Perplexed, Catherine asked, “Do you mean to say that Miss Meyer was already a governess at the orphanage?”
Hugh shook his head, “No, I will come back to this point in a moment, but suffice it to say that I was intrigued. I carried on towards the registry office and even met with a potential candidate there. However, I—” he sighed, as this was the part of the story where the situation became complicated.
“While interviewing the candidate, I realized that what Lady Cecilia needed the most at this time was to regain her joy and laughter. So I excused myself from the registry office and hastily made my way back to the orphanage with the hope of speaking to Miss Meyer.”
With a nonchalant shrug, Catherine interjected, “Well, with all due respect, Hugh, I still cannot see what the problem is.”
“Well, upon arriving at the orphanage, I had the opportunity to speak to the matron. Miss Meyer had gone to the market by that time, but I still managed to learn a good deal about her. Such as her fondness for children, her love for books and learning, and…” he rubbed the back of his neck, “...the fact that she is an orphan.”
He watched Catherine; she was struck speechless as this information sank in. When she finally spoke, she reminded him, “But you reassured His Grace that Miss Meyer was—”
“A highly qualified, well-recommended governess from a respected family. Yes, Catherine, I know. I told one bold-faced lie after another. However, it was all for Lady Cecilia’s sake. After all, did you not hear from the grounds staff how she laughed with Miss Meyer in the garden? How long has it been since we last saw her laugh? For weeks, we have been trying to raise Lady Cecilia’s spirits in vain, but Miss Meyer accomplished it in an afternoon.”
“Yes, Philippa and I were dusting the drawing room and we chanced to see them together at the reflecting pool. She got so excited that she told all of the other maids afterwards. I do see your point, Hugh. And I suppose you now feel that your deception is justified and so you are waiting to confess to His Grace?”
Hugh nodded. He was not surprised that Catherine had deduced as much so quickly. He had always known that she was an exceptionally shrewd woman. Not to mention, having worked with each other for so long, she knew him almost inside out.
“Truth be told, I believe we should keep this between us for the time being,” she said plainly.
Hugh looked at her incredulously, “Surely you do not mean it, Catherine. After all, how could we deceive His Grace any longer?”
“And what if you were to confess tonight? What if His Grace were to immediately dismiss you for your insubordination? Worse, what if he were to dismiss Miss Meyer—the only person who has proven herself capable of helping Lady Cecilia—as well? No, Hugh. We must let it play out just a little while longer. Once we have irrefutable justification for your actions, only then should you consider confessing the truth.”
He took a moment to reflect on her words. He generally had implicit trust in her judgment, and she had raised several valid points, but he also had no desire to lie to the Duke any longer.
Before he could respond, the study door swung open and the Duke and Miss Meyer stepped into the library. Miss Meyer thanked His Grace and bid everyone a good night. The Duke then turned to Fletcher and said, “I thank you for your patience, Fletcher. Now, what was it that you wanted to discuss?”
Chapter 6
Meredith watched with pride as Lady Cecilia wrote her essay. It was now three days since her meeting with the Duke, and she and Cecilia were spending more time together outside of their history and geography lessons. In fact, Meredith had even sat in for Cecilia’s embroidery lesson this morning and ended up learning quite a bit. Presently, they were seated in the library, a room that Meredith loved even more than her own bedroom.
Meredith was taking well to life at Ambrose Estate, for the servants were quite kind to her and the food was always sublime. There was just one thing that bothered her. It was one of the last things the Duke had said during their private meeting.
He mentioned how he hoped Meredith would continue to remind Lady Cecilia of points from her deportment lessons as well as occasionally practice her French conversational skills with her.
Naturally, this was all very confusing for Meredith since she did not know anything about the upper society rules of deportment, nor did she speak French.
Does the Duke think that we also received such high quality education in the orphanage? How on earth am I supposed to supplement Lady Cecilia’s learning in either of those capacities?
It was all quite puzzling. Unfortunately, before Meredith could clarify any of this with the Duke, he brought their meeting to an abrupt close by thanking her for her time and wishing her well with the next day’s lesson. He then proceeded to show her out of his study whilst expressing how he looked forward to speaking about Cecilia’s progress in the future.
Indeed, His Grace is quite an odd man. He spends most of his time on the other side of that door, only ever coming out to eat meals or to see his—
The loud crash of a window shattering caused both Meredith and Lady Cecilia to scream in fear.
* * *
The first to arrive on the scene were Mrs. Oakley and two maids, followed shortly by Mr. Fletcher, who rushed in so quickly he had to stop and catch his breath. Finally, the Duke himself arrived. But rather than emerge from his study, he ran up to the broken window from the garden, wearing a three-cornered hat atop his dark brown hair, which was now askew from the speed at which he had run to meet them.
Behind him were Lord Farellshire—who was carrying a cricket bat—and Lord Gillianghamshire, both of whom were also wearing three-cornered hats.
“Cecilia? Are you all right? Cecilia?” The Duke asked in a panic.
Mr. Fletcher reassured the Duke, “She is perfectly fine, Your Grace. Thankfully she and Miss Meyer were at the opposite end of the room, so neither the ball nor the pieces of glass hit either of them.”
“Oh, thank heavens!” the Duke exclaimed.
At this point, Lord Farellshire and Lord Gillianghamshire had caught up.
