A Governess for the faithless Duke (Regency Romance) (Regency Tales Book 3) Read Free

cheese, an apple, and the thick end of a loaf of bread. She sat down to eat, mulling over the questions she would have to ask when the children were brought to her as she downed the soup, which was exceptionally delicious.
    She needed to know when they were first wakened. She had been raised to be up with the birds, but then she was not a marchioness, and there had been no servants to do for her and her sister, or to take care of the house and gardens. She supposed these children would be resistant to the idea of early rising, but she would find a way to make it worth their while to do so.
    As she thought about her duties, munching on the bread and cheese, another knock sounded, and she went to open the door again, this time to admit two little girls and another woman.
    “Please do come in,” she invited the trio, and once they were in, she introduced herself. “I am your new governess, Miss Williams,” she announced.
    The woman with the girls spoke up. “I’m Molly Carpenter, Miss,” she said. “I’m the girls’ nursemaid. This is Eliza and this is Mary Anne.”
    The older girl, Eliza, turned cool eyes on Charlotte, as if she were assessing her worth. The younger one smiled shyly, and Charlotte returned her smile, ignoring her older sister to speak to her.
    “So tell me, Mary Anne, how old you are.”
    “I am seven, Miss,” she said.
    “It’s Miss Williams,” Charlotte corrected her gently, smiling again, before turning to her older sister. “And you, Eliza?  How old are you?”
    The girl looked as though she was considering not answering, and Charlotte waited patiently, not showing any annoyance, until the child sighed heavily and said,
    “I’m ten.”
    She spoke grudgingly, as though she couldn’t afford to spare the words, and Charlotte chuckled, startling them. All three looked suspiciously at her, but she ignored their curiosity and turned to the nursemaid.
    “Molly, as tomorrow will be my first day of working with the girls, I would like them to be brought in at breakfast time. When is breakfast?”
    “It’s at ten, Miss,” the nursemaid said.
    Charlotte refrained from correcting her informal address, and continued. “Tomorrow, I shall let you know how much before then I will need the girls to be ready.” 
    Turning back to the girls, she said, “We will begin immediately after breakfast, and I will test you in reading and writing. We shall see where we are from there.”
    Smiling at them, she ended, “Well, thank you for bringing them to meet me, Molly. I appreciate it. I will see you young ladies in the morning.”
     
    The nursemaid shepherded her charges out of the sitting room, and Charlotte poured herself a cup of lukewarm tea. She saw at once that she would need to win over the older girl, and hoped it would not be too hard a task to do so. When she finished her supper, she took herself back up the stairs to the schoolroom, taking the books with her, and set them on the shelf by the pianoforte. She noted what books and other articles she would need to have brought in so that she could best teach the girls. There was a plentiful supply of writing paper and ink, and three brand new quills. The pianoforte was well used but as she trailed her fingers over the keys lightly, she could tell that it was well tuned. Satisfied, she took herself off to bed. She fell into a dreamless sleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.
     
    By force of habit, she awoke next morning before the sun began to show its face over the horizon. As she made her morning ablutions, elsewhere in the household the servants were awake and on the go. Mrs Thomson dispatched the maids to their labours, and as she and Milton consulted regarding the day’s activities, they spared a word for the newest member of the household.
    “What a beautiful young thing she is!” Mrs Thomson said.
    “But completely unaware of it,” Milton intoned, “which to my way of thinking is a good thing. We do not need any flirtations