“Fire,” Jack said and tossed them in.
“This one is joyfulbutterflies and that one is joyless barnacles—”
“Fire and fire.”
“And this one…” She yawned again and blushed. “My apologies. It has been a long day.”
“Get some sleep.” He touched her cheek. “I can sort through the joyful barnacles on my own.”
She smiled into his palm. “There are no bad decisions. If you want your children to have the very best, literally any governess in that stack more than meets the criteria.”
But as she disappeared up the staircase, he couldn’t help but wonder whether any of the ladies in the remainingpractically perfectstack were truly who his family needed.
Rather than continue with the search, Jack corked the wine and snuffed the fire, and headed upstairs to his study.
Désirée didn’t want to stay. He couldn’t make her, and shouldn’t try.
Instead, just as she was doing her utmost to ensure the best possible future for him and his family, Jack should do the same for her and hers.
Years ago, he and the le Duc brothers had reached a gentlemen’s agreement as to what minor percentage of his income they would earn as a commission. Because a business like smuggling necessitated keeping paper evidence to a minimum, they simply had to trust Jack’s word that he was passing along their fair share.
He had never shorted them so much as a penny. As his income grew, so did his payouts. The le Ducs knew he had just expanded into champagne, but as yet did not know what relative commission to expect.
Jack would make one up.
If they thought they were a year away from repaying their lease, Jack would ensure they received the equivalent to an annual sum by the end of the month. Why not? They needed the money, and he could afford the loss.
Of coin, anyway. When it came time to say goodbye to Désirée…
It didn’t matter howhefelt, he reminded himself. He was fortunate enough to have an entire stack of practically perfect governesses to choose from. His children would be fine.
He affixed a wax seal to his instructions to increase a certain monthly bank deposit, then startled to catch sight of the time. He was late to story time.
Quickly, he made his way to his children’s bedchamber and settled himself in his usual spot between them on the bed.
“Tonight what chapter are you going to pretend you didn’t sneak ahead to read?”
Annie thunked Gulliver’s Travels to Jack’s chest. “We definitely, probably, possibly, might not have read Part IV.”
“Excellent.” He opened the book. “That’s exactly where I left off.”
“Why were you late?” Frederick asked.
Rather than launch into an explanation of smuggling commissions, Jack simply said, “I’ve been sorting through the governess queries to find the perfect one for you two.”
Annie and Frederick exchanged a look.
Jack put down the book. “What?”
“Shouldn’tweget to pick what sort of governess we might like?” Annie asked.
“You,” Jack replied, “are ten years old. As lovely as it might sound, I cannot allow you to choose a governess based on her propensity to hand out lemon drops and sleep past noon.”
“We can be reasonable,” Frederick protested. “We’re notbabies.”
“And we don’t wish to be ignorant,” Annie added. “In fact, Désirée has been teaching me…”
“What?” her brother demanded. “Something without me? What is she teaching you? I want to know, too!”
