The Companion by Deborah Simmons

Author:Deborah Simmons [Simmons, Deborah]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781488028908
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2001-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

Chloe sat by the window in the study, ostensibly reading, but more often than not dividing her attention between the rain that pounded against the glass and Kit. He was seated not far away at a massive desk, looking through some papers that Mr. Sawyer had left behind, and Chloe practically held her breath rather than disturb the fragile tenure of his interest.

Despite the dowager’s accusation that she was not earning her keep, Chloe knew she was helping and that Kit was getting better. His grandmother was impatient and frustrated, but any kind of healing took time. Why should recovery of the spirit be any different? And Chloe had seen changes in Kit, leading up to today’s effort. If she could just restrain the dowager a while longer, she sensed that Kit would eventually assume a role in the household. The two would still argue, Chloe was certain, but Kit would return to his own.

And then what of herself? Chloe’s joy at each step he took out of his guilt and mourning was tempered by a kind of sadness. For she knew that Kit’s resumption of his life would put her out of a position, one that she had initially disdained only to come to love. No. Love was too strong a word, Chloe thought, shying away from it. Yet there was no denying she had made the ultimate mistake of those who served, whether governess, companion or paid help of any kind: she was becoming far too fond of her charges.

She had come here expecting to be miserable, a useless charity case with naught to do but fetch and carry. Instead she had found a challenge, an opportunity to help someone who desperately needed it. Having lost her father, she had never thought to be part of a family again, but she had created a new one in this household of misfits. She loved the Yorkshire countryside, the immaculate beauty of Hawthorne Park, the spacious rooms and elegant ambience of the house itself, and she had grown fond of its inhabitants, both the fierce old dowager and her difficult grandson.

Glancing at the latter, Chloe felt a curious sensation within her breast, and her heart began a new rhythm. His hair glinted in the pale light from the window, as if producing its own sunshine, and the golden glow of his skin seemed a testament to it. He was putting on a little weight and losing some of his leanness, though he would never be anything except fit, despite his limp.

Blushing, Chloe looked down at the book in her lap, acknowledging her own weakness. Somehow, Kit had gone from being a beautiful but fatally flawed man into being a beautiful but vulnerable man, with a character that drew her admiration, not her scorn. And her initial dislike had turned into something else entirely.

Even as she tried to tear her attention away, Chloe glanced back at Kit, letting him fill her thoughts, worrying for him, wondering about him, and she knew she cared far too much.

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