Read The Governess Was Wanton Online
Authors: Julia Kelly
The Governess Was Wanton (14 page)
“Supposing that your Lady Margaret has Merlin, where would she be going?”
Oh, Jane had a pretty good idea. She'd known since she pulled back the covers and found the young woman's bed cold, but she hadn't wanted to admit it. Not when it seemed she'd be able to chase her charge down and talk some sense into her. But now . . . Now a plan was quickly forming in her head. A crazy plan, but a plan nonetheless.
“I have some thoughts,” she said slowly.
“If you care to share those details, I'd appreciate it.”
He shifted his weight from side to side like an eager pugilist waiting for his opponent. His whole body seemed primed for action, ready to sprint off and ride Lady Margaret down. He was just the sort of man she was going to need to try to catch up with her errant charge and force her back on the road to Holmesfield Hall before the girl ruined both of their futures.
Jane put on her brightest smile and prepared herself for battle. “I'd be happy to tell you, sir, as long as you promise to take me with you.”
Nicholas stared long and hard at the pretty woman whose blond ringlets spilled alluringly out of her simple chignon, not entirely sure he'd heard her correctly.
“Take you with me?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said, her voice soft but clear. “I'm afraid I must go along.”
“No.” Of course she couldn't come along. He'd be riding at breakneck speed, doing everything he could to retrieve Merlin and get to Lord Ashby's home for his appointment in a week's time. The last thing he needed was a lady slowing him down, and he certainly didn't want this woman there with her big blue eyes and lips so full they almost seemed indecent.
“I'm afraid those are my terms,” she said, arms crossed. He'd lived his entire life outnumbered by women, and he could spot her determination from twenty paces out. But she wasn't coming with him.
“This is not a negotiation,” he said.
“I don't see why not. I have information you want, and you can offer me the protection I wouldn't have if I were to travel alone.”
Nicholas pressed his thumb and index finger to his forehead, trying to fend off the headache that was building behind his eyes. “You'd be no safer with me than you would on your own. Surely you must see that.”
She shook her head.
This was exactly like trying to reason with one of his sisters. “Madam, you are a lady and I am a bachelor. It would be unthinkably improper for us to travel together unchaperoned.”
He knew he sounded like a disapproving matron, but that didn't change the fact that he was right.
But if he expected her to wilt, he was sorely mistaken. The woman stared at him, blinking her long lashes a couple of times, and then promptly burst into laughter. “It's very generous of you to think I'm a lady, sir, but you can rest assured there's no danger here. You see, I'm a governess.”
Nicholas couldn't school the surprise off his face quick enough to hide it. A governess? Her? His sisters' governesses had all been meek, older women who seemed to fold in on themselves whenever he spoke to any of them. They had allowed his sisters to run roughshod over them before one after another had handed in their notice for no doubt easier assignments. He couldn't accept that this woman who seemed to almost radiate with life could be cut from the same glum cloth.
“You're not a governess,” he said.
“I swear as I live and breathe that I am,” she said, the corners of her eyes still crinkled in amusement.
He crossed his arms in a mirror of hers. “Then you certainly can't travel with me. Your reputation is just as fragile as any young lady's. You'll be ruined if anyone finds out that you traveled alone with a man.”
She arched a brow. “And I won't be ruined if it's discovered I've lost my charge? If I don't find Lady Margaret, I'll be dismissed without a letter of reference. I can promise you that I'll never find employment in England again, because who would want to hire the governess who can't control the young lady she was supposed to be minding?”
She was right. Damn it, she was right. He might've lost Merlin when her Lady Margaret ran off in the night, but this woman had further to fall than he.
“I can see your point,” he conceded with a sigh. It appeared that he was losing this argument whether he liked it or not.
She had the good manners to look only slightly smug. “What if we strike a deal?”
“What sort of a deal?” he asked, still a little bowled over by this shrewdly dealing woman who happened to look like the perfect English rose. It was fortunate that ladies with her genteel manners weren't allowed in London's gaming halls because she would've been a menace at the table, widening those huge, innocent eyes while efficiently fleecing everyone out of their winnings by the end of the night.
“Agree to take me along to find Lady Margaret, and I'll tell you where I think she's heading. You'll do better with me by your side anyway,” she said.
He already knew he was caving, but still he asked, “How's that?”
The lady shrugged. “I know her. You can be certain she's not traveling under her name, and since you don't know what she looks like she'll be hard to spot.”
That was unfortunately an excellent point.
“We would be traveling swiftly,” he warned.
“I can ride quite well, considering.”
He looked up sharply. “Considering what?”
A light dusting of the most appealing pink flushed over her cheeks. “It's just an expression.”
He could tell she was lying and so pushed again. “It will be hard on the road. If I'm to chase this Lady Margaret, we won't be stopping at inns every time it begins to rain, and since it's March it will rain. Cold, miserable rain that goes on for hours.”
The woman lifted her chin. “I will have you know that I'm not some delicate flower.”
Oh, but she looked like one. She was fine boned and straw blondâa ray of sunlight on the first day of spring. Her lips were as red as cherries in the snow, and her carriage betrayed her natural elegance. She made a man want to ride up on his steed like Saint George, brandishing a broadsword and proclaiming he was ready to fight for her. Except he suspected she didn't need his help at all when it came to slaying dragons.
Knowing that he was probably making a huge mistake, Nicholas sent up a plea to whichever god looked after men who found themselves outsmarted by pretty women. “Fine. You can come with.”
“I'm so glad you've come round,” she said, losing the fight against the smile that threatened to spread over her lips. She looked positively delighted, as though he'd asked her to take a jaunt in a riverboat on a sunny day rather than ride like the devil through the Midlands.
“We'll see how glad you are when you spend all day in the saddle,” he said with another look at the sky. “I'd bet five pounds it's going to rain.”
She followed his gaze and frowned, little lines etching her otherwise smooth forehead. “Well, it isn't as though the day could get any worse.”
Don't miss the rest of the Governess series by Julia Kelly!
Governess Elizabeth Porter tends to two sweet girls who have a penchant for falling ill and needing the doctor. As the girls' ruses increase and the doctor's visits become more frequent, Elizabeth can't help but notice Dr. Fellows's bewitching bedside manner. . . .
The Governess Was Wicked
Jane Ephram has always been the epitome of a prim and proper governess. So when her latest charge runs away to elope with an unsuitable boy and Jane is dispatched to bring the girl home, she must ready herself for an adventure of her own.
The Governess Was Wild
ORDER YOUR COPIES TODAY!
About the Author
Julia Kelly is the award-winning author of sexy historical and contemporary romances about smart women and the men who love them. She picked up her first romance novel and the bad habit of reading well past her bedtime when she was thirteen. Years later, she decided to try writing romances of her own and never looked back. Julia is the author of
Seduction in the Snow
and
The Wedding Week,
both of which appear as part of the One Week in Love series. She is also a founding member of
First Draught
, a monthly YouTube show and podcast exploring writing and romance. By day, Julia is an Emmy-nominated journalist in New York City, where she chases breaking news and bosses reporters around. She never met a pair of stilettos she didn't love and still stays up too late reading.
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Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Julia-Kelly
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The Governess Was Wicked
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 by Julia Kelly
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First Pocket Star Books ebook edition October 2016
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Cover art by Chris Cocozza
ISBN 978-1-5011-3934-5