Chapter Three

July 20, 1817

Pavenham Church

Bedfordshire, England

G igi smoothed a hand down the front of her morning dress of plain ivory cambric. It featured surplice sleeves, and a Vandyke border around the throat. Not exactly the style of dress she enjoyed wearing, for it felt as if she would be strangled at any moment, and there was no hope of showing any sort of décolletage, but then, she supposed attending church wasn't exactly the time and place for flirting. A Spanish robe of sky-blue crepe bordered with darker blue cambric trimming completed the look. She fussed with the buttons on the robe then touched a hand to the detestable beehive bonnet of plaited straw, ornamented with ribbons in various shades of blue, done by her own hand. Matching sky-blue kid slippers completed the ensemble.

Though she hadn't attended church services for more years than she cared to remember, the one thing she did recall was that bonnets were never removed, and that meant she'd have no choice but to sit there with the hideous thing on her head.

Out of all the rules that kept women downtrodden that she despised the most, wearing a bonnet ranked up there with the big ones. It kept her from seeing everything she needed to see, and it certainly wasn't one bit attractive.

However, it was necessary if she wanted to speak with the vicar after the services, for the more she'd thought upon the manner, the more pleasing the position of governess seemed. She would have her evenings and nights free, and it would be lovely to have a bit of coin to spend on herself for a change. Finally, she could purchase new gowns in the hopes of attracting a man of substance.

With no more time to linger, Gigi entered the small church. Long, polished wood pews filled a good portion of the main room. A wooden divider went down the middle of the room, separating the pews. The ends at the sides of the room were open. By and large, the bulk of the congregation was female, of all ages, and every one of them had expressions of anticipation.

That was exceedingly odd. The last time she attended church services, she didn't find them all that exciting. As she slipped into the front pew on the right, she smiled at two small girls who were sitting quietly side by side, one with a stuffed rag dog and one who held a doll that had a porcelain head and hands. Both wore their black hair in braids that looked rather the worse for wear, but their white ruffled dresses were cleaned and pressed, and the girls were adorable. But where were their parents? As of yet, no adult had come to sit beside them.

When would the vicar make an appearance? She didn't know much about him. Growing up, the vicar in the village was an older man who often forget his train of thought and sometimes fell asleep in his study when he should have been attending tea at someone's house. As she'd dressed this morning, her sister Anna had sneaked into her bedchamber and told her the old man was no longer in charge of the church, that three years ago, a younger man had taken the position and he was pleasant enough.

A murmur of excitement wove through the congregation. Seconds later, a man emerged from a door behind the pulpit. As he ascended the few steps then took a position behind the podium, Gigi couldn't help but stare.

"Good morning. It is lovely to see all of you today." His voice was a rich baritone that sent a surprising little shiver down her spine.

This was Vicar Alderman? He was nothing like the older vicar. In fact, he was… delicious. While he gave a good morning message, Gigi looked her fill of him.

Thick black hair that trended to curls had been slightly tamed by pomade, which he did not need. She could easily imagine that hair with the wind rippling through it. Clear, gray eyes were intriguing. Would they darken like a summer storm under high emotion? When Vicar Alderman began his sermon, she gloried in the sound of his voice. Would that she could close her eyes and imagine the sweet nothings such a man might whisper into a lady's ear under cover of midnight. Her pulse increased, for his jaw was rather on the rugged side, and those lips! How could two pieces of flesh appear so sensual even when talking about the words of God? Far too amused, Gigi continued to study him. Standing at perhaps nearly six feet, he was lean and fit, and the possibilities of how he kept himself in such a condition swept her away with far too many scenarios in her imagination.

How interesting! It seemed the village had been hiding this man all too well from her, and in the same vein, how had she never seen such a stunning man before?

While he continued with his sermon, the words escaped her, for she was content enough merely to watch his mouth and how his lips formed words. What would a kiss from this man feel like? Then she was obliged to tamp down on the urge to giggle; such thoughts were wildly inappropriate, especially about a man of God.

A few minutes later, the two little girls not far from her on the pew entered into an argument over the stuffed dog the smaller of them had in her lap. Their voices continued to rise, and from the murmurs of dissent around her, they proved a tad disruptive. Racked with indecision, Gigi glanced upward into the pulpit at the vicar. Disappointment lined his face as she gave the girls a speaking glance, and she was near enough to see the panic in his eyes.

Ah. They must be his nieces.

When the squabbling didn't stop, Gigi made a decision. Once she'd moved along the pew, she took the younger girl's hand. "Come with me, you two. This is far too much noise during the sermon."

Identical expressions of surprise appeared on the girls' faces, but they gathered their toys and then followed her out of the pew and along the side aisle. As more than a few people stared at them, Gigi ignored them and herded the children outside the church. She had no right, of course, but perhaps that would be her opportunity to talk with the vicar.

Since she had no idea where the vicarage was located, she escorted the girls down the lane and then across the main road into a meadow filled with tall, sweet grasses and wildflowers. "This looks like a pretty place to sit and have a chat." Once she reached a cluster of oak trees, she gestured to the girls. "Settle yourselves. We shall talk until the service is finished."

Oddly enough, they both sat beneath the trees with her, and crossed their legs Turkish-style, with apparently no regard for their stocking-clad legs that were on display, and waited with expectation while Gigi did the same. And no, she didn't give two braces that her own legs were on display or that there was far too much ankle exposed. In fact, she removed her slippers and set them beside her.

"How often do you disrupt the sermon on Sundays?" Truly, that was what she wanted to know first, for in that one little glimpse of their lives, they reminded Gigi of herself at those ages.

The girls glanced at each other, and when the youngest tried to take the doll from the oldest, they erupted into a squabble once more.

"Stop!" Instinct rose in her being, and knowing the only way to head off further conflict was to confiscate the distractions, she easily plucked both the rag dog and the doll from lax fingers and stuffed them both into her lap. "Now, let us begin again, shall we?"

Both girls blinked at her with rounded eyes.

Gigi heaved a sigh. They didn't trust adults. No matter. She didn't consider herself an adult most days, and certainly didn't feel like one. "All right, we shall start at the beginning. My name is Genevieve, but my sisters and friends refer to me as Gigi."

The youngest girl tittered. "That's a funny name."

"Perhaps. What is your name? I might wish to laugh at it." One of her eyebrows rose in challenge.

"Um…" The little girl shot her sister a look, and the older one shrugged. "My name is Lily. Miss Lily Kingsley."

"Lily is a lovely name." Gigi smiled. She untied the ribbons beneath her chin as she glanced at the other girl. "And who are you?"

"Miss Penny Kingsley," the girl said promptly, with a nod.

"Good. At least you have some manners, and aren't the wild hoydens I first assumed." When she removed her bonnet, she laid the headgear on top of her slippers. "I am Miss Hasting, and believe it or not, I was a hoyden at your age. Even beyond that." Then she winked. "Not that I think there is anything wrong with a young lady being a hoyden, but I suspect whoever is in charge of you has grave misgivings."

Penny snorted at that, which was interesting. Perhaps she understood sarcasm and conversation well above her age group. "Does hoyden mean running all over the countryside and picking up toads?"

"It can in some circumstances." She rested her gaze on the younger of the girls. "It can also mean trying to take toys that don't belong to you, or climbing on furniture, then jumping off after you've been told not to."

Lily's lower jaw dropped open. "How do you know I do that?"

"Ah, because I'm magical." Gigi tapped her temple as she grinned. "And I have done everything scandalous you can already think of. Therefore, I know all the trouble you will try to fall into." She shrugged. "It's a skill not many women have." When the girls remained silent, she continued. "To whom do you belong?"

"We are Thomas's nieces," Lily said promptly.

"I see." Though she did not. "Who is Thomas?"

Lily giggled. "The vicar. He is our uncle, and he doesn't like that we are wild."

"He doesn't." It wasn't a question. "What does he wish you were?"

Penny blew out a breath of frustration. "Proper young ladies." Then she pointed her gaze to the leaves above their heads and flicked her raven braid over her shoulder. "He says that granddaughters of a viscount shouldn't comport themselves like we do."

That would make the delicious looking vicar the son of a viscount. How interesting. "Well, he's not wrong." When the girls began a protest, she held up a gloved hand. "But he's not entirely right either." It wasn't her place to tell these two anything, for her perspective could make their behavior worse, but they clearly needed some sort of advice. "The trick is to be proper sometimes and then, when no one is looking, be as wild as you want. As long as it doesn't reach your uncle's ears, there is no harm."

I am probably going to hell.

Penny frowned. "Were you wild as a little girl?"

"More than you can even imagine." It was Gigi's turn to giggle. "My poor parents nearly washed their hands of me. My governesses constantly lectured me, but none of that could correct my behavior." She hadn't cared for rules then, and she certainly didn't now that she knew about the world and how unfair it was for women. "After that, I was sent away to finishing school, where there is nothing but rules, lectures, and learning how to dance and be all the proper things a lady should be."

"What did you do?" Lily asked.

"What could I do? My father is a baron. We don't live too far from here. I had to attend finishing school. After that, my parents took us to London where they rented a townhouse so I could have a few Seasons along with my sisters."

"What is a Season?" Penny wanted to know.

"It is a time when a young lady attends balls and parties for the express purpose of finding a husband." Gigi sighed. "The richer the better, really. Society thinks there isn't much use for a woman except to marry, have babies, and keep house. If that is so, then I say there should be vast amounts of coin at hand to buy fripperies and things that will make said life a bit more fun."

Oh, dear. I shouldn't have said that.

"Are you married?"

Gigi rested her gaze solidly on the older girl. "I am not."

"Why not?" Lily wanted to know.

Why indeed? "My sisters say I'm too picky and my mother says I'm chasing scandal too much when I should concentrate on attracting a man." She shrugged and plucked a random flower from the grass, then she tucked the bloom into the doll's hair. "The trouble, I suspect, is that I'm having too much fun flirting with the wrong sorts of men because I'm not certain I believe in love."

Was that true? And if it were, why was she confessing such a thing to the little girls?

With all the seriousness of a much older woman, Penny nodded. "I just want to wear pretty gowns and drink champagne to see if the bubbles tickle my nose."

"Fair enough, and in the event you wondered, both are quite lovely." Gigi shook her head. She was a poor role model and should probably stop talking to these girls. "Your uncle was trying to do his sermon when you two interrupted him with your squabbling. That wasn't well done of you."

"But we were bored," Penny countered, but sputtered to a stop when Gigi held up a hand.

"That matters not. It takes great courage to stand up in front of people and talk about what a person believes in, especially your uncle." She sighed, for she saw herself many times over in these girls. "If nothing else, he deserves your respect." Though she didn't know the full story of how the girls came to be with him, it was no doubt a sorrowful one.

Lily blew out a breath. "There is nothing to do when Uncle Thomas says his sermons."

"I understand that. Next time, perhaps bring a picture book with you." Silence brewed between them. "When I was your age, one of my sisters taught me how to make chains with daisies. Would you like to do that right now while we wait for your uncle?"

Both girls nodded.

"Good. Go gather a bunch of daisies—the white flowers with yellow middles—as well as Black Eyed Susans—yellow flowers with brown middles—and bring them back here."

It took next to no time for the girls to accomplish the task. Soon enough, they brought back armfuls of the flowers, then Gigi showed them how to knot the stems and link the blooms together. After a few false starts and several broken stems or flower heads that popped off, the girls mastered the skill.

"Excellent! Now just make it as long as you'd like," Gigi said with an encouraging nod. "You can even wrap the chain double for your crowns. The more times around you go, the fuller it will be."

"This is fun," Lily remarked as her nimble fingers worked the flower stems as fast as her sister's.

"I always found it so," Gigi said in response. At least it kept the girls entertained.

Eventually, the flower chains were completed. She taught them how to twist the strands about their heads and secure them into crowns. Against their black hair, the flowers served as a wonderful contrast. When she did the same to hers, both girls giggled and said she looked like a fairy princess.

"The good thing about making daisy crowns is that whenever the first one has died, you can always make another, fresh one. Throughout the summer, there will never be a shortage of flowers, and flower crowns are much better to wear than stuffy old bonnets." That is probably another thing I shouldn't have told them. Then Gigi put the finishing touches on their morning by showing them how to knot a daisy stem and fashion it into a ring. She held out her hand with one of the Black Eyed Susans acting as a gemstone on her finger. "You'll always be rich when you have flowers."

Penny was suitably impressed. "How do you know what to do with flowers?"

"Well, I have five sisters. We had to find things to do whenever we were in the country, and there are plenty of meadows filled with flowers." Gigi shrugged and smiled. "If you know where to go, you'll find yourself bored outside, and sometimes it's fun to bring painting supplies out here. I've no talent for it myself like my sister Nora, but I can create a passable landscape."

The younger sister stared at her with round eyes and much awe. "Do you like toads, Miss Hasting?"

"Well, I don't hate them, but I wouldn't go out of my way to search them out." She chuckled, for it had been a pleasant hour with these two. "I am more apt to play with barn cats or run with hunting dogs. Sometimes, I enjoy catching butterflies or even watching rabbits."

Movement in the meadow captured Gigi's attention, and flutters moved through her lower belly when she caught sight of the vicar. He was quite handsome in a black suit of simple design as well as a top hat.

"It seems as though our time together has come to an end, for your uncle has found us."

"Oh." Though Penny frowned, she scrambled to her feet as the vicar joined them beneath the trees. "Hullo, Uncle Thomas."

Thomas. Gigi tumbled his name over in her mind. It suited him. Plain, simple, and strong.

"Hullo, Penny." He shifted his gaze to the younger girl. "Lily." A faint frown took possession of his sensual lips, and once more Gigi's attention dropped to his mouth. "I was extremely disappointed in the both of you for interrupting the sermon."

"Penny wouldn't share her doll," Lily began, but when Gigi softly cleared her throat, she immediately sprang to her feet. "I'm sorry."

The vicar's eyes rounded. "Thank you. I appreciate that." Then he swung his gaze to her, and heat went through her cheeks. "Can I say this is your doing?"

When he offered a gloved hand to her, Gigi slipped her fingers into his palm and let him assist her into a standing position. "Partially. They were a bit unruly, but then, young children are unsuited to an adult sermon, and an hour to sit without squirming is rather an eternity for them."

"Ah." He held her hand a few seconds longer than necessary. "Well, I thank you. There are a handful of people in my congregation who don't appreciate my nieces attending the sermons, but I have nowhere else to put them."

The girls tittered and exchanged glances. Then Penny stepped forward and tugged at the vicar's hand. "We were excited about meeting Miss Hasting. Can she please be our governess? She has so many ideas and is ever so fun."

"Oh?" His dark eyebrows rose in surprise. "I thought you both didn't want a governess."

Lily grinned. "We want her. She isn't stodgy or stiff or ancient, and she doesn't smell like joint poultice." The girl touched her fingertips to the daisy crown on her head. "She taught us how to make these." Dropping her voice to the world's worst stage whisper, she said, "Miss Hasting said she was magical."

That struck Gigi as funny, but she tamped down the urge to laugh. "Well, at least that is a decent endorsement."

"Perhaps all of that is true, for no one has been able to tame you girls." Once more, he glanced at her, and those clear gray eyes seemed to peer into her soul. What would he find if that were true? "Come to the vicarage with us, Miss Hasting. We can share tea and perhaps have a much-needed talk."

Since she had hoped for an audience with him regardless, she nodded. "Very well, Mr. Alderman, and thank you." After she grabbed her bonnet and slipped on her shoes, she followed him out from beneath the trees. Lily slipped her hand into Gigi's. There was something so comforting and… happy in holding a child's hand, and for whatever reason, tears temporarily welled in her eyes.

For good or for ill, this might be a new path for her to trod. Would it bring the contentment or stop the feelings of restlessness plaguing her? Only time would tell.