The Governess Club: Claire (6 page)

“And so when you met Thomas . . .”

“He made me laugh. After so long, it felt so good to just laugh. He reminded me of the joy to be found in life. Our dreams were different, but we worked on a way to accommodate both of us. He said being a gentleman farmer was better than being a butler anyways, and there would be no one to stop him from answering his own door. I felt safe and happy around him, so when he asked for my hand, I said yes.”

“But?”

“Two weeks later he died of a fever.”

“Oh, my darling.” A kiss was pressed to her temple. Fingers brushed away tears she hadn’t even realized were falling.

“Lady Allen died a month later herself. The new owners had no need of a companion or a governess, so I made my way to London. I was very fortunate to find a reputable agency willing to take me on and then to have Lady Aldgate offer me this position. And that is how I found myself a governess.”

Several minutes passed. Claire continued to stare into the dying fire, the crackling and popping the only sound. She was reluctant to do anything to break the mood but knew that they could not remain as they were forever.

She broke the silence again. “But I won’t be a governess forever. I still have the dream of returning to Ridgestone, but it has changed somewhat.”

“How so?” He seemed genuinely curious.

“You may find this ridiculous,” she warned.

Jacob raised his hand. “I promise to not laugh, on pain of death. Or at least child duty for a whole day.”

She smiled at his comment. “There are some other governesses in the area, and we have befriended each other. Once a month we manage to arrange our half days in order to have tea, and try to arrange visits so our children can practice socializing with others. We call ourselves the Governess Club and have made a pact.”

Jacob’s eyebrows went up. “Indeed?”

“Yes,” Claire nodded. “We are saving our money to eventually pool together to buy our own residence and once again become women of means. No more having our lives dictated by others, but to be independent. The initial plan is to regain Ridgestone, but should that fail, we will find another suitable location for all of us.”

“That is quite ambitious,” Jacob said.

“Well, yes, but we have given ourselves a good time frame. We made this pact six months ago and have given ourselves at least three years to come up with the money.”

“It does appear that you are well on your way to organizing this,” Jacob agreed and shifted away from her. “On that note, I do believe it is getting late and we should retire. The demons are notorious for rising early and having all of their energy before luncheon.”

Claire gave a weak laugh to cover the sudden loss of heat and connection she felt. She, too, moved to her feet. “Yes, they do tend to be energetic in the mornings.”

“Very inconsiderate of them. Oh, leave that,” Jacob instructed as Claire moved to take the tray down. “This was your special treat, so I will take care of it.”

Claire raised her eyebrows at him. “Ten days, and you go from arrogance to cleaning up so the maids won’t have to. I must be a better instructor than I thought.”

“You, my dear, are magic.” The words were softly spoken, and the air crackled between them. Jacob picked up one of the sweetmeats they had neglected and held it to her mouth. “Never forget that.”

Without taking her eyes off of his, Claire opened her mouth, and he pushed the sugared treat into it. Having tasted Mrs. Potter’s sweetmeats before, Claire was sure it was delicious, but at that moment, all she was aware of was Jacob Knightly.

He lifted his fingers to his mouth and licked off the remaining sugar, never breaking their connected gaze. God in heaven, heat emanated from within her, flushing her skin. Unable to stop herself, she took a shuddering breath.

In response, he winged an arm at her. “Shall I escort you to your door, my lady?”

It was effective enough to break the spell over her, and a short laugh escaped her. “Thank you, my lord.” Slipping her hand into his elbow, they walked the short distance to her room. Once there, she turned to face him. “Thank you for your kind escort, my lord. You are truly a gentleman.”

He sketched her an elaborate bow. “The pleasure was all mine, my lady.” But when Claire turned to open her door, he caught her elbow. “Thank you, Claire Bannister, for sharing your story. It is an honor to have your trust.”

Claire had the same thought as earlier: this man was dangerous, especially when he was sincere. But at that moment, Claire didn’t care. Before she could think about stopping herself, she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his, lingering for a divine moment.

“Good night, Mr. Knightly,” she whispered, and disappeared into her room.

“G
oodness, it’s huge!”

Peering through the window, Claire smiled at Michael’s exclamation. Light spilled out from the candles in the room, barely illuminating the tutor and his two young charges gathered around his telescope on the small section of roof outside the tutor and governess rooms. Michael was gazing through the device, his hands waving excitedly.

“How does it work?” Michael asked, alternating between peering through the telescope and up at the sky with his naked eye.

“My turn again,” Peter demanded, pushing Michael away.

“Not yet!” the other twin yelled, regaining his balance and pushing Peter away from the telescope.

Jacob grabbed each boy by the collar and held them apart. “Neither of you will have another turn if you do not behave appropriately.” His voice remained calm and reasonable, matter of fact. “This is an expensive, hard-to-come-by piece of equipment. I would not appreciate it if it was to be broken and that would curtail our astronomical studies.”

“My father would buy me a new one,” Peter said sullenly.

“Yeah, he can buy the whole world if he wanted to,” Michael joined in.

“That is not the point,” Jacob said. “Regardless of how much money one has, one must always treat the property of others with care and respect. It is courteous and one of the hallmarks of a gentleman. And Master Peter, Michael had yet to finish his turn; you must learn patience.”

“But—”

“No buts. You must learn to be patient. Using force to get what you want is selfish and bullying, a certain way to lose the respect of your peers and colleagues.”

“What’s a colleague?”

“The people you work with, or choose to spend time with. Peers are something similar, but are made up of your social equals; colleagues can be from all walks of life.”

“So Miss Bannister is my colleague?” Michael asked

Jacob chuckled. “No, she is your governess. She is my colleague, because I work with her. Now, back to astronomy. What are star formations called?”

“Constellations.” The boys’ voices rang together in the darkness.

“Correct. The two constellations I pointed out to you are . . .”

“Ursa Major,” said Michael while Peter shouted out, “Ursa Minor.”

“And their common names are?”

“The Big Bear and the Little Bear.”

“What are the easily recognizable parts?”

“The Big Dipper and the Little Dipper.”

“They are not constellations, but . . .”

“Ast—ask—asptker—” It was clearly a new word the boys had difficulty with.

“Asterisms. Shape formations in a constellation are called asterisms,” Jacob explained slowly. “Now, look up to the sky and find the Big Dipper.”

“Found it!” Michael called out.

“I found it first,” Peter cried.

“Did not!”

“It does not matter who found it first, just that both of you found it.” Once again, Jacob’s voice remained matter of fact. Claire wondered how he managed to maintain his calm. “You both have it in sight?”

“Yes, it’s there.” Both boys pointed to it.

“Good. Now squeeze your eyes shut and start spinning around. Don’t stop spinning until I say.”

Whatever is he doing?
Claire thought. But the boys obediently started spinning around, giggling as they did so.

“Stop!” Jacob called out. The boys stopped and righted themselves. “Open your eyes and find the Big Dipper.” It took them a few moments, but soon both boys were pointing at it. “Again,” Jacob commanded. “Close your eyes and spin until I say stop.”

Claire watched as he put the boys through the same process three more times. Each time, the boys were successful in pointing out the Big Dipper, although it was clear that by the last time their small bodies were reeling from the activity. Knocking on the glass, she caught Jacob’s attention and indicated her timepiece. It would be a good time for the boys to be put to bed; the twins had already been up much later than usual to accommodate the astronomy lesson.

Some time later, Claire entered her private room, having put all the children in their beds and closed up the nursery for the night. She was looking forward to pressing a cool cloth to her neck; the humidity of the season was getting to her, and the cool cloth would help her relax enough to sleep. Safely in the privacy of her room, she made no attempt to stifle her yawn, instead glorying in it as she stood on her tiptoes and stretched her arms out. Lord, what a wonderful feeling.

A grinning face at the window strangled a shriek from her throat. In the odd combination of dark and light, Jacob’s head seemed disembodied, floating with no body, adding to the eeriness of the sight.

When she heard his laughter through the window, Claire’s fright turned to pique. She marched to the window and pushed it open. “It is just like you to spy through a lady’s window.”

Unrepentant, Jacob leaned folded arms across the windowsill. “You’re the one who left her curtains open. A man can only be so good.”

Claire leaned down and mimicked his stance at the windowsill, her arms running the length of his. “Is that the best you can do, blame your inherently sinful masculine nature?” She saw his eyes lower to her mouth, perilously close to his, and knew he was remembering her all-too-brief kiss two nights prior. Every time she had a moment to herself she found that evening by the fire replaying over and over through her mind, each sensation dancing over her skin again. A few times she had even lost track of the lesson she had been teaching, which spoke to the level of her distraction.

And she was distracted now. By his nearness, by his focus on her mouth, by the scent of him. Would he kiss her again? Did she want him to? Her blood pounded out a resounding yes.

But he disappointed her. He straightened from the window and held out his hand to her. “Join me for some stargazing.”

The prospect was so appealing she didn’t even mind his imperious phrasing. Sitting on the windowsill, she allowed him to help her down on to the roof. It wasn’t that high of a jump, but Jacob held her hips firmly as he helped her down. When her feet touched the graveled surface, his hands remained on her hips and she swayed toward him.

This time he took advantage of her willingness and pressed his lips to hers.

The feel of his strong lips moving against hers was too much to resist. Perhaps females had inherently sinful natures too, for all Claire wanted to do was press herself against his strong body, preferably naked. She contented herself with sliding her arms around his neck and moving close enough to feel the texture of his coat press against her dress. It had been four years since she had truly kissed a man, but the knowledge flooded back, and she moved her lips in time with his.

Their breathing quickened and their tongues began to flick and trace and explore each other’s mouths. Jacob’s tongue ran underneath her lower lip, dragging it into his mouth and gently sucking. A small whimper of delight rose in her and her fingers slid into his hair, relishing the silky feeling of it between her fingers. Claire rose on her tiptoes to gain better access to his mouth.

Heat fused through her body as whorls of sensation emanated from her mouth, traveling down her body. Jacob finally moved his hands, wrapping one arm around her back while the other hand slid down to cup her bottom and tilted her into his pelvis, kneading as he did so.

Claire could not mistake the evidence of his desire. Pressed against her belly, she could feel the bulge continue to swell and grow, and she felt an answering wetness gather between her legs.

As much as her body screamed at her to continue this to completion, the small part of her mind that remained rational became incessantly vocal. With a moan, she broke the kiss. “Stop,” she gasped.

“Soon,” Jacob muttered, burying his head in her neck. Her eyes closed as he began to nuzzle her neck, little nips teasing her skin.

“But the stars . . .”

“Hang the stars.” He took her mouth again, sliding his tongue inside to dance with hers. Little mewls of appreciation vibrated up her throat.

But again, she broke the kiss. “Stop.”

“Soon.”

“Now.” She accompanied that with a small push against his chest.

With a sigh, Jacob loosened his embrace and leaned back slightly. Breathing hard, he pressed his forehead against hers. Sweet Mary, but he wanted her. Wanted her so bad his every pore ached for her. Every nerve in his body was currently thrumming with unfulfilled desire and all from a mere chaste kiss, at least compared to what he wanted to do to her. What was it about this woman?

“Magic,” he breathed, his heart resuming its normal pace. Dropping a kiss to her forehead, he stepped away and winged an elbow at her. “My lady, your stars await.”

“M
iss Bannister!”

The high-pitched annoyance in the child’s tone finally broke Claire out of her reverie. Blinking, she saw the angry faces of Miss Sophie and Miss Mary glaring at her. Miss Allison was playing with her dolls in the corner, unaware of her sisters’ annoyance.

“My apologies; I was woolgathering,” Claire said. “Is something the matter?”

Miss Sophie crossed her arms and made an unladylike sound. “You were staring off into space. You were talking about stargazing and then just stopped.”

“We called your name four times,” Miss Mary added, holding up her fingers for emphasis.

Claire felt her face burn hot. How could she confess to her charges the nature of her thoughts? She couldn’t, of course. She cleared her throat. “Of course. Mr. Knightly has promised to show you how to use his telescope to look at the stars more closely.”