The Traveling Teacher Read online

  The Traveling Teacher

  The Book Club

  Kirsten Osbourne

  Copyright © 2019 by Kirsten Osbourne

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  More about The Book Club

  About the Author

  Also by Kirsten Osbourne

  One

  Taylor went to book club wearing a Regency dress. She knew the others would look at her strangely, but she didn’t care. In the gargantuan tote bag over her shoulder was everything she could think of that she’d need in the nineteenth century. She had her Kindle—filled with hundreds of novels she hadn’t yet read, as well as a few favorites—and a solar charger. There were some modern medicines in her bag. Along with Tylenol and Advil, she had some antibiotics and some other random things she was worried she might need.

  When she got to the back of the bookstore where everyone was waiting, she heard a gasp from Rory, who was staring at her with surprise. “You’re doing it, aren’t you?”

  “I am. School’s out. I’ve resigned my position, and I’ve even talked to my parents.”

  Rory grinned. “You told your parents you’re going back in time to the nineteenth century? How did that work out for you?”

  Taylor couldn’t help but snicker as she sat down beside her friend and fellow lover of Regency romance. “Well, since my parents are hippies, they said, ‘Do what makes you happy. Right on, Taylor!’” Taylor shrugged. “I know it’s not the typical reaction, but I kind of liked it.”

  Rory laughed. “Sounds good to me. So no one is going to be looking for you. Well, except us, and we know where you’re going.” She reached for Taylor’s bag, flipping through it to see how she’d prepared herself. “How many bottles of hand sanitizer does one woman need?”

  Taylor blushed, shrugging and snatching her bag back. “I want to make sure my hands are clean. What if I have to use an outhouse?”

  “Good point.”

  They both looked up as Dr. Lachele, the newest member of the Guild of Godmothers, sat down at the table. She was looking at Taylor. “You’re going today, I take it?”

  Taylor nodded. “School is out. No one expects to see me for a very long time. It’s now or never.”

  Dr. Lachele nodded. “I think it’s great. Regency?” Her eyes swept up and down Taylor, taking in her beautiful teal dress and her hairstyle. Taylor knew she looked odd. She usually went to book club in jeans, because she had to dress like a teacher all week. Who wanted to dress like a teacher all the time?

  “Yes, Regency. I’m not as picky as Rory. I just want to be in a position to marry a gentleman. I don’t care if he’s a duke or not.”

  “That’ll sure make my job easier. I can’t have all of you marrying a duke during the Regency era, now can I?”

  Taylor shook her head. She loved the idea of going back and meeting the one man who was right for her in all time, but . . . it was hard to steady her nerves. This was beyond her realm of reality—or anyone else’s for that matter—so knowing just how to prepare was difficult. “I think it would be best if we didn’t. Think of all the disappointed debutantes in town for their first season.”

  Dr. Lachele threw back her head and laughed, a deep laugh filled with gusto, which totally belied her sweet-as-sugar voice. “Before club or after?”

  Taylor tilted her head to one side, considering. “I think I want one last book club to say goodbye to everyone, if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course I don’t mind. It’s your fantasy, your wish, and your future. Or is that your past? I’m started to get confused about our fluid timeline.” Dr. Lachele grinned. “I’m not going to have to take you tacos back in time, am I?”

  Taylor shook her head. “I’m going to need some Dove chocolates when you check on me, though. Three or four cases should be enough.”

  “Dove? What do you have against Godiva?”

  “Not a thing. I’m just in a Dove mood.”

  Dr. Lachele grinned and nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Thank you.”

  The book club started then, already down eight members from where they’d been back in March when all the excitement had started. They all talked about their favorite book from the past two weeks, and everyone went around the table saying goodbye to Taylor.

  Taylor taught high school English, and it had been her dream to leave teaching for a very long time. It wasn’t that she didn’t love the children—because she did. With everything inside her. No, it was the fact that she always had to teach to the tests. It didn’t matter if her students learned as long as they could spout out useless information on their year-end tests. She was done, and she was sure the others understood.

  After the meeting, a couple of the others hung around to watch her leave. They’d all watched Gemma leave a couple of weeks before, and it had been fun. Why not watch more? It was like having a Superbowl party without the snacks, the game, or—maybe it wasn’t like a Superbowl party after all. But it was still fun to watch people poof into the air.

  As soon as the meeting was over, Taylor took a deep breath and picked up her bag, clutching it to her chest. She looked at Dr. Lachele, who smiled back.

  “You have to say the words, sugar dumpling.”

  “I wish to go back to Regency times and find a gentleman who will want to marry me and who will be my true love for all eternity.” Taylor had worked out exactly what she wanted to say and how she wanted to say it. She’d practiced saying the words a dozen times when she was teaching and she wanted to throw a dry erase marker at a student’s head.

  Dr. Lachele twitched her nose, and the world went dark around Taylor.

  Harry did a quick constitutional walk around the grounds of his country estate, his twin sons following along behind him. Henry and James were six, and they were already known throughout the county as being hellions. Harry had just lost his fourth governess in six weeks. How could a man lose so many teachers in such a short period of time?

  He sighed, shaking his head. He’d find someone else, despite the fact that the agency had told him that his sons were unteachable and they would never provide another woman to be abused by his headstrong progeny.

  He stopped short, almost tripping over someone lying in the grass in front of him. Was she even alive? He stooped down and put his finger against the pulse that beat strongly on her wrist. “Miss? Miss?” In the back of his mind, he wondered if she could possibly be a teacher who would take on the responsibility of his evil—no that word was too strong for six-year-olds—active boys.

  She blinked twice, staring up at him. “Where am I?”

  “Have you hit your head, miss?”

  Taylor swallowed hard, feeling all the blood rush to her head. This must be the man Dr. Lachele had sent her to marry. How on earth was she possibly going to be able to keep a cool head? “No, sir.”

  “Can you sit up?” he asked.

  Taylor noticed two young boys standing behind him, one with light hair and one with dark. “I think so.” She struggled into a sitting position, annoyed that her beautiful Regency dress that she’d spent a week’s salary having made was going to be covered with grass stains. “I’m Ta
ylor. Taylor Bally.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Bally.” As always when he was nervous, Harry fell back onto the manners that had been drummed into him since he was a small boy.

  “And you,” she said quietly.

  Harry thought he heard a bit of an accent in her voice, but he didn’t ask. “I’m Harry Twigg. Lord Harry Twigg.”

  Taylor did everything she could to keep from smiling. She knew she was meant to be his bride, and she just had to wait for him to ask. “It’s nice to meet you, Lord Twigg.” She felt the excitement bubbling up inside her, and she wondered if he could feel the connection between them. Surely, he knew they were meant to be together.

  Harry tilted his head to one side as he listened to her. Yes, she did have a bit of a strange accent, but more than that, her voice sounded cultured. “You don’t happen to be a teacher, do you? My sons have just chased . . . errr . . . they’ve lost a governess.”

  Taylor did grin then. It was obvious his boys were miscreants, and strangely enough, miscreants were her favorites. She loved spending time with them and teaching them the proper way to act. “Actually, I am.”

  “You don’t say?” Harry held out a hand and helped her to her feet. “Please tell me you’re not currently employed.”

  “Actually, I’ve just left a post.” Actually again, Taylor? Maybe you could demonstrate your command of the English language with a new word.

  “How wonderful.” Harry looked positively excited. “I happen to have a post I would greatly love to offer you. How would you like to take over the teaching of these two?” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the boys.

  Taylor smiled, nodding. “That would be lovely.”

  “Oh, splendid! They’ll need rudimentary manners taught to them as well as the regular school subjects. You see their mother died in childbirth, and she had no time to teach them everything they should know about how to act.” Thinking back to his late wife, he knew she’d never have taught them anything good anyway. The woman was a . . . well, an unpleasant person. He tried to never even think evil of the dead.

  “I can do that.” Taylor looked at the boys. “What are your names?”

  “I’m Henry, and that’s James. We don’t like learning. We like to be outside.” He crossed his arms over his chest, as if challenging her to argue with him.

  “Well, then on fair days, we can learn outside if you’ve done your lessons well up until that point. Does that work for you?”

  The boys exchanged a look, both of them nodding. “That would be acceptable.”

  Harry clapped his hands excitedly. “Let me show you to the nursery and to your room. We’ll discuss money in a day or two, after you’ve gotten to know the boys a bit.” Maybe she’d stay if there was hope for a greater than average governess’s salary.

  “May I ask what you do, Lord Twigg?”

  Harry looked at her for a moment before he shrugged. “I manage my estates. There are several, and they take up a great deal of my time.” He’d just been trying to figure out how he was going to make time to travel to London for a season to meet a new wife, but he didn’t have to now. He had a governess.

  He was aware of the boys following along behind them as they walked into the ancestral home of his family. The butler, Hobson, came out to see who was with him, and he briefly introduced her. Hobson gave her a look that seemed to ask where she’d come from, but he just nodded politely. “The governess’s room has been cleaned and is ready for a new occupant.”

  “Thank you, Hobson!” Harry practically skipped up the stairs, so happy was he to have another few days without needing to figure out what to do with his boys. He didn’t want to have to send them to live with his mother, but it might be the only option left to him soon. Word was getting around that his boys were unmanageable. His mother certainly wouldn’t know what to do with them, but at least he’d have time away from them while they traveled to her and back.

  After climbing down the stairs, he walked briskly to the end of a hall, where he showed Taylor her room. “This will be your room, Miss—Oh, dear. I’m afraid I’ve forgotten your name.”

  “It’s Taylor Bally.”

  “Miss Bally. This is your room. If there’s anything you need to be more comfortable, please let my staff know, and they will bring it to you.”

  “Thank you. Would you like me to start today?”

  “Oh, no, miss. I couldn’t ask you to work on a Sunday. Tomorrow will be soon enough. Let me show you the nursery. This is where you will conduct your lessons with the boys.” He opened a door that was right off of her room. “This is where you’ll teach, and the boys’ room is on the other side of that wall.”

  Taylor briefly wondered why he was showing her around, but she decided she wasn’t going to complain. The more time she spent with him the better. She had a couple of “common” dresses of the day stuffed into her bag, so she would have something to wear when it was time to work. “James and Henry, maybe we could spend a little time together getting to know one another better this evening, and then we’ll start our lessons in the morning.” She hoped there was some sort of lesson plan for her to follow or something. She’d done math and science, but she hadn’t liked them. She would hopefully have something to guide her in teaching them.

  Harry shook his head. “You can do that in the morning. For now, just get used to your room. Unpack your things. Explore the grounds if you’d like. You have freedom everywhere in the house but my bedchamber and my study.”

  “Thank you, Lord Twigg.”

  “You’re very welcome. Come along, boys.” He walked away, his boys following along behind him. They seemed to know that whatever he said was to be obeyed immediately.

  Taylor pulled her clothes out of the bag and quickly unpacked, putting her Kindle and charger in the top drawer of her dresser underneath her unmentionables. She had gone to a seamstress who specialized in the Regency period, so she really hoped everything was done well.

  After she had unpacked, she stepped into the nursery, looking around the room for anything that would tell her what six-year-old boys were supposed to be learning during their school hours. She found a list of subjects the previous governess had gone over with them, and there was even a lesson plan. Thankfully. She could take it from there. Hopefully she wouldn’t have the position for long because she would soon be the lady of the house.

  Going into the boys’ room, she found a snake living in a wooden box under one of the beds. She certainly hoped that wasn’t the type of thing they let loose to get rid of their governesses.

  She found she was very hungry, which wasn’t surprising. She’d been too nervous to eat before book club, and that had been hours. Who knew how long really? She’d been unconscious for a while she was sure. She wished she’d thought to bring food!

  Taylor decided to explore the estate and see if she could talk someone in the kitchen into feeding her something. There had to be food around somewhere. Even if she could just have a glass of milk, it would help.

  Going down the stairs, she found the kitchen next to the dining room, and she went inside. “I’m Taylor Bally, the children’s new governess. I didn’t have time to eat anything before I came here today. Would you happen to have something you could spare for me?”

  One of the women, who seemed to be around fifty and had no teeth at all, nodded. “I’ll get you some bread and jam. How about a nice pot of tea as well?”

  “That would be wonderful. I’ll help you get it.”

  “You will not! Getting food from the kitchen is not a job for a governess. You just sit down at the table, and I’ll have it to you in a trice.”

  Feeling ill at ease, Taylor headed out to the table, sitting down at one of the sides and waiting for her food. While she waited, she pulled her phone from the bosom of her dress, and looked at it under the table. She couldn’t see anything connected to the internet of course, but she played a game of Spite and Malice against the phone. Why not?

  A moment later,
the cook came out of the kitchen with several uneven slices of bread on a plate along with some butter and jam. A pot of tea and a cup were put in front of her as well. Taylor was surprised when the cook set down another cup and sat across from her. “Do you mind some company?”

  “Oh, not at all. I would welcome it actually.”

  “I thought I’d talk to you for a moment about my boys.”

  Taylor nodded. “I’m sure you love them a great deal.”

  “Oh, I do, but . . . they are not what you’d call little gentlemen. Both boys are wild and undisciplined. You will find that you’ll do better with them by becoming friendly with them before you start barking orders at them.”

  “Oh, I will. Thank you so much for the advice.” It was the opposite of what she’d been taught in school. There it had always been said that you start out strict and you can ease up later. Taylor would take the advice of the kind woman, though. “Did you give the same advice to the other governesses?”

  “I did, but none of them listened to me.” The cook shook her head. “I was there when they were born. I was the one feeding them until the master could find a nurse for them. You’d think people would listen to me.”

  “I’m listening to you. What’s your name?”

  “Maude, miss.”

  “It’s so good to meet you, Maude. I’m Taylor, and I know I’m going to need advice about these boys on a very regular basis.”

  Maude smiled, her missing teeth more obvious. “I’m glad you will listen. Just be careful of Jane Gibbons. She lives next door, and she has her cap set for the master, though he doesn’t seem to care one whit about her.”

  “I will be very careful. Does she go to London for the season?”

  “Yes, thankfully. We don’t have to put up with her all year, but she is definitely here now.”