How to Claim a Governess’s Heart - Bridget Barton Page 0,41

skin.

They held each other’s hands and smiled awkwardly in the silence. Finally, assured that her worst fear was calmed, he stood and took the chair next to her. He had no desire to put the desk between them again.

“If Betsy is to go to the duke, then I will insist that you go with her and are kept on as her governess. I do have some power in this situation as I was clearly named her guardian. I think he would grant me this demand.

“I have no wish to send Betsy away, but I will if you think it is right,” Lord John finished.

“Me?” Miss Thatcher said her eyes wide with shock. “I am just a governess. I have no right to make such decisions. I couldn’t possibly impose my opinion on you, sir.”

Lord John chuckled at her outburst.

“I think you have every right to make the decision. I have watched you these many months with her. You are Betsy’s mother in action and heart. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so if Elisabeth hadn’t had the tragedy that befell her, but she did. You have been Betsy’s mother since the moment I laid eyes on you. It is only right that you should decide what to do about my brother’s demands.

“It could be in your best interest as well,” Lord John added. “I am sure you would find my family’s country estate much more comfortable than this place. My brother would be able to more than double your salary. Betsy would also be able to grow under my mother’s protection. She would have many more connections as a budding youth with the duchess as her patron.”

“And you would be free to get back to your normal life,” Miss Thatcher half-whispered.

“I do not wish it,” Lord John stated quickly. “Even if you choose to go, I can assure you nothing will ever go back to as it once was here. My life has been forever changed.”

Lord John studded the lady as her mind raced over the different options and their consequences. He hoped deep within his heart he understood the meaning of his words.

It was not just Betsy who had changed his life irrevocably. It was Bridget Thatcher as well. She had found a place within his home, his heart, and his very fibre. A place that could no easier be rooted out than a tree that stood its ground for a century.

“What would happen if we stayed,” Miss Thatcher asked, not willing to look Lord John in the eyes as she spoke such a suggestion.

Lord John reached over and grasped both her hands again to help turn her gaze back to him.

“I would be immensely happy if you decided to stay,” he said with sincerity.

“But the duke?”

“Probably wouldn’t be immensely happy,” he said with a boyish smile.

Miss Thatcher relaxed and couldn’t help but smile back at his play on words.

“You know what I mean,” she chided.

“Well, I don’t know that there is much he can do about it. I am Betsy’s guardian legally. He can’t take her by force. He only wants Betsy there because of how it looks that she was sent to me and not to my mother. I don’t know how much effort he would really invest over something that is purely gossip-minded. He does have other things to keep him busy,” Lord John scoffed.

Half of the time he wondered if the duke didn’t have much else to do. Why else had he been so controlling and demanding in Lord John’s life? The reality was, however, that Lord John surmised that his brother’s constant interference was less to do with boredom and more to do with jealousy.

The duke had never asked to be given the title, landholdings and responsibilities that came with it any more than Lord John asked for his lot in life. In many ways, Lord John was free of the burdens that the duke had. It was his brother’s job to look after the needs of their mother.

It was his brother’s job to see that their younger sister found a suitable match in life. He alone now felt their mother’s pressure to uphold their family name in society. In fact, he was sure that it was his mother’s pressure that had driven the duke to write the letter demanding the child.

“And you would be agreeable to us staying? I only ask,” she added quickly, “because I think it would be better for Betsy not to have to move again when she has finally started