Loving a Mysterious Governess (Preview)

Chapter One

An Independent Spirit 

“You will marry Sir Jason Protheroe. The arrangements are made, and if you refuse, then, my dear sister, you will be destitute.”

Katherine stared in disbelief at the arrogant man standing in front of her. If he didn’t have power over her fortune, she would laugh in his face. James Galloway, her brother, looked ridiculous in his red coat. He was no longer in the army but insisted on wearing his uniform at all times. 

It was getting a little tight for him, too, she thought. What a pompous oaf. 

What should she do? Agree to the marriage and reduce James’ controlling surveillance, or stand her ground and continue to refuse to marry? 

She glanced at a miniature painting of her dear papa on the walnut writing table.  

This is my home. Papa and I came here when he left Cambridge; we spent so many happy evenings reading together by the fire.

In her reticule was the letter that had arrived two days ago, which provided an escape route. Her breathing eased as she considered the offer of a governess position in the north country.  

“James, I object to you arranging a marriage for me without having the courtesy to even mention it to me.” she protested. “You tell me I am betrothed to Sir Jason Protheroe, a baronet thirty years older than me. He is, I believe, even older than our father,” she added through gritted teeth.

Katherine may have been petite, but her feisty personality made up for this. She raised her chin and stood her ground, looking directly into her brother’s eyes. He looked away, unable to look her in the face.

“I am your legal trustee, and if you do not follow my instructions, then I will ensure that you will be penniless.” 

“It is dreadful that a man can treat a woman, who is of age, in this controlling and condescending manner,” Katherine snapped back, her blue eyes burning with anger. 

“Come, come, my dear. All you need to do is marry Protheroe and keep him happy for a few years,” he implored. “His settlement for you is generous and will pay for the repairs on our property and provide me with a commission in the militia.” He banged his glass down on the table.  “Katherine, you have to see reason. This marriage is the answer to all our family difficulties.” 

She reached behind her for the corner of the bookcase. I am to marry a man I cannot bear because you want a country estate and a commission in the army. Have you no consideration for my future? she thought in frustration.

“Protheroe has connections and £20,000 a year. This house was never suitable lodgings for our family. It was necessary to rent out our country estate at Fairbury House, but your marriage to Protheroe means we can reclaim our ancestral home and live the life of the ton again.” 

He turned away from Katherine and poured himself another glass of cognac from the crystal decanter before continuing.  

“In my opinion father should never have been persuaded to let Fairbury House. If I had been home, it would never have happened,” James concluded with arrogance.

“You know very well that Father had no choice. Our financial situation was precarious, and the only option was to move to town,” Katherine replied, holding back tears. “We could live here comfortably, with an income from renting Fairbury House. The decision was not taken lightly.”

“He was badly advised,” snarled James. “However, your marriage means the family will be secure, and we can hold our heads high in society once more.” 

“You are quite despicable,” retorted Katherine. “It is clear that you are arranging this match to support your own financial future. You mean that your future will be secure. You care not what happens to me,” she shuddered, unable to look at James. 

She stared at the still-life oil painting on the wall immediately behind him. There was more life in the fruit and flowers, caught in a moment in time, than in her brother. He was so full of his own schemes that he lacked all compassion. 

How could James look so like her beloved father and be so different in character? James Galloway enjoyed using his height to intimidate others. He kept his dark brown hair in an army cut and didn’t hold with fashion. His angular features, pale blue eyes, and impeccable manners disguised a manipulative, controlling personality. He was not yet thirty, but his attitude to life gave the impression of being in his mid-forties.

Katherine took a deep breath, cold air clearing her head, and made a split-second decision to pretend to capitulate and agree to the plan. The monotonous drone of James’ voice, imploring her to marry Protheroe, had persisted most of the day; even when he stopped talking, she could still hear him resonating in her head.  

Katherine had an uncanny ability for solving problems with a practical and resourceful approach.

She needed some quiet time to think about how to put her escape plan into action. She would leave London and disappear without a trace. 

She lowered her eyes and took a seat on the worn velvet-covered settee, making her tight fingers relax into the velvet.  She needed to convince James she had experienced a change of heart, which would be tricky. 

“You say that if I marry Sir Jason, our country estate will return to the family?”  questioned Katherine.

“That, sister, is what I have been trying to tell you all week,” said James, looking at Katherine with loathing. 

“And all father’s debts will be settled?” she continued. 

“Easily, the marriage settlement is very generous,” he added, with irritation that his sister seemed unable to understand the necessity to marry. He blamed their father, who had encouraged her to have an independent and inquisitive mind.

“Very well.” Katherine paused and looked James directly in the eye. She needed to keep her nerve, swallowing the lump in her throat, knowing she had to convince James she was sincere in this change of heart.  

“I will marry Sir Jason Protheroe a week on Saturday,” she said quietly. 

“However,” she continued, “I insist that some of the settlement is placed in a trust in my name, accessible only by me.” She took another breath to steady her racing pulse.  “If I am to marry a portly, elderly gentleman, whom I have never met, then I demand that I have a financial settlement which benefits me.” 

James looked confused. He was unsure how to respond. On the face of it this was a victory, as Katherine was agreeing to marry Protheroe. However, he was reluctant to lose control of any of the financial settlement. 

“It is up to you, James,” continued Katherine with firm resolve. “Those are my conditions for marrying Protheroe, and if you agree, I shall instruct Mr Clayton, Papa’s solicitor, to set up a trust accessible only by me.”  

“Very well,” agreed James with obvious reluctance. “I am seriously unhappy with your attitude and demands, but, in the circumstances, I will agree to those terms.”  

Soon after, James went to his own room, and she heard him snoring. He had been drinking heavily all day, and she doubted anything would wake him. 

Time to pack more of her belongings and prepare to leave London. She had started to pack that morning but accomplished little. Her maid, Alice, brought her hot tea, bread, cheese, and some cold cuts of ham. She had hardly eaten for two days, while James had continually bullied her into agreeing to marry the odious Sir Jason Protheroe. 

Katherine began to sort through a box of keepsakes, trying to decide on the few possessions to take with her. She found a length of exquisite Flemish lace belonging to her grandmother. She caught her breath when Mama’s moonstone necklace and earrings fell out of the lace onto the table. Even on this dull, cloudy day, they were luminous in the light. She would treasure these memories of happier times as she created a new future.

“Oh, Miss, this is a sad day,” whispered Alice. “I’ve done what you said and packed my own bag, ready to leave. Thank you for arranging work for me in your friend’s household.” Alice began to cry. “I wish things were different,” she sobbed. 

Katherine gently patted her arm. “We have to do the best we can, Alice. I need to know you are safe from James’ anger when he discovers I have gone, and you will find your new employer is a kind person,” Katherine reassured her.

Alice sniffed and attempted a smile. “Now, Miss, you need to let me pack your things. I know what you will need, and it will be quicker if you let me do it.” 

Within the hour, Katherine’s two portmanteaus were packed with the essentials she would need in her new life. They would leave in the morning. 

Later, in the dark, she lay awake, unable to sleep. There was no noise except the reassuring snores from James’ room. 

Oh, Father, I miss you so much.

James’ return to England, so soon after her father’s death, had meant that she had little opportunity to mourn. How she wished for one more happy evening sitting by the fire with her papa reading Mr Henry Fielding’s novel together. The adventures of Tom Jones had made them laugh. Ironically, the heroine, Sophia, runs away from home to escape an arranged marriage. 

Her father, a scholar, had passed on his love of learning, and Katherine was accomplished in literature, languages, and history. Her dear mama had passed on her knowledge of music and art. The gift of learning from her parents would give her a means of escape. 

She sat in front of the small hearth in her bedroom, feeling the warmth of the fire on her toes, took the letter from her reticule, and read it again.

Was she making the right decision? 

She had been grappling with this since the letter offering her the position arrived two days ago. It was hard to leave the place she had spent so many comfortable days with her father. 

She had secured a position as a governess in the distant north, far enough away to be safe from James’ scheming control. Now she had the means to build a new life under a new identity. She had been given an escape route and could seize it and travel into the unknown. 

She would never submit to a marriage with Sir Jason Protheroe.

 

Chapter Two

Grieving for a Lost Sister

Midland Manor, Easingfield, Yorkshire

“Well, William, have you given any further thought to this need for a mother for the girls?” asked his mother, Constance, Lady Midland, her blonde hair pinned into an elaborate style that showed her chiselled features to best advantage. She was one of the most classically beautiful women in the ton, and despite the trauma of losing her daughter, she had not lost her looks.   

“No, ma’am, I have been somewhat preoccupied with estate administration.” Desiring a suitable stepmother for his nieces, William Ashton, Marquess of Midland had entertained the notion of remarrying. However, none of the ladies paraded before him by his mother seemed to capture his interest.

William often gave the impression of being somewhat aloof, a little guarded with others until he knew them well. Of average height, he gave those meeting him for the first time the impression of being taller. It was something about how he held himself, physically strong, with the innate confidence of a handsome marquess.

But he had closed off emotionally following the death of his wife and then the devastating death of his sister Elizabeth. 

“There is any number of suitable young ladies in the neighbourhood. It is time you married and gave your nieces a mother,” his mother was fond of reminding him.

William turned away abruptly. “You mean well, Mother, so I forgive you. But even if I marry, I fear nothing will replace their mother’s love and care.”

“There is also the matter of an heir to this estate,” persisted his mother, her piercing blue eyes, which William had inherited, holding his attention.

“Mama, you have, over the last three years, paraded a host of ladies before me. I have, of course, noticed the fair charms of numerous guests at the house parties you have organised. I have dined, danced, and talked with all of them, and I am as far from remarrying as I was when you started this campaign to marry me off.”

“I have tried to introduce you to suitable ladies, and you have thwarted me at every turn,” she replied, frustrated.

“An old widower like me could not fail to notice their beauty, but I have no desire for marriage.” He dragged his hands through his fair hair.

William studiously avoided his mother’s penetrating gaze. She was undeterred.

“So you haven’t given any further thought to my suggestion of a governess either?” she asked, wrapping her fan sharply on the Chippendale side table.

“No, Mother, as I said earlier, I have been preoccupied with urgent matters on the estate.”

Lady Midland refused to hear any more excuses. “Nonsense, William, the girls need consistency, and you have delayed this matter long enough. They lost their father to a sudden fever; in fact, I doubt they even remember him. Elizabeth never really recovered after his death. That’s when she took to galloping across the countryside recklessly.” 

He took a deep breath, aware that he usually managed to avoid this particular conversation. His mother’s words cut into a deep wound, and the pain at the memory of his sister’s death only intensified over time.

“Mother, please, stop there.” Even now, the emotion made the words stick in his throat. Intense guilt struck him, as it did whenever his sister’s name was mentioned. 

While his mother requested tea and asked for the fire to be banked up, William’s thoughts drifted to the tragic event that had brought his nieces to live at Midland Manor. Their mother, his vivacious sister, so full of life, dead after her horse refused to jump a hedge, reared, and threw her, breaking her neck.

His lovely, bright sister, mother to two tiny little girls orphaned in a moment.

Memories flooded in. If only he could change the events of that bright spring morning. He had been engrossed in the estate accounts, annoyed at the knock on the door breaking his concentration. His mother stood there, drained of colour, tears streaming down her face. 

“Elizabeth,” she stammered. “There has been an accident. She took a fall from Misty at that hedge where the meadow meets the river. We must go now.” 

As they raced to the meadow, they saw a group standing silently, staring at a body lying on the ground. He took his mother’s arm and guided her towards the scene of the accident. The way his mother kneeled beside Elizabeth, trying to revive her with smelling salts. She lay unresponsive and motionless, and he knew his once vibrant sister was gravely injured. 

“They said not to move her, ma’am,” said Giles, the groom. “We’ve sent for the physician.”

Despite knowing his sister had gone, William hoped against hope that she would revive. The physician examined Elizabeth, and, after an agonizing pause, he looked at William and shook his head.  “I’m sorry, My Lord, Your Ladyship, but she is gone. I believe her death was instantaneous as her neck is broken.” He closed Elizabeth’s eyes and bowed his head.

Time stopped for William then, and he had lived with a weight of guilt since that day. The physician’s words hit him like a sledgehammer, propelling him into a new reality. He had given Elizabeth the horse as a gift for her birthday only six months ago. He was indirectly responsible for this tragedy. He felt despair and guilt as he saw the faces of his poor motherless nieces.

He nodded his thanks to the physician and turned to support his mother. A keening wail rose into the air as Lady Midland sank to her knees on the wet grass, beginning the long process of mourning for her daughter. 

“Run to the house, Giles, fetch my mother’s maid, and tell Mr Crabtree to prepare a warm fire and hot tea.” 

Engulfed in the depths of despair, he knew that tea would not help his mother’s grief, but he was unsure what else to do in this new reality they were living in. 

“Mother, come away. We can do no more.”

“No, William, I will not leave my baby. I will stay with my dear girl until they carry her home.” 

I will shield myself and my family from experiencing such profound pain in the future. We will live through this as a family, he thought.

He looked at his sister’s face, already resembling an effigy on a stone tomb more than a lively mother, daughter, and sister. I vow to protect Elizabeth’s children from having to live through such pain again.   

William had given his nieces a home and taken his guardianship seriously. They had the resilience of children and in the months after, “Is Mama an angel now?” he had heard them asking his mother. 

“She always was an angel, my dears, and still is, even though she is no longer here with us,” she would reply with tears in her eyes.

William, lost in memories, was abruptly brought back to the present by his mother proclaiming she had taken matters into her own hands. Her strident voice broke into his thoughts. 

“I have engaged a governess; she comes highly recommended and will join the household later this week,” his mother declared.

“Mother, you did wrong. This is unacceptable interference.” 

“The girls need consistency and an education. You, my boy, show no signs of remarrying and bringing them a new mother. This situation cannot continue, so I have taken matters into my own hands and found a governess. If and when you marry, we can review the situation. You take little notice of your adopted daughters. You are never here at Midland, and you scarcely have a conversation with them when you are here. This cannot continue.” 

He felt a pang of guilt. Try as he might he felt a reservation with his nieces, a reluctance to become close to them.

“I am glad to be here for them, but I cannot provide the education they need. A governess. They need a governess, and my granddaughters will have one. I will brook no interference.” His mother was adamant.

“Dash it all, Mother. You have gone too far with this plan.” 

“I am determined, William. If you refuse to consider marrying, then there needs to be a different solution … Miss Walters will arrive later this week.”

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“Loving a Mysterious Governess” is an Amazon Best-Selling novel, check it out here!

Katherine Galloway, grieving her father’s death, faces further distress when her brother insists on her wedding with an affluent, elderly baronet to preserve the family wealth. Desperate to escape this horrible fate, she assumes a new identity and becomes the governess to two orphaned girls at an ancient manor on the wild north moors. To her surprise, she finds herself increasingly drawn to their reserved and austere guardian, the Marquess of Midland.

Can Katherine discover love as a humble governess living under a concealed identity?

William, the Marquess of Midland, finds himself guardian to his two young nieces following a family tragedy. Distant and withdrawn from society, William fights against his mother’s desire to have him marry a local beauty. Little did he know that the arrival of the new governess would spark an immediate interest and attraction within him. Yet, he understands that pursuing her, given her lowly status, would defy societal norms or cause scandal.

Will he reject convention and allow this forbidden romance to turn his life upside down?

In the moments they share, William and Katherine sense an undeniable, blossoming connection that slowly warms their troubled souls. The rules of society, though, look certain to extinguish this fragile bond. As snow clouds gather, rumors of a mysterious stranger arriving in the village spread. Could the shadow of Katherine’s past reach as far as this remote landscape? Will Katherine and William defy opposition, conquer the evil gathering around them, and find an everlasting love?

“Loving a Mysterious Governess” is a historical romance novel of approximately 60,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

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