After a moment, she cleared her throat, dried her eyes again, and opened the fourth and final letter.
* * *
Vincent climbed the steps to the landing, saw Wallace pacing in the hallway in front of the bedchamber doors, and marched back downstairs.He could calm himself by playing the pianoforte.But he’d have a direct view of the family portrait above the fireplace if he looked up from the music.He wasn’t quite ready for that.
The window seat in the library was what he needed.Soft cushions, a delightful view of the rolling waves, and no relatives in sight for whom he had unsettled feelings.
He froze in the doorway at the sight of Sophia seated at the desk, her head bowed, shoulders shaking, clutching a piece of paper to her chest.All of her scribe tools were put away, the desk clear of all but a few pieces of parchment.He recognized the package he had franked earlier in the day.
As he debated whether to leave her in privacy, she let out a gut-wrenching sob and withdrew a handkerchief from her skirt pocket.
“Miss Walden?”He stepped forward, keeping his footsteps and voice light.
“Oh!”She turned away from him and dabbed at her eyes before delicately blowing her nose.
“Are you … ah, that is… Did you receive bad news?”
She shook her head but did not immediately look at him.After a moment she cleared her throat and stood to face him.Smiling.Beaming, even.The tips of her eyelashes sparkled from her tears.
Baffled, Vincent stepped closer.
She gestured at the desktop.“One letter was bad news, as the position has already been filled, but two are acceptances to my application for employment.And the fourth is—” she took a deep breath, her bosom rising and falling.
Vincent did his best not to be distracted.“The fourth is?”he prompted.
“The most wonderful thing!”She clutched her hands together as though unable to contain her excitement.“Mrs.Marpool, a friend and colleague at the Academy, accepted an offer to be governess to a family whose eldest daughter has already graduated and successfully married.The second daughter was enrolled at the Academy when it closed, and there are several younger siblings at home.Lord and Lady Withycombe hired Mrs.Marpool rather than select another school, and have now decided to hire a private music instructor.”
Vincent tried not to imagine Lord Withycombe as a lecherous wretch, collecting young, pretty teachers under his roof.“I imagine they’ll want you to teach more than just music if they’re essentially creating a school with only the two of you for instructors.”
Miss Walden airily waved her hand.“I am to have living quarters and teaching space in the dower house, a generous salary, and…” She hiccupped.“I could not wish for a better opportunity if I designed it myself.”She picked up the letter.“Mrs.Marpool assures me the pianofortes—two of them!—and other instruments at Withycombe Hall are of the highest quality, and says she’s very much looking forward to working with me again.”
She clutched the parchment to her chest, closed her eyes, and tipped her head back and took another deep breath as if still trying to compose herself.
Her words hit him like a punch in the gut.
She was leaving.
He took a steadying breath of his own.Of course she was leaving.Everyone knew her employment here with Aunt Gert was temporary.He was leaving soon, too.“Where is this ideal employment?And when do they expect you to start?”
He must not have hidden his reaction well, as she looked at him sideways.
“Exmouth,” she said slowly.“Lord Withycombe’s estate has views of the Exe River as well as the Channel.”She began gathering her papers.“Given the delay in getting their letter to me, I should have a fortnight to go on holiday before I am expected to begin my duties there.After I finish with your aunt, of course.”
“Of course,” he repeated woodenly, his mind reeling.
Aunt Gert poked her head in the door.“I thought I heard voices.Whatever are you two doing in here?Kendall rang the bell for supper.”
“Coming,” Vincent said, as Miss Walden hastily folded her letters and tucked them into a drawer.He managed to gather both women, one on each arm, and escort them into the dining room, a proper smile on his face despite the turmoil of his thoughts.
The young footman finally seated Vincent beside Sophia, though he almost wished they were across from each other so he could see her face.As it was, all he could see was the top of her head and hear her occasional reply to a direct question.
Dinner conversation centered on Miss Ebrington, seated beside Matthew across from Vincent—both of them gazing upon each other with such looks of adoration Vincent almost lost his appetite—the expected arrival of her parents in a few days, and Matthew’s plans to leave in the morning in order to be back with a special license before Mr.Ebrington could change his daughter’s marriage plans or take her to task for running away.
At last the meal concluded.As the group drifted toward the drawing room, Aunt Gert pulled Vincent aside.
“A moment, please,” she said, holding on to his forearm.
“Yes?”Her worried expression tied his guts in knots.
