One Night Scandal

ears. I was tasked tonight with taking note of all the ladies gowns and reporting back to her in the morning.”

She laughed. “I was the same way at that age. It only gets worse as she gets older. She will start to pester you for all the latest fashions.”

“One more thing to look forward to,” he mumbled.

“I do hope you have a good governess for her to keep her mind occupied.”

Nicholas sipped his brandy as she captured one of his pawns. “Her governess is very impressed with her intelligence. Mrs. Griffon already has her learning Latin and Greek.”

“Mrs. Griffon? Eliza Griffon?”

“Yes,” Nicholas answered. “Do you know of her? Is she one of your clients?”

“No,” Sophie answered, blinking quickly. “She was my governess for eight years.”

“Was she?” Nicholas smiled to himself. He really must review Mrs. Griffon’s references. Perhaps he might discover the identity of Sophie’s father.

“She is a wonderful teacher,” Sophie gushed. “You must be sure to have her take Emma to the British Museum several times.”

“Why is that?”

“I have never met anyone who knows so much about the contents of that museum. She made me come to love it and history in particular.”

“I shall insist she do that then.”

She glanced down at the board as he captured one of her pawns. She smiled and he realized his mistake. He’d been so preoccupied with her that he’d put his rook in danger. She held up the marble piece with a smile.

“I believe I should pay more attention to the game and not the beautiful woman across from me,” he remarked.

“Be warned, Mrs. Griffon taught me to play.”

As the others finished their games, they walked over to watch the game in progress. Nicholas finally had Sophie on the defensive, but she was a challenging player. And he thoroughly enjoyed the competition. The few times he had attempted to play chess with other women they either had no idea of the rules or had no skill.

She furrowed her brow as she stared at the board. Finally, she picked up her knight and moved him to defend her king. “I believe that will just about be the end of the game,” she said quietly.

“I think you are correct,” he replied, taking her knight. “Checkmate.”

“Well played, my lord.”

He nodded and stood. “I should take my leave now.”

Leaving was the last thing he wanted to do now. He wanted to stay and determine what had her angry earlier so he could ease her mind. But mostly, he wanted to stay and take her to her bed. At some point soon, he had to find some time alone with her again.

He pushed his chair under the table and nodded to her. “Good evening, Miss Reynard.”

“Good evening, Lord Ancroft.”

He walked out with her friends trailing behind. Overall, he was pleased with the evening. Once she had recovered from her anger at him for attending her party, they had been able to have a lovely conversation. And he had learned a little more about her.

Once he arrived home, he strode to his study and searched out his file on Mrs. Griffon. According to her letter of reference, she had worked for Lord Westbury for twelve years. Westbury was Somerton’s father, which meant nothing because Somerton’s sister Genna was almost one and twenty.

Still, something niggled at his mind. Mrs. Griffon had been Sophie’s governess for eight years. And the governess had been with Lord Westbury for twelve years, plus four years here. That meant Mrs. Griffon had twenty-four years of experience as a governess. But that didn’t add up. Mrs. Griffon had told him she became a governess at the age of thirty after being widowed. He was positive that she had just turned forty-six this past year.

Had Mrs. Griffon lied to him?

It made no sense. Why would she say she had less experience? Or perhaps she had lied about her age. He was too tired to think about any of this tonight. He would discover the truth tomorrow.

Sophie grabbed the biscuit from her nightstand and prayed it would keep the nausea at bay. This morning had been the worst so far. She’d been positive that she wouldn’t be able to keep her stomach settled. Perhaps it had been the larger than usual dinner last night.