Free The Governess' Examination by Tamsin Taite Page A

outer lips and spread them apart. He moved his face up closer, so she could feel his breath on her, and it was all she could do not to cry out with need.

The Governess' Examination
    “Just a moment Miss Virginia.”
    Virginia stood still as Julia, her great aunt Matilda’s maid, brushed at the back of her collar and then gave her shoulder a small squeeze. Virginia turned her head and smiled gratefully at the older woman, who seemed to guess at how skittish she felt.
    She had been banished to her chamber, instead of keeping her aunt company downstairs as she did most afternoons, and two carriages had drawn up in the past hour. Nothing had been said to her, as was usual in her aunt’s house, but she fervently hoped her aunt had finally found a governess’ position for her. It had been a full month since she came away from school and Virginia had begun to worry that no placement would ever be found respectable enough by her aunt.
    The two women began their way downstairs just in time to see a man, a stranger to Virginia, leaving the drawing room. Julia hurried down to show him out.
    Hearing Julia’s step on the stairs he looked up and Virginia was able to clearly make out his face. In dress and grooming he was unquestionably a gentleman, and a handsome one at that. His mouth and chin were square and commanding, with a firm and decisive set to them, and even looking down on him from a flight above he had an aura of being tall and powerful. When his eyes met hers she saw that they gleamed with intelligence, strikingly dynamic pools of dark brown.
    She felt pinned in place by his look, unsure if she should say or do something. Then just as swiftly his gaze was withdrawn and Virginia left to wonder if she had only imagined the smile that had played over his lips.
    Hearing Julia open the front door brought Virginia out of her reverie and she continued downstairs. Entering the drawing room she found her aunt Matilda with Dr. Talbot, an old family friend, who rose to greet her.
    “Miss Ashby, I scarcely recognized you.” Turning to her aunt he said, “She is grown quite fine, very much a young lady in your mold.”
    Virginia smiled at the compliment, though she was sure it hadn’t been that long ago that she’d last seen him. He certainly looked much the same, his hair more grey than dark but still full, and his eyes full of goodwill and humor. The doctor inquired about her journey from school and how she enjoyed being back home, and then the tea was brought in.
    “I believe Dr. Talbot has found you a place, Ginnie.”
    Virginia’s eyes lit up and her heart fluttered a touch faster when she thought that the stranger in the hallway truly would be her employer.
    “It is with a family by the name of Hayes,” she continued, “who spend a great deal of their time here in town. There are three children, two girls and the youngest a boy.”
    Matilda went on with her recitation of the particulars while Virginia only partially attended to what she was saying. Virginia wanted to cheer out loud but checked her enthusiasm. She knew this must be difficult for her aunt, to see their family, and its fortune, dwindle down to a spinster on a tiny pension and a young girl sent out to earn her keep.
    “…and you will meet them then, assuming the examination goes well, which we are certain it will.”
    Virginia awoke from her private thoughts. “Examination?” Was there to be a test?

    “The medical examination,” Dr. Talbot answered.
    “Oh, I see,” Virginia said, relieved. She’d feared they meant a written test, something she’d happily believed to have left behind now that she was done with school.
    Virginia’s aunt was nodding as she passed a plate of muffins to Dr. Talbot. “It’s a shame Mrs. Hayes is so often poorly,” she remarked.
    “Poorly?” Virginia asked.
    “To be honest, some of her complaints are due to a nervous disposition,” Dr. Talbot said. He smiled slightly on hearing Matilda sniff disdainfully. His