The Duke and The Governess (9 page)

‘I can. Are they in alphabetical order?’ he asked and pushe
d his way to the front as Norfolk
said yes. He scanned down the list looking for
Carruthers
and was disturbed when he saw the name Major David
Carruthers
, Household Cavalry
.

‘I see
Carruthers
bought it. The old Earl will not like that.’ Norfolk said jovially, not realising John was distressed for Jessica’s sake.

‘I knew his wife.’ He muttered. ‘I hope somebody tells her gently.’

‘Never met her.’ Norfolk grunted. ‘But I remember there was some scandal surrounding it. She was packed off to the country before the ink was d
ry in the register
and
Carruthers
rushed straight to the docks to sail for Portugal.’

‘Did they never consummate
the marriage?’ John asked in surprise.

‘Not as far as I know. His brother Anthony is rather touchy about her. Apparently the old Earl treats her as a nurse.’ He sighed. ‘And she’s not been seen in London since.’

‘What about her family?’
John asked frowning. ‘I knew her father quite well, before I was saddle
d
with a dukedom.’

‘As far as I know she hasn’t seen them since she left the church. They don’t talk about her.’ Norfolk was distracted by somebody else and John moved away. He could see the Lord Chancellor and went to stand beside him.

‘My Lord? Can you find out for me how David
Carruthers
died?’ he asked softly.

‘Why would you want to know about that?’ The Earl of Eldon asked abruptly.

‘I knew his wife and thought I might write and send my condolences.’

Eldon said incautiously
‘One of your mistresses, was she?’
and laughed raucously
.

‘No.
’ John said coldly and in such a way that it didn’t brook any misunderstanding.
‘
I saw her the first time she attended a ball when she was a debutante and I haven’t seen her since. But I’d heard she was forced to marry
Carruthers
and now she’s a widow.’ He looked at his boots. ‘I just wondered what happened to him.’

‘I’ll find out.’ Eldon said and turned to a secretary who bustled off.

By the lunch break, Eldon’s secretary had found the report of the action in which David
Carruthers
had been k
illed. He had died in the ditch in front of San Maria fort, his body riddled with canister shot.
John wondered why a cavalry officer was in a ditch riddled with canister shot.
He debated the issue during the afternoon session and could only come up with the conclusion that somebody had probably killed him and dumped his body in the ditch. He knew well enough David Carruthers reputation, the women he’d beaten and terrorized, as well as the gambling debts. John could only assume he’d made enemies in Spain and they had taken advantage of the siege to rid the world of a profligate like David Carruthers.
The man gave Rakes a bad name!
John had never liked him and was glad that Jessica would never have to face his attentions.

John left the house and retired to his study to write the letter of condolence. He tried four times to write the letter and each time he threw it on the fire, bec
ause he couldn’t stop the missive from
turning into a
tome, for the
purging of his own grief. In the end he drank half a bottle of claret and gave up, going to White’s for dinner instead and gambling until the early hours to banish unwanted longing for something he couldn’t have.

~*~*~*~

A week later,
Richmond accosted Jessica on the stairs. ‘His Lordship would like you to go to the study.’ He said coldly.

‘Thank you, Mr. Richmond.’ Jessica said politely. She had always spoken to Richmond with care. Especially after cook had regaled her with stories of his debauchery and cruelty
with the old Earl
.

She knocked on the door and heard the “Come in” opening the door carefully, because sometimes the Earl forgot he’d told you to enter.

‘Ah! There you are.’ The old Earl’s eyes twinkled and
she
was warned. This would be a difficult interview for her.

‘You sent for me, My Lord?’ she said with due deference for his title.

‘I did. I’m afraid I didn’t tell you about David. I’ve had a little time to think about this now and have decided on a course of action.’

‘What about David?’ she enquired politely.

‘H
e’s dead!’ the old man snapped
.
He sounded angry, but Jessica didn’t know if he was angry at her or David for dying.

She drew in a sharp breath of shock, but not because David meant anything to her. ‘I’m sorry for you loss, My Lord.’ She said softly.

‘You can be as sorry as you like.’ He said viciously.
‘
But I have decided to annul the marriage. I wrote to
the Archbishop of Canterbury a week ago and have received acknowledgement and permission for the marriage to be dissolved. All he needs is an affidavit from you swearing you did not consummate the marriage and one from Anthony confirming that.’ He smiled like the evil old man he’d become. ‘I don’t suppose you’ll be sorry about that?’

‘Not really, but I would ask you what you intend to do with me, when I am no longer your daughter in law?’ she asked coldly. Firm and cold was the only way to cut through the old Earl’s viciousness.
He flicked a document across the desk and Jessica read it quickly before signing it.

‘I’ve found you a place as a Governess for the Viscount of Malvern. He has a young family and I thought it would suit you better than staying here.’

‘So, in effect you are withdrawing your responsibility for my care and throwing me out into the world with nothing?’ she asked harshly.

‘That’s it exactly!’ He spat. ‘I didn’t want you as a daughter anyway, so this settles everything.’

‘Seeing as you have used me as your personal slave for the last two years, can I have some wages to take with
me?’ Jessica asked pointedly,
the old man ca
ckled again as he opened a draw and
withdrew a coin purse.
He extracted
two golden guineas
and flicked them to Jessica. She stood still and watched the coins bounce of
f
her breasts and land on the desk.

‘Take them, lassie, for you’ll get nothing else from me.’

‘My Lord?’ Jessica said coldly as she swept up the two coins. ‘Your generosity has astonished me. I will make sure every body knows how well you pay!’

‘Don’t give me any of your cheek, girl. Go and pack your bags for you are leaving on the mail coach at four o’clock.’ And as Jessica turned for the door. ‘And don’t be using the
Carruthers
name any more, because you’re not entitled to it!’

Jessica slammed the study door on the old man’s last word
. For the last six months Jessica had taken to carrying the knife Anthony had given her for
her first
Christmas in her boot. As the door trembled in the frame, she reached down and grasped the hilt of the knife, yanking it out of her boot. With it concealed in her hand she slowly went to her room, where Mary
was already packing a small trun
k with bare essentials.

‘Oh! Your Ladyship. I was just packing some things for you, as Mr. Richmond told me to.’

‘Don’t call me that any more. I’m just plain Miss Gordon again.’ Jessica said hollowly.

‘What’s happened?’ Mary asked gently.

‘That old buzzard has had my marriage annulled!’

‘But why?’ Mary said in shock.

‘Because David was killed in Spain.’

‘Oh, My Lady.’ Mary said sadly. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘He never did tell me why he caused me so much trouble.’ Jessica muttered as she looked out of the window. She shook herself and put David from her mind again. He was dead, the matter was closed. ‘Mary, make sure you pack all my linens when you finish and send the trunks on.’

‘I will make sure My Lady.’ Mary said confidently.

‘You’re not supposed to call her that any more!’ Richmond said harshly from the doorway.
A footman stood just behind him.

‘Get out of my room, Mr. Richmond.’ Jessica lifted the knife and made it flash in the light.

‘I came to tell you that the mail coach is here.’ He said
in a surly and provocative way, but he didn’t take his eyes off the knife.

‘Thank you, Mr. Richmond. But you should knock next time, or you might just get a knife through your throat.’
She watched until the door was closed and then she snapped the bolt on. She went to the armoire and removed a coat, bonnet and gloves. Mary helped with these things, until she was presentable and then she accompanied Jessica downstairs
, followed by the footman with the trunk
.

Richmond was waiting in the hall. ‘This is a letter of introduction
from the Earl and the direction to
the Viscount’s house.’ He said coldly.

‘Thank you, Mr. Richmond.’ She looked up into his piercing blue eyes. ‘I don’t suppose we will miss each other. So I’ll say goodbye and be gone!’ She turned for the door and he dropped a hand on her shoulder.

‘It’s a good job he’s sent you away today, I would have had you tonight otherwise.’ He whispered viciously in her ear, making her shiver with the blatant threat.

‘Then I’m glad
I’m leaving.’ She snapped and sliced the back of his hand with the knife that was still clenched in her fist. He released her with a curse and she strode purposefully through the door and down to the large coach that wo
uld take her to Gloucester. The footman
was securing her lug
gage and Jessica hugged Mary
before stepping in the coach and beginning another journey to a
nother
new life.

Well, I hope this one is better than the last one.
She thought as the coach pulled away from the portico of The Earl of Dean’s residence. She sat back and rested her head against the cushion.
At least I won’t have to wash that utterly disgusting body again and I won’t have to put up with that old goat trying to make me play with him.
She thought in relief as she thought about the last time the old Earl had shaken his manhood at her and asked her to suck on it. She felt her gorge rise again at the thought of even touching that appendage without a flannel over her hand.
At least the male body doesn’t hold any mystery for me anymore.
She thought and then pushed
the old Earl out of her mind. She reached down and placed the knife in her boot again, straightened her skirts and folded her hands in her lap.

The journey to Gloucester was fairly short and the Viscount actually had a carriage waiting for her at the coach house.

‘Miss Gordon?’ a male voice called as she stepped down. Jessica looked up and saw a groom coming towards her. ‘I’m Andrew Gough, the head groom for the Viscount.’ He smiled kindly, ‘and I’ve brought a curricle for you.’
He looked up at the footman of the post coach. ‘Is that your trunk?’ he asked.

‘It is, Mr. Gough. Thank you.’ Jessica said softly.

‘Please, call me Andrew or Drew.’ Andrew said with a smile. ‘After all, were not nobles, are we?’

Jessica sighed. ‘I was until four o’clock this afternoon.’ Andrew looked at her sharply. ‘I’ll explain it on the way.’ She finished and smiled.

Andrew hefted the small trunk onto his shoulder. ‘Is there more luggage to follow?’ he asked and Jessica nodded.

‘If the Earl has the good manners to send it on.’
She replied.

‘Is he a bit of a mardy, then?’ Andrew asked.

‘A bit?’ erupted from Jessica’s mouth almost unbidden, ‘Sorry, that sounds rather ungrateful, but he’s the biggest miser and runs the most appalling household I have ever had the misfortune to live in.’

Andrew put her trunk behind the seat and assisted Jessica up into the curricle. She slid across the upholstered bench to make room for him and as he settled and sorted the reins out he said. ‘Well, you should like it at the Viscount’s. His children are wonderful and he and the Viscountess a
re good people. She’s in her fourth confinement
and he dotes on her.’

‘What are the children?’ Jessica asked and looked at the horse
’
s rump in front of her.

‘They have two boys and a girl
, the Right Honourable Peter Clifton, the Right Honourable James Clifton and the Right Honourable Susanna Clifton. Peter is nine, James is seven and Susanna is four.’

‘What happened to the last Governess?’ She asked.

‘She had to leave to care for an elderly relative, so they will be all yours. They’re good children, quiet and attentive when you try to teach them anything.’