Mr. Gardiner and the Governess - Sally Britton Page 0,20
I cannot spare time to assist you.”
“What if the duke specifically allowed it?” Mr. Gardiner asked.
Frost formed along Alice’s spine, making her stiffen with dread. “You have not spoken to him about the idea, surely.”
Mr. Gardiner misinterpreted her tone as surprised rather than mortified, given the way his smile sprang back into place. “I told him what I saw in your sketchbook. You have a deft hand, and you have the talent of a professional colorist. We spoke after dinner last evening.”
The man had such confidence in what he had proposed that he went to the duke! Alice clenched her hands together and tightened her jaw. From the moment the position of governess settled upon her, scant days before, Alice wanted only to keep out of sight and out of mind. The duke was powerful, and no one from her expansive family resided nearby. If he cast her off, she doubted anyone would wish to accept her back into their homes.
Alice loosened her jaw enough to speak. “You spoke to the duke. About me.”
For the first time, Mr. Gardiner appeared less certain of himself. “I did. Because you have a talent, Miss Sharpe. A talent that I find useful, and that could have your name appear in a scientific publication.”
She wrapped one arm around her stomach. “Mr. Gardiner, please tell me what was said by you, and by his grace. I need to understand the situation.”
For the duke’s attention to bear on her for something as simple as her flower drawings—it made that icy feeling in her spine leak through to her limbs.
People were dismissed from positions like hers with less reason than Mr. Gardiner had given the duke. Her whole focus ought to be the children. The list of rules given to her by the dowager duchess and the Duchess Montfort had included many things. Among them had been fraternizing with male staff members, male neighbors, and any other gentleman with more on his mind than what politeness demanded. They had made it clear her duty was to the children, not advancing her own social position. Not yet.
A governess to a duke might one day have her pick of gentlemen, when all the children grew past the age of needing her. If someone had the wrong idea about Mr. Gardiner’s interest in her—
“I make a report to his grace on my progress, almost daily. Last evening, I mentioned coming upon you and Lord James in the gardens.” He spoke slowly, as though she were a child incapable of understanding the situation. Horrid man. It was he who did not know what trouble this might cause Alice. “I told him I saw your sketches and the coloring you did of one subject. Your talent impressed me, and I mentioned that it might help my project to have someone like you to assist with the illustrations of plants. To check my work and color the designs.”
A tiny ray of hope entered Alice’s heart. “You did not suggest that I specifically fulfill that role?”
“I did not.” He glowered down his nose at her. Before she could feel relief, before she could retreat to the safety of the schoolroom, he spoke again. “The duke, however, suggested that I ask you to perform the task if it doesn’t interfere with your work as a governess.”
The duke had made a suggestion. Most in the kingdom would know well enough it may as well be a command. Alice, an orphaned daughter of a gentleman, penniless and dependent on her family or her ability to find employment, could not afford to do anything that might disappoint a man of such power. While the duchess had given Alice employment, Her Grace would expect obedience to the duke.
This left Alice rather stuck.
She handled the situation with as much dignity as she could.
“Then I suppose you have your answer, Mr. Gardiner. If His Grace wishes for me to assist you, I will of course make time to lend my skill to your work.”
Mr. Gardiner’s dark eyebrows pulled together, a sharp V appearing above his nose. “Miss Sharpe—”
Another voice said her name at nearly the same moment. “Miss Sharpe, Mr. Gardiner, have I arrived in time for tea?”
Mr. Gardiner moved aside, already mid-bow, revealing Miss Arlen standing behind him. When she had come upon them in the corridor, Alice did not know. She had been too distressed to give heed to anything other than the presumptuous gentleman standing before her.
How had she ever considered him charming?
“A pleasure to see you this