Page 3 of It's a British Christmas

“Miss Chambers, I will overlook your outburst and attribute it to your lack of proper upbringing. Lady Charlotte and Lady Clare are in dire need of direction that you apparently have not provided. As grateful as I am that you took them under your wing when their parents died suddenly, I must insist on you leaving them into the care of the governess I have secured for them who will arrive on the morrow. Once your presence is no longer needed to secure the cooperation of my wards, you will be released.”

He walked to the far right corner of the room and pulled the bell. Miss Chambers studied him as they waited for the servant he’d summoned. Within minutes, a young nursery maid entered the room and bobbed. “Your Grace?”

“See that Lady Charlotte and Lady Clare are settled. I believe Miss Chambers has been assigned the room adjoining theirs for the time being.” His arms crossed, he looked at the woefully inadequate governess. “The young ladies will have dinner in the nursery. I will expect you to present yourself in the drawing room at precisely eight o’clock to join myself, my brother, Lord Brandon, and my mother, the Duchess of Penrose, for dinner.”

With that command, he strode from the room.

Merry took a deep breath to keep from racing after the prig and giving him a piece of her mind. Lack of proper upbringing, indeed. Duke or no duke, Penrose was arrogant, condescending, and contemptuous. He’d frightened the girls and affected a most unpleasant welcome. She glanced at them still huddled together in the large chair.

“Come, let’s get settled in the nursery, and see what fine books and toys are there.”

Charlotte and Clare stood and took her hands. The trio followed the maid out the door and up the stairs. Wherever the contemptuous man had gotten off to, she didn’t see him the entire trip. And a trip it was. Even though her former employers, Lord and Lady Bedford, had an impressive home, this dwelling put it to shame. It would take her weeks to learn all the hallways, wings and sections of the place. Except, she reminded herself, the lord of the manor would be tossing her out on her arse in a week or two.

She sighed. Charlotte and Clare had been her charges for five years, and leaving them in someone else’s care troubled her. They’d been a mere one and three when Lord and Lady Belford hired her during their trip to America. Their nanny had succumbed to a fever, and Merry was only too happy to leave her home behind, where all the young men who had paid her addresses had married elsewhere.

As the daughter of a professor, she’d been educated beyond the expectations of most young ladies, and in fact, most men as well. Although the young bucks who attempted to court her were charming, they lacked the spark she desired in a lifetime mate.

She’d spent hours discussing books, plays and music with her father. Proud of her sharp mind, he’d taught her philosophy, economics, history, and languages. She’d picked up French and German quickly. A duck out of water in her circle of female friends, who only conversed about the latest gossip, gowns, and young men, the chance to travel to England shortly after her father passed away seemed her salvation. At one and twenty, it had been time for a new direction.

“Miss, this is the nursery. If you will follow me, I’ll show you to your chamber next door.” The young maid swung open the door to a brightly colored schoolroom. Small wooden tables and chairs took up the center of the room. A bookcase lined the walls, with puzzles, games and slates stacked on the shelves. On the far side of the room, a door led to what appeared to be a sleeping chamber.

The girls left her side for the first time since they’d alighted from the carriage earlier, hurrying to discover the wonders of the bookshelves.

“I’m going to get settled in my bedchamber, which is right alongside this one.” Merry addressed the girls, amused to see they barely acknowledged her as they flipped through books and pulled out puzzles.

The governess’s room was as large as the nursery. Blue and white striped silk covered the walls, broken up by windows on two of the four walls, bathing the area in bright sunlight. A large canopied bed with a flowered quilt and numerous pillows caught her eye as she viewed the room. Her shoes sank into plush carpet. The huge fireplace stood cold, causing her to run her hands up and down her arms against the chill.

“I’ll light a fire for you right away, miss,” the young maid assured her.

“Thank you. That will be nice.”

Merry wandered about the room, examining the dressing table and chair, the empty wardrobe, and more bookcases filled with books. Penrose might be an overbearing brute, but the family certainly took very good care of their governesses. Well, no matter, she wouldn’t be here long. Since the new governess was due to arrive tomorrow, this would probably be Merry’s only night in this splendid room.

Her stomach clenched as she recalled the conversation with the duke. He obviously held little regard for Americans. Well, this American was not going to bow and scrape. Let her English counterparts do that. She sniffed. The aristocracy meant nothing to her. Her previous employers had allowed leniency in their daughters’ upbringing, and having them now subjected to all the mores and strictures of Polite Society almost brought her to tears.

Merry sat on the floor of the nursery, legs crossed, Charlotte and Clare on either side of her, the three heads bent over the storybook Merry read. This was her favorite time of the day, when dinner was over, the girls washed and dressed for bed, and an engrossing story holding them hostage until time to sleep.

A maid had come to assist her to dress for dinner earlier, but she told the girl she would eat with her charges, and would not be joining the duke’s family in the dining room.

“And the prince charming swept her into his strong arms, and twirled her around the dance floor. ‘Will you marry me, my princess?’ he asked. ‘Yes,’ she responded, much to his delight.”

She paused for effect, then sighed. “After the royal wedding, they lived happily ever after.” She gently closed the book. “The end.”

“I like that story,” Clare said as she rubbed her eyes.

“Me, too,” Charlotte added, dreamy-eyed. “One day I will meet a prince charming, who will twirl me around the ballroom.”

Her younger sister nodded, enthralled with Charlotte’s dream.

“I will wear the most beautiful gown, with matching−"

Merry jerked her head up as the door to the nursery flew open and slammed against the wall. Like the wrath of God, the Duke of Penrose stood in the doorway, fire in his eyes, his hands fisted at his sides.

“Miss Chambers, I ordered you to join my family for dinner.”

CHAPTER 2

Penrose couldn’t believe his eyes. The termagant sat crossed-legged on the floor, her skirts halfway up her limbs, practically to her knees. The hair that had begun its descent earlier now fell in clumps around her shoulders. Miss Chambers hadn’t changed from her travelling gown, and as one stockinged foot peeked out at him, she’d apparently removed her shoes. A total disgrace, and completely unacceptable as an influence on his wards.