Governess's Dilemma (9781460320600) by Griffin Pamela

Author:Griffin, Pamela
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Sales Corp
Published: 2013-03-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Myrna walked into the manor, a little more clear-headed. It had become habitual to find solace in the chill but tranquil outdoors when an ache would start behind her eyes. The doctor’s second visit neither appeased nor worried her. He left a tonic should the pain become intolerable, but so far she’d had no need of it, relying on Genevieve’s wonderful hot mint teas, instead.

She walked into the parlor where the family usually met before dinner, finding no one there. Curious, she continued down the corridor and heard music coming from the conservatory. Peeking into the room, she spotted Mrs. Freed at the piano, but the girls, who had last been with her, were nowhere in sight.

Not wishing to interrupt Dalton’s mother, Myrna went upstairs to look. Their bedchambers, the current playroom and her room were all empty.

Running across a maid, she stopped her. “Have you seen the girls?”

“They’re in the library.”

“Thank you, Daisy.” Myrna continued downstairs, struggling against the fluttery sensation in her midsection as she neared the double doors. One stood ajar.

“‘Oh, grandmother, what big eyes you have!’”

Myrna blinked in shock to hear Dalton’s voice—altered to sound like a small girl. She pushed the door wide enough to peer into the room.

“‘All the better to see you with.’”

This time his words came gruff, with a slight growl to them. Both girls sat comfortably in his lap. Rebecca giggled. Sisi stared up at his face in fascination, ignoring the book from which he read.

Again, he imitated a girl’s voice. “‘Oh, grandmother, what big hands you have!’”

“‘All the better to grab you with!’” he growled and released the book to grab both girls closer to him. They squealed. Myrna smiled.

“‘Oh, grandmother, what a horribly big mouth you have!’” A third time he spoke in a high falsetto voice.

“‘All the better to eat you with!’” He snapped his teeth at both girls and repeatedly growled, earning more squeals as they pretended fear, making halfhearted efforts to slap at his arms and get away amid the laughter they couldn’t keep from bubbling over.

“‘And with that he jumped out of bed, jumped on top of poor Little Red Cap, and ate her up,’” he continued in his familiar tenor. “‘As soon as the wolf had finished this tasty bite, he climbed back into bed, fell asleep, and began to snore very loudly...’”

The wolf? The gruff, villainous storybook character he’d been portraying was a wolf?

The irony proved too amusing and Myrna giggled.

Alerted to her presence, Dalton and the girls looked her way. He closed the book.

“That’s it for tonight, girls.”

“But what about Little Red Cap?” Sisi asked worriedly. “Did she die?”

“Please, do finish the story.” Myrna moved into the room and took the opposite chair. “You must never leave a story unfinished. It’s the cardinal rule of storytelling. Pay me no mind. You won’t even notice me.” Smiling innocently, she couldn’t resist using against him the same words he had said to her in this same room.

His mouth twisted wryly and

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