As Grace added a little cream and sugar to her coffee, she warmed even more to Lord Steadwell’s middle daughter than to her sisters. She admired and rather envied Phoebe’s indomitable spirit.
“Enough about me and mine.” His lordship leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his coffee. “Tell me about yourself, Miss Ellerby, and why you feel you would make a suitable governess for my girls.”
“Very well, sir.” Grace recited a brief account of her background. “I was educated at the Pendergast School in Westmoreland and later served as a junior teacher there before becoming a private governess. Since then I have been employed by three families in the north, most recently the Heskeths of Burnley in Lancashire. I have a letter of recommendation from Mrs. Hesketh if you would care to read it.”
She retrieved the letter from her reticule and held it out to Lord Steadwell.
His lordship unfolded the letter and quickly scanned its contents. “It is perfectly in order and says the same things most such letters do. What I wish to know, Miss Ellerby, is what sets you apart and makes you uniquely qualified for the position of governess to my daughters?”
Relieved though she was that he had found Mrs. Hesketh’s recommendation acceptable, Grace scarcely knew how to respond to his lordship’s unorthodox question. Harsh experience had taught her that security and peace came only at the price of conformity. She had gone to great lengths to mask her uniqueness.
“I do not know what to tell you, sir.” She cast her gaze down to her lap where her fingers toyed with the strings of her reticule. “I am not accustomed to recommending myself. From a young age, I was taught the importance of humility. All I can say is that I want this position very much and if I get it, I will do everything in my power to give satisfaction.”
She cast a fleeting glance up over the top of her father’s spectacles and saw Lord Steadwell’s face clearly for the first time. He looked younger than she had expected, with strong, attractive features and dark eyes. He considered her reply with a thoughtful nod as if it was what he’d wanted to hear. But how could that be?
“You are the last of the applicants I have interviewed, Miss Ellerby, and I suspect the best suited for the position.”
A sob of relief rose and caught in Grace’s throat. “Thank you, sir.”
“But before I can make you an offer of employment, there is one matter we must first settle to my satisfaction.” Though his lordship spoke in a kindly tone, his words chilled her. “Three different positions in ten years is more than one would expect of a governess who gave satisfaction in her work. How do you account for it in your case?”
Why must he ask the one question above all others that she could not bear to answer? Grace’s breathing sped and a wave of dizziness came over her. How would Lord Steadwell react if she blurted out the truth—that she had fled each of those households after receiving unwelcome advances from men?
Coming from a woman who looked as she did, he would probably think she was stark, raving mad! But she would not dare pull off her cap and spectacles to reveal her true appearance. His lordship seemed an honorable gentleman, but Grace knew all too well the effect her cursed beauty could have upon men.
Miss Ellerby seemed perfect... in appearance at least.
As Rupert Kendrick waited for her to answer his question, he could not help but approve of her looks. She was, without a doubt, one of the most thoroughly unmarriageable women he had ever beheld. Pale and plain, the poor creature did not help herself with her choice of prim, dowdy clothes. If anything, they proclaimed her total disregard for ever securing a husband.
That was precisely the sort of governess Rupert required for his daughters. It was the reason he’d taken the unorthodox step of insisting to see the applicants for the position before making his choice.
The girls’ previous governess had abandoned them to elope with the younger son of a neighboring family. His daughters had been much upset by her sudden disappearance, especially little Sophie.
In the wake of Mademoiselle Audet’s defection, Rupert had made two vows. The first was that he would hire a governess who would remain with his daughters for as long as they needed her. The second was that he would put aside his lingering grief for his late wife and find the girls a new mother to love and care for them.
Because securing a suitable governess had seemed more urgent and easier than finding a suitable wife, he had undertaken the task with his usual determination. But after placing notices in several newspapers, reviewing all the letters of application and arranging to interview the most promising candidates, he had found them all too young and attractive for his liking. Until Miss Grace Ellerby, who was the embodiment of everything he sought.
Part of him wanted to offer her the position the moment he laid eyes on her. Miss Ellerby’s interest in his children swayed him even more in her favor. But prudence would not let him go further until the question of her past positions had been answered to his satisfaction. Clearly she had not quit those other households to elope, but she had left, or been asked to leave, for some reason. To be certain Miss Ellerby would remain at Nethercross until Sophie was ready to leave the schoolroom, he must discover what that reason was.
Could she have been too strict with the children? Did she have revolutionary theories of education? Was she a secret drunkard?
That last possibility made a grin tug at Rupert’s lips. But his deeply ingrained sense of caution wiped it away before it fully developed. What was taking Miss Ellerby so long to answer a simple question? Was it possible she did have something to hide?
“Forgive me, sir.” She set her coffee cup down on the table with trembling hands. “I am feeling unwell suddenly.”
Rupert might have suspected her claim was a ruse to keep from having to answer him, but one look at Miss Ellerby erased any doubt. Her face had gone even paler and her breath came fast and shallow. One hand rose to her forehead.
“I am sorry to hear it.” He leaned toward her. “Is there anything I can do?”
The lady did not answer but sprang from her chair and bolted for the door.
Rupert set down his cup and rose to follow. When Miss Ellerby swayed on her feet and crumpled, as if all her bones had turned to jelly, he barely managed to catch her before she swooned to the floor.
“Forgive me! I should have realized you were unwell.” He scooped her up and deposited her on the settee. Kneeling beside it, he patted her hand in an effort to wake her. “Lie quietly and I will send for an apothecary.”
To his relief, her eyelids fluttered open. But when she caught sight of him hovering over her, she gave a violent start and snatched her slender hand from his grasp. “That will not be necessary, sir. I do not require pills or potions. I only felt a little faint. The journey south must have tired me more than I realized.”