Dangerous Lord Innocent Governess – Christine Merrill

I will help, if I can.’ Daphne gave her a relieved smile. ‘It is a small thing, really. I have spent so much time above stairs with the children that I am barely acquainted with the common rooms. A stranger who had stopped to see the grounds would know more about the house than I do.’ Mrs Sims smiled in return, to find the request so small.

‘You would like a tour of the house.’ ‘If you are not too busy. The children are so good with their studies, and so obedient. They do not need me for several hours at least.’ Mrs Sims was obviously surprised at their transformed character. But then she said, ‘You have done much to help them. They are good children by nature, just as their father was.’ And she launched into a story of how things used to be, when the children haunted the library they were standing in, rather than hiding above.

They moved from library, to drawing room, to morning room, and in each Mrs Sims seemed to have a story about the master or the children and how things used to be. Daphne observed carefully, but had to admit that there was little to see. The rooms were orderly. Nothing about them made her suspect that she would find secrets in the drawers, concealed panels or any other gothic nonsense.

The only thing absent from Mrs Sims’s narrative was mention of the previous mistress. Apparently, the decoration of the rooms had been done by Lord Colton’s mother, classically but simply. In her twelve years Clare had left it unchanged. Daphne remembered the Colton town house, which she had visited frequently. It had been in the first stare of fashion, and Clare always seemed to be changing the silk on the walls, the rugs or the furniture, to reflect any passing trend or fancy.

“Oh, really? My presence unnerves you?” And he took a step closer, until there was very little space between them at all. “Is it just me, I wonder? Or are you flustered by other men, as well?” “Not you at all, my lord. It is just that I am unaccustomed to such attention. While teaching.” He laughed softly, and the hairs on the back of her neck rose as he whispered, “You are lying again, and not very skillfully.”

“I swear I am not.” But her voice became breathy as she said it, with a tone that was all wrong for the earnest denial she should mount. “I will agree that you are not accustomed to teaching. But, looking as you do, I find it hard to believe that you are unaccustomed to masculine attention.”

He was making no effort to hide an interest that she suspected had little to do with her knowledge of geography. “A simple governess would not dress the way you do.” He stood very close to her. Too close, for she could feel the heat of his body on the bare skin of her throat. “Perhaps I shall not have to remove you. It will be better if you decide to remove yourself.

For you must realize that it is dangerous for you to remain under this roof with me.” Dangerous Lord, Innocent Governess Harlequin® Historical #1048—July 2011 OceanofPDF.com Author Note Somewhere in the writing of Miss Winthorpe’s Elopement, it became clear to me that I was only telling half the story. The more I wrote, the more I became convinced that there was another whole book that would explain the behavior of Tim Colton and his wife, Clare. Perhaps Clare secretly had a heart of gold.

Perhaps things weren’t as they appeared between her and the Duke of Bellston. Perhaps she only needed love, and if I gave them a little time Tim and Clare could work out their differences and live happily ever after. Or perhaps not. And as I wrote, I discovered that I’d been leaving myself little clues as to how unhappy they really were together, and what might happen between the two of them once they were alone in Wales. Once I stopped fighting the truth, the book all but wrote itself.

My research became a weird mix: the nineteenth century, British horticulture, conservatory design and old-fashioned gothic romances. The result was the story you are about to read.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: cbe1fb6246e56d06
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,215,276 bytes (1.159 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 189
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 365.33 minutes
• Total Words: 73,067
• Total Characters: 388,662
• Average Words per Page: 386.6
• Average Characters per Page: 2056.41

Most Frequent Words

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