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The Colonel’s Ungovernable Governess
Rather than be forced to marry a man not of her choice, Miss Jocelyn Romfield runs away. She believes spending her life as a governess would be superior to a loveless marriage.
An arrangement has been made by his father for Colonel Edward Fitzwilliam to marry a woman related to his Aunt Catherine’s last husband, Sir Lewis de Bourgh. Yet, how is Fitzwilliam expected to court his future bride, who has proven to be elusive during each of his attempts to take her acquaintance, when the governess of his brother’s stepchildren fills his arms so perfectly?
Jocelyn has no idea the man she has purposely avoided is the same one who fills her heart with love.
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In this tale, where Colonel Fitzwilliam takes the lead and finds his true love, part of the action takes place in Easingwold, Yorkshire. It is the home of the young earl who both the colonel and Miss Jocelyn Romfield, his betrothed, mean to protect. I thought you might like to see something of Easingwold so you would have it in your mind while reading.
Easingwold is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically, part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is located about 12 miles (19 km) north of York, at the foot of the Howardian Hills.
Can you not imagine the colonel and Darcy riding across these hills?
The town is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as “Eisicewalt” in the Bulford hundred. At the time of the Norman Conquest the manor was owned by Earl Morcar, but subsequently passed to the King. In 1265, the manor was passed to Edmund Crouchback by his father, Henry III. The manor was caught up in the dispute between the 2nd Earl of Lancaster and Edward I and the manor passed back to the crown following the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322 which resulted in the execution of the Earl at Pontefract. The manor was restored to the Earl’s brother some six years later, but he left no male heir, so the lands passed to his son-in-law, John of Gaunt in 1361. The lands were next granted to his son-in-law, Ralph Neville. Following the War of the Roses, the lands were declared forfeit to the Crown until 1633, when they were granted to Thomas Belasyse and subsequently became the possession of the Wombwell family.
The town is an amalgamation of two smaller villages, Uppleby and Lessimers. The former being a settlement, or -by of a Dane called Upple, and the latter being an Angle settlement on the lease-mires, meaning leased land frequently waterlogged.
The name of Easingwold is Anglo Saxon in origin, with wold being a derivation of wald meaning forest, and the former part being a Saxon family name, possibly Esa. King John had a hunting lodge there and the royal Forest of Galtres once surrounded the area.
The market place was the site of an old toll booth. The base of the old market cross still exists next to Easingwold Town Hall, which was built as a public hall. It replaced an old row of ‘shambles’ where butchers sold their wares. The market place was also the site of a bullring used for baiting. Records show that markets have been held in the town since 1221, but were formalised under letters patent from Charles I.
Under the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 a Poor law union was established in Easingwold in 1837. The town had a workhouse built in 1756 on Oulston Road.
The town is the focal point for many nearby villages and the nearest larger settlements are York 12 miles (19 km) to the south; Boroughbridge 8 miles (13 km) to the west; Thirsk 10 miles (16 km) to the northwest and Malton 16 miles (26 km) to the east. The highest point in the town is at the town’s edge on the Oulston Road at 200 feet (60 m).
St John and All Saints Church has been a church here since Saxon times, though the present building dates from the 15th century. In my tale, this is where the colonel and Miss Romfield marry. It will be easier for you to view that scene in your head now.
Enjoy this excerpt from Chapter Eleven:
Edward had gone looking for the twins, though he had asked several maids after Miss Lambert, rather than Vincent and Victoria. He had reasoned that the twins were always with Miss Lambert, or so he told himself. He was quite irritated with himself for constantly seeking the woman out. When he reached the kitchen, he paused, out of sight, to listen in on the conversation between Miss Lambert and his brother’s cook.
“Did I tell you that you might claim several of my rolls for these ducklings?” Mrs. Turner asked, but not in an angry tone.
“If you wish me to entice them outside, I require something more tempting than my pleas,” Miss Lambert argued.
“They should not be in my kitchen,” Mrs. Turner declared, but again, not in a scolding manner.
“You do not mind the children sneaking down to visit with the ducklings,” Miss Lambert cajoled. “You enjoy having the children about; otherwise, you would not keep extra biscuits in the jar.”
“I’ll have me none of your sass, missy,” Mrs. Turner asserted, but she was laughing as she did so. “Nice to view the young ones being children is all I can say in me defense.”
“They are adorable,” Miss Lambert observed.
“Who?” Edward asked as he stepped into the room. “The ducklings or the twins?”
Miss Lambert’s shoulders rolled into place, having lost the easiness of a few moments earlier. “Both, would you not think, Colonel?” she challenged.
“I understand the need for the twins to come below stairs, but why is it necessary for the ducklings to be underfoot?”
“Because their mother is nowhere to be found. If we do not feed them, they will die. The twins have expressed a concern that the ducklings mimic their own circumstance. Under that assumption, Mrs. Turner and I thought it best to feed the ducklings. If such an expense is too much for the estate to assume, you may take the cost of feed from my pay.”
“Such is not necessary. Yet, I am concerned the ducklings could cause an accident in the kitchen. We could create a pen to enclose the ducklings inside until they are strong enough to release into the wild. I think it would be good for the twins to tend the ducklings—to become responsible for their survival. Do you object, Miss Lambert?”
“I do not, Colonel.” She bent to capture one of the ducklings. “We could begin by placing them in the stables, do you not think, sir. More than several chickens are often found within.”
“A good compromise,” he agreed. “I will set a couple of the men to constructing an enclosure. I would wish the children to assist with some of the tasks, which would mean you should oversee their efforts. I do not wish them to grow up thinking themselves due privileges simply because of their position in society. You do know where they are at this moment, do you not?” he added so he might appear to have been searching for the twins.
“Lady Victoria is with Lady Annabelle. Lady Annabelle is supposedly assisting her sister with Victoria’s needlework, but I planned to check in on them in another quarter hour to assure myself all is as it should be. I found no reason to deny Lady Annabelle’s request for her sister to join her after so long a separation. As to Lord Vincent, the boy wished to work on his research for the Jennings family tree. I promised to show him something of how one might look when finished. In reference to overseeing their work on the pen for the ducklings, I shall see to it, Colonel,” she responded smartly. “Is there anything else, sir?”
“Yes, I would like to speak to you privately if you do not mind. Say in the study in five minutes.” As he walked away, Edward had no idea why he had asked her to meet with him privately. The woman was too much of a temptation. Whenever he was in her presence, he wished to touch her.
He had barely reached his desk when she knocked on the open door. “Mrs. Turner says these are your favorites. They are fresh from the oven.”
Edward eyed the raisin-laced biscuits. “It was good of Mrs. Turner to consider my favorites. You may set them on the desk.” He did not dare leave the security of having a space between them.
She sat the plate on the desk and lifted the lid on a small bowl of sugar on the tray and began sprinkling it across the warm soft biscuits. It clung to the dough quickly, and she licked the sugar from her fingers. It was all he could do not to catch her hand and suck her fingertips clean. Like it or not, a small groan escaped his lips.
“I knew you would approve,” she said as she circled the desk to hold the plate with one of the biscuits sitting upon it, which she lifted to his lips. “Taste them while they are still hot.”
Angry at himself for desiring her, he caught her wrist. “What game do you play, Miss Lambert?” he hissed.
“No game, Colonel. I simply meant to see you treated with a bit of happiness. You have taken on so much, what with the children and all. I know you must be terribly worried for your brother.”
“I am accustomed to duty,” he declared as he snatched the plate from her fingers and set it on the desk. “Duty to my family and my country is all I have ever known.”
“Duty to everyone but yourself,” she said softly. “So very sad. Everyone deserves a moment or two of happiness.” She shoved her shoulders back in a motion that often mimicked his response. It made him very sad, for he never wanted anyone for whom he cared to know the “despair’ he often experienced. “I should go.”
“No,” he responded. “I have not yet tasted the biscuits. Do you mind offering them again?”
She looked at him oddly, but reached for the plate and lifted the biscuit to his lips. He was confident she knew what was to come. She did not look away from his steady gaze. When the biscuit touched his lips, he only took a nibble. Though it was a tempting morsel of pastry, the sweet biscuit was not what he desired.
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