The Governess Club: Claire Read Online Free Page A

outright admission that her treatment of him had been wrong? Despite it being so similar to what he had heard his entire life? What did that mean?
    He fell back on the behavior that had been engrained in him as a noble gentleman since birth. Giving her a shallow bow, he gestured to the chair she had been sitting in. “Shall we have a seat and discuss our project?”
    She smoothed her skirts and stood a bit straighter; if she was suspicious of his sudden solicitousness, she didn’t give any indication. With a nod, she crossed over to the table and perched on the edge of the chair, folding her hands on her lap. It was a gesture he had seen in countless ladies in the same position; it suddenly became clear where each of them had learned it from. The sudden obviousness made him feel stupid, but Jacob stamped that down and sat down across from her.
    “Miss Bannister, I find I am struggling with the new circumstances in which I find myself. I would greatly appreciate any assistance you could provide.”
    She nodded again. “I would be happy to help where I can.”
    “My thanks.” Jacob resisted the urge to replicate her nod. “As you have noted, I am unused to a life of servitude. While I have not had the most privileged life”—the lie stuck in his throat for a moment—“I have never needed to do for others or serve them. I do not know how to behave in this situation.”
    Claire looked down at her hands. “It is not easy to debase oneself.”
    That comment caught his attention. “How did you find yourself being a governess?”
    She didn’t answer right away. When she did, her voice was quiet but confident. “I was a companion first. For nearly a year. But . . . some things happened, and I had to find a new position. Lady Aldgate was my second interview through the London agency. She liked me, and here I am. That was four years ago.”
    That wasn’t quite the answer he was looking for. “And why did you become a companion? This couldn’t have been your lifelong dream.”
    A hard look from her. “My next piece of advice: don’t belittle the choices of others. This one is universal, not just limited to how to survive as a servant. You have no concept of what their dreams or ambitions are.”
    He sighed. “I have only known you for a week, but I have apologized more to you than I have to anyone in my entire lifetime.”
    “Perhaps that could be an indication that your behavior needs to be changed.”
    “Was being a companion or a governess your ambition?”
    “There is nothing wrong with either position.”
    Jacob thought she sounded too defensive. “But were they what you wanted from life?”
    She was silent for several beats. “No,” she finally admitted.
    Jacob waited for her to say more. “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?”
    “I thought we were supposed to be talking about you.”
    He grunted. “I’m not going to fall for that trap. If I agree with you, I sound like a conceited ass, but if I disagree with you, I end up being annoyingly persistent. Either way I lose.”
    Claire sighed. “I don’t understand why we constantly rub each other the wrong way. I am not usually so argumentative.”
    Jacob had his theories about that. He hadn’t stopped thinking about her since the moment they met, and his resolution to seduce her hadn’t disappeared. It was frustrating that this was the first time he had been able to talk to her alone. All week he had watched her, growing more and more fascinated each time she smiled and laughed with the children or the maid Lucy. At meals, he could hardly keep his gaze off her dignified posture; he had never considered cheekbones to be an attractive feature, but hers, gently arched, gave her an endearingly noble air, lending the impression of some Roman empress gracing her subjects with her presence. Her warm smile reduced any possible sense of haughtiness and distance, though, drawing in those to whom it was directed. God, he ached to have that smile