell after all.”
“Yes, of course. Do not let us keep you, Miss Percival,” Lady Florentia said all too quickly, and Matilda felt her teeth clench to the point that it was almost painful. It was clear that the woman wanted nothing more than to get her and Lady Amy out of the way so that she could sink her claws even further into the Duke.
When the Duke gave a discreet nod, Matilda quickly retired from the room, relieved to finally be away from such a tense situation. A half an hour tea session had felt as though it had lasted for several hours, and the governess could not blame Lady Amy in the least for hurrying out of it.
Yet even as she turned to leave, Matilda could feel the eyes of the Duke upon her. Even though Lady Florentia and her mother had quickly returned to talking, the Duke’s attention was entirely upon her. She knew that she ought not have looked back but when she reached the drawing room door, but she found that she could not help herself.
The moment that she did, she wished that she had not. No sooner had her gaze met His Grace’s, making her heart pound and her cheeks blush brightly, than Lady Florentia turned and saw the look that passed between them. It was clear from the stormy look on her face that she was not at all impressed. The Duke appeared not to notice as he continued to watch Matilda even as she quickly turned and hurried from the room, feeling quite sick to her stomach.
What have I gotten myself into?she asked herself before quickly trying to force all thoughts of the Duke and herself from her mind and focus on the matter at hand. She was no more than halfway down the hall when she stopped dead, realising she had absolutely no idea which way Lady Amy had gone.
Part of her wondered whether maybe she ought not to go after her and just give the young girl a little time to herself to decompress after such a tension-filled occasion but the largest part of her did not want to be alone with her own thoughts. At least they could be miserable together.
Using her instincts to make a quick decision, Matilda turned back the other way down the hall and began to make her way in the direction of the nearest exit to the gardens. She would try the orchard and then the rose garden and the pond and failing that, she would check the forecourt at the front of the house where Lady Amy could sometimes be found playing with the lily pads in the centre fountain.
She had gone no further than the back terrace when she found that she could see the young lady hurrying away down the garden path toward the gate of the orchard. Qtuintin was hobbling after her on his old legs and Matilda’s stomach clenched with sympathy for the old man. Even she struggled to keep up with her young charge, let alone a man who had twenty years on her.
Quickening her step, Matilda hurried after him and called, “Mr Mulgrave, please wait!”
The steward stopped almost immediately and turned back to look at her. By the time Matilda reached him, he was still panting for breath, his hands on his hips as though it was all he could do to open up his chest to allow extra air into his lungs.
“Ahh, Miss Percival. I am glad you have come!” he exclaimed breathlessly. “I was just on my way back to the drawing room to check everything was going well when Lady Amy swept right past me weeping and wailing.”
Matilda sighed deeply at his words, feeling her mood darken further. She had half been hoping that Lady Amy was merely being her old troublesome self and yet Matilda had never heard of the girl crying.
“Please, try not to worry, Quintin,” Matilda told him with a smile and a bow of her head. “I can take it from here. Tea did not go quite as well as we had hoped.”
Quintin looked reluctant and concerned but still he stepped out of the way to allow her past. “Please, come and find me if you have need of anything,” he insisted.
“Thank you, Quintin!” Matilda called over her shoulder even as she quickened her pace once more to go in search of Lady Amy.
She found her beneath the tree where she had found her on that very first day when the girl had been hiding from her and their lessons together. Though this time the girl did not have a book in her hand. Instead, she had her knees pulled up to her chest and her head bowed onto them, weeping into the folds of her dress.
“Oh, Lady Amy,” Matilda said softly, dropping down onto the grass beside the young girl. Instinctively, she pulled the girl into her arms and cradled her, surprised when Lady Amy made no attempt to stop her.
“Oh, Miss Percival! I hate that woman!” Lady Amy cried out, her entire body trembling and racked terribly by her weeping sobs. “She is entirely abhorrent!”
Matilda had to bite her lip in order to stop herself from agreeing with the girl. Instead, she kept her mouth closed and simply held her young charge, cradling her until she finally stopped weeping, too tired to continue.
“All will be well in the end, Lady Amy,” she said softly, stroking the girl’s dark brown hair which still reminded the governess so much of the Duke’s. Her heart clenched even as she said the words, unable to stop herself from wondering whether she might actually be wrong for once.
Chapter 10
At dinner that evening, both Amy and her governess were unusually quiet. After the way that morning tea had gone, Watson had hoped he might be able to get some sense out of his daughter, but she appeared quite unwilling to talk about the situation. And although both he and the governess attempted to ease the words from her lips, Amy barely spoke a word, choosing instead to respond with a shrug of her shoulders or a shake of her head.
