The Governess Club: Bonnie Read Online Free Page A

distance upstream, but remnants of the destroyed wooden structure littered the riverbed. Around the area, trees had turned color and the grass had begun to wither; birds still flew through the air, not yet worried about the coming winter. Stephen had left his hat at home in light of the stiff October breeze and, feeling his ears and cheeks turning red, he momentarily regretted he had not worn a scarf.
    Shifting in the saddle, he took in the surrounding land. Open fields hugged Darrowgate, copses of trees interspersed beatifically. Across the river, crops had been harvested; in other fields, cattle grazed. Beyond that, Stephen could clearly see the steeple of the town church and the thatched roofs of neighboring buildings.
    Emperor tossed his head impatiently. Making a soothing cluck, he urged the horse into a walk down the hill towards the river. Coming up to the trees that lined the bank, Stephen dismounted and tethered Emperor in a spot where he could fill his greedy stomach with grass.
    When he reached the water’s edge, Stephen stopped. Staring at the wreckage that used to be the wooden bridge, he was acutely aware that he was staring at the site of his friends’ deaths.
    Images from the story Miss Hodges had told him flashed through his mind—the waving parents, the shuddering bridge before it collapsed, the falling planks and horses, the coach splintering, George’s neck snapping and Roslyn—God, Roslyn lying in that mangled coach, her blood pouring out of her body. How had she survived long enough for anyone to come and see her still breathing?
    Nausea roiled in his stomach and bile forced its way up his throat. Heaving, Stephen bent over a nearby bush and lost the contents of his stomach. Minutes later, he crouched down at the water’s edge and splashed the cold water on his face.
    From where he crouched, Stephen turned his gaze down the river away from ruined bridge. He could make out an area ideal for swimming; a small stretch of sandy bank surrounded by a few larger, flat rocks. Indeed, an excellent place for a governess to take her charges for a cooling swim on a hot summer day.
    Stephen straightened and made his way along the bank to the swimming area. A well-worn path weaved through the bush, connecting the small beach to the hill beyond and Darrowgate. The bridge was 200 feet upstream; not only would the governess and the boys have a good view of the collapse, the blood from the incident would have flowed right by them.
    No wonder they barely spoke.
    Tearing his gaze from the bridge, he focused on the water, trying to imagine the trio enjoying their swim, with no inkling or threat of danger. The boys in the water, laughing and splashing each other, showing off their swimming skills to their laughing governess.
    Stephen looked at the closest flat rock, the thought of the laughing governess in his mind. She had said she preferred dangling her feet instead of swimming.
    His mind’s eye put Miss Hodges on the rock, much as she had been the previous night. The look on her face after seeing his own flour-covered face. Her smile had been so wide it had been difficult to see anything else about her. He knew her eyes and hair were certain colors, but he was damned if he could name them—eyes were some light shade and the hair was brown, that he knew for certain.
    And her laugh—it was the last thing he had expected from her. He was in a difficult situation—not quite master but regarded as such until Henry’s majority. For a servant, even a governess, to laugh as she had was entirely unpredictable.
    He shouldn’t think too much about how that unexpected laughter had settled in his gut.
    The image of Miss Hodges sitting on the rock rose again in his mind. The sun would have warmed the rock beneath her hands and she would have looked down at the clear water. She would laugh at the boys’ antics, even kick water in their direction if they ventured too close. Her stockings would be folded into her shoes to keep