Anne Herries - His Unusual Governess

‘Come, Miss Goodrum, you did not find the experience so very unpleasant, I think?’

‘You insulted me and then tried to take advantage of me. I should like to make it plain that I will not stand for such behaviour. If you feel me unsuited to the position you may dismiss me.’

‘Dismiss you?’

His gaze burned her to the core and her stomach clenched.

‘Oh, no, I have no intention of sending you away until I discover the truth. I thought I might find an extended visit to the country a trifle boring but it is no such thing. I shall enjoy crossing swords with you, Miss Goodrum.’

‘I would prefer that you keep your distance. We must remain on good terms for the sake of the children, my lord—but I see no reason for our paths to cross other than in their company.’

‘Do you not?’ He smiled oddly. ‘You rest on your dignity, but it was a different matter when I kissed you. Yet I would not harm you if you are truly what you claim to be. We shall endeavour to be polite to one another for the sake of John and Francesca—but you are the most unusual governess I have ever met.’

I hope my readers will enjoy this new Regency. I love writing, and always hope my books will give as much pleasure to my readers as they do to me. I have well over sixty books published with Mills & Boon ®and am still going! Although many of my books are Regency, I’m also enjoying The Melford Dynasty , which began in the Medieval era and is coming down the generations through different time periods. The most recent in this family saga is A STRANGER’S TOUCH, and I’m about to write number eight.

Sarah’s story in HIS UNUSUAL GOVERNESS is a fun one, so sit back and enjoy the romp with a heroine escaping from undesirable suitors only to find herself falling into an impossible romance.

Love to all.

ANNE HERRIESlives in Cambridgeshire, where she is fond of watching wildlife, and spoils the birds and squirrels that are frequent visitors to her garden. Anne loves to write about the beauty of nature, and sometimes puts a little into her books, although they are mostly about love and romance. She writes for her own enjoyment, and to give pleasure to her readers. Anne is a winner of the Romantic Novelists’ Association Romance Prize. She invites readers to contact her on her website: www.lindasole.co.uk

Previous novels by the same author:

THE RAKE’S REBELLIOUS LADY

A COUNTRY MISS IN HANOVER SQUARE * A COUNTRY MISS IN HANOVER SQUARE * AN INNOCENT DEBUTANTE IN HANOVER SQUARE * THE MISTRESS OF HANOVER SQUARE * FORBIDDEN LADY † THE LORD’S FORCED BRIDE † THE PIRATE’S WILLING CAPTIVE † HER DARK AND DANGEROUS LORD † FUGITIVE COUNTESS † BOUGHT FOR THE HAREM HOSTAGE BRIDE THE DISAPPEARING DUCHESS ** THE MYSTERIOUS LORD MARLOWE ** THE SCANDALOUS LORD LANCHESTER ** SECRET HEIRESS BARTERED BRIDE CAPTAIN MOORCROFT’S CHRISTMAS BRIDE (part of Candlelit Christmas Kisses ) A STRANGER’S TOUCH † * A Season in Town † The Melford Dynasty ** Secrets and Scandals And in the Regency series The Steepwood Scandal: LORD RAVENSDEN’S MARRIAGE COUNTERFEIT EARL Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk AN INNOCENT DEBUTANTE IN HANOVER SQUARE * A COUNTRY MISS IN HANOVER SQUARE * AN INNOCENT DEBUTANTE IN HANOVER SQUARE * THE MISTRESS OF HANOVER SQUARE * FORBIDDEN LADY † THE LORD’S FORCED BRIDE † THE PIRATE’S WILLING CAPTIVE † HER DARK AND DANGEROUS LORD † FUGITIVE COUNTESS † BOUGHT FOR THE HAREM HOSTAGE BRIDE THE DISAPPEARING DUCHESS ** THE MYSTERIOUS LORD MARLOWE ** THE SCANDALOUS LORD LANCHESTER ** SECRET HEIRESS BARTERED BRIDE CAPTAIN MOORCROFT’S CHRISTMAS BRIDE (part of Candlelit Christmas Kisses ) A STRANGER’S TOUCH † * A Season in Town † The Melford Dynasty ** Secrets and Scandals And in the Regency series The Steepwood Scandal: LORD RAVENSDEN’S MARRIAGE COUNTERFEIT EARL Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk THE MISTRESS OF HANOVER SQUARE * A COUNTRY MISS IN HANOVER SQUARE * AN INNOCENT DEBUTANTE IN HANOVER SQUARE * THE MISTRESS OF HANOVER SQUARE * FORBIDDEN LADY † THE LORD’S FORCED BRIDE † THE PIRATE’S WILLING CAPTIVE † HER DARK AND DANGEROUS LORD † FUGITIVE COUNTESS † BOUGHT FOR THE HAREM HOSTAGE BRIDE THE DISAPPEARING DUCHESS ** THE MYSTERIOUS LORD MARLOWE ** THE SCANDALOUS LORD LANCHESTER ** SECRET HEIRESS BARTERED BRIDE CAPTAIN MOORCROFT’S CHRISTMAS BRIDE (part of Candlelit Christmas Kisses ) A STRANGER’S TOUCH † * A Season in Town † The Melford Dynasty ** Secrets and Scandals And in the Regency series The Steepwood Scandal: LORD RAVENSDEN’S MARRIAGE COUNTERFEIT EARL Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk FORBIDDEN LADY †THE LORD’S FORCED BRIDE †THE PIRATE’S WILLING CAPTIVE †HER DARK AND DANGEROUS LORD †FUGITIVE COUNTESS †BOUGHT FOR THE HAREM HOSTAGE BRIDE THE DISAPPEARING DUCHESS **THE MYSTERIOUS LORD MARLOWE **THE SCANDALOUS LORD LANCHESTER **SECRET HEIRESS BARTERED BRIDE CAPTAIN MOORCROFT’S CHRISTMAS BRIDE (part of Candlelit Christmas Kisses ) A STRANGER’S TOUCH † * A COUNTRY MISS IN HANOVER SQUARE * AN INNOCENT DEBUTANTE IN HANOVER SQUARE * THE MISTRESS OF HANOVER SQUARE * FORBIDDEN LADY † THE LORD’S FORCED BRIDE † THE PIRATE’S WILLING CAPTIVE † HER DARK AND DANGEROUS LORD † FUGITIVE COUNTESS † BOUGHT FOR THE HAREM HOSTAGE BRIDE THE DISAPPEARING DUCHESS ** THE MYSTERIOUS LORD MARLOWE ** THE SCANDALOUS LORD LANCHESTER ** SECRET HEIRESS BARTERED BRIDE CAPTAIN MOORCROFT’S CHRISTMAS BRIDE (part of Candlelit Christmas Kisses ) A STRANGER’S TOUCH † * A Season in Town † The Melford Dynasty ** Secrets and Scandals And in the Regency series The Steepwood Scandal: LORD RAVENSDEN’S MARRIAGE COUNTERFEIT EARL Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk A Season in Town †The Melford Dynasty **Secrets and Scandals

And in the Regency series

The Steepwood Scandal:

LORD RAVENSDEN’S MARRIAGE

COUNTERFEIT EARL

Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk

www.millsandboon.co.uk

I would like to dedicate this book

to the memory of my great friend Paula Marshall,

whom I loved dearly, as did so many of you.

‘What was so important that you summoned me here?’ Lord Rupert Myers arched a languid eyebrow at the Marquess of Merrivale. ‘‘Tis an unseasonable hour and I was up late last night.’ He smothered a yawn and levelled an elegant gold-rimmed eyeglass at the older man. Seeing that the marquess looked strained, he dropped the air of boredom and said in a very different tone, ‘What may I do for you, sir?’

‘Good grief, sir,’ his uncle said, looking at a coat that had so many capes it made Rupert’s broad shoulders look positively menacing. ‘Where did you get that monstrosity?’

‘Uncle!’ Devilish eyes mocked him. ‘My feelings are deeply lacerated. Don’t you know I’m a very tulip of fashion? I dare say at least six young idiots have copied this cape only this week, for I saw Harrad’s boy wearing one with nine capes and this has only seven.’

‘More fool him,’ the marquess grunted. ‘Sit down, m’boy. You make me feel awkward, towering over me like an avenging dervish. What happened to the eager young fellow I saw off to war six years ago?’

‘I dare say he grew up, sir,’ Rupert replied carelessly, but there were shadows in his eyes as he sat in the chair opposite and his mouth lost its smile. He did not care to be reminded of that time for the memories were too painful. ‘Is something bothering you?’

‘I fear it is,’ the marquess said. ‘I’m in somewhat of a pickle, m’boy—and I’m hoping you’ll sort me out.’

‘Anything to oblige. I do not forget that you stood as a father to me when my own …’ Blue fire flashed in bitter regret, for the late Lord Myers had been a rogue and a cheat and had brought his family almost to the edge of ruin. That Rupert had been able to save himself and his sister from disgrace was in large part due to this man. ‘No, I will not go down that road. Tell me what you wish, sir, and if it is in within my power I shall do it.’

‘It’s Lily’s children,’ the marquess said with a heavy sigh. ‘You know my daughter’s story, Rupert. She would marry that wastrel. I warned her that he would run through her fortune and break her heart. She wouldn’t listen and he did all that and more—he killed her.’

‘You can’t be sure of that, sir.’

‘He drove her out into the rain that night. Her maid told me of the quarrel between them. Scunthorpe broke her heart and she stayed out all night in the rain. You know what happened next …’

Rupert nodded for he did know only too well. Lily Scunthorpe had died of a fever, leaving a daughter of six years and a son of three, but that had been more than ten years previously and he could not see what the urgency was now.

‘You took the children when Scunthorpe deserted them, installed them in Cavendish Park with a governess, tutor and the requisite servants—what has happened to throw you into a fit of the blue devils?’

‘The governess and tutor both gave notice last month. I’ve tried to find replacements, but with very little success. I fear my niece and nephew have acquired a reputation for being difficult. I have managed to find a woman who is prepared to take them both on—I suspect because she has no choice—but I’m not sure she’ll stay above a few days.’

Merrivale cleared his throat. ‘They need a firm hand, Rupert. I fear I’ve spoiled them. If I read them a lecture, they would apologise sweetly and then go straight back to their old ways. Would it be too much to ask you to stand as mentor to them for a while? The boy may go to college at the end of the year and the girl … well, she ought to have a Season next spring, but I fear I shall find it hard to secure the services of a woman influential enough to give them a good start.’

‘Play bear-leader to a girl on the edge of her come-out and a rebellious youth? Good grief, Uncle! Have your wits gone begging? I’m hardly a role model for either of them. Besides being a tulip of fashion, I’m a notorious rake—or hadn’t you heard?’

Merrivale ran nervous fingers through his white hair. ‘I know you have your mistress, but I’m not suggesting you should take her with you to Cavendish.’

‘Thank you for small mercies,’ Rupert said, the light of mockery in his eyes once more. ‘She would take it as an invitation to marry me. Annais is too greedy for her own good. I have been looking for an excuse to finish the affair and I suppose one is as good as another … she has no love of the country.’

‘Do you mean you will do it?’ A look of such relief entered the marquess’s eyes that Rupert laughed out loud. ‘I should be so grateful, m’boy.’