The Duke and The Governess (18 page)

‘Yeah, the Duke leaves ‘im on duty like some old guard dog.’

‘What about the Norfolks?’ Jessica dropped her cotton wool into the waste bin.

‘ ‘er Grace’s maid tells us ev’ry mornin’ ‘ow loud ‘er Grace can scream when the Duke is servicin’ ‘er.’ She sniffed. ‘ ‘tis a love match, me thinks.’ And Annie tied the ribbon. ‘Will there be anything else, Milady?’

‘No thank you, Annie.’

‘I’ll see ya in the mornin’ then, wiv a nice ‘ot bath.’ And Annie scuttled out, yelped and tur
ned back. ‘Milady? The Duke is ‘
ere
, we’re ya expecting ‘im
?’

‘Just a moment.’ Jessica said as her heart thudded in her chest and her cheeks flamed. She reached for her dressing gown, shrugged it on and tied the sash.
‘Annie if you could wait, please?’ she smiled at the maid and indicated a chair in the corner of the sitting room.

Jessica smiled and curtsied for the Duke of Warwick. ‘Your Grace. This is unexpected. How can I help you?’

‘We have been quite worried abou
t you, Lady Carruthers
. I’m afraid t
he Earl and I drew straws to see which one would come to check on your progress.’

‘Did you lose?’ Jessica asked, laughter bubbling in her throat.

‘No. I won!’ The Duke said and laughed. ‘We were concerned. The last time the Earl checked you were still asleep.’

‘I’ve been quite lazy, Your Grace. But I shall be back on duty tomorrow morning.’ Jessica said formally.
‘My head is quite recovered, now.’
She smiled at him. ‘Thank you for enquiring, Your Grace.’

They were standing near the door, separated from the maid. John could barely keep his hands to himself, she looked so alluring with her hair plaited and the ruffled collar of her nightgown showing over the collar of her housecoat.
He never realised buttoned up to the chin could be so seductive.
He longed to strip both items from her body, but he was acutely aware of the maid watching.

‘I want to kiss you.’ he murmured and slowly took Jessica’s hand. ‘It scared me to death.’ He whispered as he raised her hand to his lips. ‘I heard somebody scream, turned and saw you fly through the air.’  He looked deep into her eyes. ‘Life is too short for lost opportunities and we’ve already had one. I don’t intend for us to have another.’

‘Are you proposing, Your Grace.’ Jessica asked in a croaky voice, shocked at his importuning.

‘I’m proposing we pursue this...thing between us.’
He said carefully. ‘Meet m
e tomorrow night by the clue
tree and maybe we can discuss it more freely?’

‘I shouldn’t.’ Jessica said firmly, but her heart tripped at the expression in his eyes, it was a mixture of hope and fear, as
if
he was terrified she would say no. ‘It’s not right, Your Grace.’ She whispered.

‘I know, but you’re a widow, not an innocent debutante.’ He said and pulled her hand to his chest. She could feel his heart pounding.

‘Very well, Your Grace.’ She said coyly. ‘Do you have a specific time in mind?’

‘After dark, I think. Maybe ten o’clock?’ he suggested as he stroked two fingers down her cheek.

‘Ten sound
s
a fine time for an assignation.’ She sniggered t
hen, slapping her fingers
over her mouth to stop her from laughing out loud. ‘Now I think you should go, Your Grace.’ She said firmly and gently pulled her hand from his. She stepped back and dropped the curtsey again. ‘Goodnight.’

It was obvious he didn’t want to go, but he did. He said ‘Goodnight.’ Calmly and turned for the door.

As the door closed behind him. Jessica was filled with elation.

‘Ya wanna be careful wiv the likes of ‘im.’ Annie said
as she stood beside Jessica and folded her arms. ‘
‘e’s only after one thing and when ‘e’s ‘ad it, you’ll not see ‘ide nor ‘air of him!’ Jessica looked at her in horror. ‘I’m only tellin’ it like it is.’ She said firmly.

‘Thank you, Annie.’ Jessica intoned solemnly. ‘That will be all.’

‘Goodnight, Milady.’ Annie said and left quickly, as she did everything.

Even though Annie’s words were fair, Jessica was still filled with an excitement she’d never felt before.
She climbed into bed and wondered what tomorrow would bring.

~*~*~*~

John went back downstairs to find Anthony waiting at the bottom. ‘That didn’t take long.’ He snorted.

‘She kept her maid in the room as propriety demands.’ The Duke said firmly. ‘She’s fine and will be back on duty tomorrow.’

They turned together for the card room
unaware that both Lady Pritchard and Lady Greyston had overheard them.

‘Do you think the Duke has a thing for the Governess?’ Lady
Christina Pritchard asked provocatively.

‘It’s the only explanation for why he would have anything to do with Carruthers.’ Lady
Eleanor
Greyston replied vitriolically. ‘I want him and I’m determined to get him!’ She said firmly making Lady Pritchard raise her eyebrows.

‘I didn’t know you were looking for a new husband? I thought you wanted light hearted flirtation.’
Christina said evenly.

‘Are you kidding? I want
to be a Duchess.’ Eleanor
said emphatically with a predatory gleam in her eye.

‘Personally, I think you’re wasting your time. Warwick has been footloose and fancy free for
over
three years
and is rather particular where he satisfies his base urges
. If he was looking for another Duchess he would be searching among the new crop of debutantes, not some
aging Governess.’ Christina
folded her arm
s and stared at Eleanor
Greyston. ‘He wants to give her a tumble. Why interfere with it. Once we get back to London you can plan your campaign to win him.’

‘That’s the strange thing, though. We never hear any gossip about Warwick. It’s as if all he does is sit in the House and
sit in his study.’ Eleanor
intoned. ‘It’s as if the man doesn’t have a life and he should.’

‘Is that why you want him, so that you can show
him a good time?’ Christina
sniggered. ‘Christ! You sound like a debutante. Fuck
him
and be done with it!’ and she sauntered into the
card room, leaving Eleanor
throbbing with frustration. She had convinced herself that the Duke would fall into her arms by the end of the opening ball, but every time she tried
to
access his rooms, his valet was there like a wat
ch dog. She’d even tried to brib
e the
idiot to go away, but he refused making pathetic excuses. She’d even tried to access the Duke’s bedroom through the Earl’s room, but the connecting door was locked and Plunkett couldn’t or wouldn’t find the key.
She followed Christina
Pritchard into the card room and could see the Duke and the Earl deep in conversation over brandy. She knew they were talking politics because Norfolk joined them. She went and joined the ladies in another room, who were being regaled with poetry by the very handsome Jonathon Lancaster, Earl of Bedford.

~*~*~*~

Masters missed Lady Greyston. He’d already been in the room to lay out the Duke’s night things, check the fire, turn back the covers on the bed and left the suite to fetch a fresh jug of hot water. When he returned he put the jug next to the washstand and left the room without even looki
ng at the
bed.

He waited for the Duke in the sitting room. John Farrington arrived with Anthony Carruthers
, laughing at a joke that the Earl’s valet had cracked out on the landing.

‘Hot water is beside the basin, Your Grace.’ Masters said evenly. ‘Will there be anything else?’

‘No thank you, Masters.’ John said and he gave them both a good night as Anthony stumbled into his room with his valet, a little the worse for the brandy he’d been drinking
steadily
all night.
Masters was just tidying the sitting room before retiring.

John closed the door and stripped off his jacket, dumping it on the chair and loosened his cravat. He frowned as he looked at the bed.
Masters never shuts the curtains.
He thought in confusion.
I never sleep with them closed.
He saunter
ed over to the bed, carelessly
got hold of the curtains and yanked them open. His mouth dropped open in astonishment. ‘Lady Greyston! What are you doing in my bed?’ he asked indignantly and raised an eyebrow at her inquisitively.
Visions of Victoria flashed before his eyes, both her spread-eagled on the bed and the vicious words after Masters had found her there.

‘Waiting for you, Your Grace.’ She replied seduc
tively and John noticed
that she
was showing rather an abundant
amount of naked flesh, as s
he
was utterly without apparel
. Her body was curvaceous, from her dainty feet to her lustrous golden haired head. Her breasts were so large that without the support of stays they flopped over sideways
in a most unbecoming manner and as John’s eyes travelled down towards the apex of her thighs, he almost closed his eyes in horror. Her
mons pubis
had been shaved and she looked like a little girl. He was just considering this and how to get her out of his rooms, when she
opened her legs suggestively. ‘Isn’t there something you should be doing?’ she asked
, drawing his attention back to her face,
and
she
eyed his groin as if she was going to launch herself at it.
John tried valiantly not to puke on her
at the thought of her sucking his cock
, but he couldn’t hide the revulsion on his face.
The naked body before him did absolutely nothing for him. His manhood sat in his britches and didn’t even twitch. If that had been Jessica, his manhood would have poked her in the eye. But it wasn’t and all he felt was disgust.
An image
o
f hi
s uncle dying of the pox shoved the vision of Victoria out of
his mind
’s eye
and he shuddered.

John Farrington, Duke of Warwick, pull
ed
himself to his full height and looked down his nose at the importuning whore lying in his bed. ‘MASTERS!’ he shouted with the voice that he used in the House
.

‘You wouldn’t.’ Lady Greyston
said in horror, scrabbling for the sheet to cover her nakedness.

‘I would!
’ He said abruptly and turned on his heel.

Masters opened the door. ‘You called, Your Grace?’ he asked.

‘Yes, Masters. There is something
uninvited
in my bed that shouldn’t be there. Will you remove it please?’ The Duke said as he strolled out into the sitting room. He went to the sideboard, poured a glass of brandy, with shaking hands he threw it down his throat and vacated the room. It was most shocking to find the leechlike Lady Greyston in his bed without his invitation. He sauntered to the nursery wing, entered Elizabeth’s room and stood at the end of her bed and watched her sleep.
He found her gentle snore soothing, a balm for his tortured soul. He’d spent many a disturbed night standing watching her sleep.

Lady Greyston didn’t realise that she reminded him of Victoria. Just as grasping and venal. He knew she only coveted hi
s title.
Probably the money too!
He told himself.
But I’ll be damned if I’ll let her have either of them. Thi
s time it’s going to Jessica or
nobody and the title can pass to Verity’s son if she has one or if not the bloody crown can have it.

‘Everything alright, Your Grace?’ Mrs. Beaton asked softly from the adjoining door.

‘I just came to see her while Masters removes something unpleasant from my bed.’ He said cryptically.

‘Would that be Lady Greyston?’ Mrs Beaton asked impertinently and smiled
at his shocked expression
. He just nodded. ‘She’s been trying to get Masters to let her in all week.’

‘Has she?’ He frowned again ‘Maybe Masters is losing his touch.’

‘I shouldn’t think so, Your Grace.’
Mrs. Beaton smiled broadly. ‘She strikes me as a very determined Lady.’

They chatted amiably about Elizabeth’s day and then John kissed his daughter’s cheek and went back to his room.

Masters stood contritely in the sitting room. ‘I’m sorry, Your Grace. I didn’t know she was there.’ He sighed deeply. ‘She must have slipped in when I was fetching the water. I’m so very, very sorry.’

‘I didn’t intend to blame you, Masters. But please keep the door locked in future.’ John shook his head sadly. ‘She’s too much like Victoria for my peace of mind.’