How to Claim a Governess’s Heart - Bridget Barton Page 0,13

silence for a few moments as he thought the matter over. It was easy to see that he was suited for the job given to him. He had always been the wisest of all their school friends. Unlike most boys who made rash decisions without a thought for consequence, Higgins had always been one to stop and consider before every step he made.

"It is curious that your cousin would request his daughter's circumstances be situated in such matters. One might argue that it is also in the child's best interest to be put in the care of your mother. Certainly, it would give her a better chance in society when she comes of age to be the ward of the duchess. Your mother would have no trouble seeing that she received the best education money could offer. The child would want for nothing in your brother's house, so, strangely, he would insist she go to you."

"I can only assume his reasoning is that I was a closer connection to his family than my brother. Frank must have known that if Betsy was put in the care of my mother, she would be raised in the duke's house, and he didn't want that for her."

"And his reasoning was that he wanted her to be raised in a loving home?" Higgins repeated the words Lord John had spoken in his explanation.

"Yes, he wants her to have relations that look at her as a whole person, as he and his wife did."

"It is a unique notion that a child should be put on equal grounds. I'm not saying I don't agree with it," Higgins added quickly when Lord John opened his mouth to protest. "I am sure it is perfectly acceptable, and often practised among the common folk of my parish."

"That is what Frank wanted for his daughter. Before their death, Betsy was always a present figure in their household. She took dinners with the family even when fine guests came to call. She often spent evenings in the parlour with us after the meal. She was rarely excluded from visiting friends and relatives.

"We both know that under the eye of my brother, she would be treated as is custom. She would be sent away to the country house and stay there alone until she was of age to enter society."

Higgins nodded in agreement with the assumption.

"But let us also consider the prospect of her care in your guardianship," Higgins stated. "She would not receive the finest education, things, or society as she would with your brother."

"I honestly don't even know if I can promise suitable arrangements in these departments, let alone the finest. As I have told you, I only have a year to make a novelist of myself, or I will be without income."

"Let me get this bargain straight," Higgins sat back in his chair. "You have a year to write a manuscript, have it accepted by a publishing company, and secure a place as a regular author for said company, or you will be required to take up the commission that was secured for you?"

"I refuse to take the commission," Lord John said firmly.

"And if you don't meet the terms of your brother's demands or take up the commission?"

"I will be cut off and penniless."

"Certainly not an ideal situation for your ward," Higgins commented. "But I suppose in the instance that all is lost, your mother would take her in, would she not?"

"I suspect she would, if only for what the Ton would say if she did otherwise. I already know that my mother and brother will be greatly wounded by the fact that Frank didn't think them fit enough to take guardianship of Betsy from the start. That alone may turn them against her permanently."

"It is clear that to follow your cousin’s wishes, you must keep the child in your guardianship. It will make things much more difficult for you to attain your goals with the constant need to look after her," Higgins said with certainty.

He folded his arms in front of his chest as he pondered this longer. Pursing his lips, he let his mind fill with all the different possibilities afforded in these two contradictory but final statements.

"Have you considered sending the child to a boarding school?"

"I had," Lord John confesses. "It wouldn't be ideal for Frank's wishes, but if it were just a temporary situation, for the year, I don't think Frank would be too displeased with me. I know little about these schools, however, and