The Ungrateful Governness by Mary Balogh

Author:Mary Balogh
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi

9

"If You will excuse me, my lord." The pianoforte recital had finally ended, and Lady Bradley had announced that supper was being served. Jessica rose firmly to her feet.

"Are you hungry?" Lord Rutherford asked. "Then I shall escort you. But do not think to escape so easily, Jess. I wish to talk to you."

"Why?" she asked. She turned to smile at other guests who were trying to pass her, and moved closer to her chair. "I really do not believe we have anything to say to each other, my lord. If you wish to appeal to me once again to leave your grandmother's house and seek employment, the answer is no. I intend to accept her hospitality until-well, until other arrangements to my liking can be made. And if you wish to renew your request that I become your mistress, the answer is still no."

"Sit down," he said, and Jessica complied without thinking. The guests around them were slowly leaving the room, presumably in search of supper.

"I want to know who you are," he said. "Whether we like it or not, Jess, you and I seem fated to be thrown into company together, and the situation can only get worse over Christmas. Let me know with whom I deal. Tell me more about yourself."

"What do you wish to know, my lord?" Jessica the presence of the infuriating man at her side. If she could have risen and escaped without attracting the attention of everyone in the room her way, she would have done so. As it was, she was trapped on the opposite side of the room from the door, and there she must stay.

mother, by the way, was a scullery maid at the home of the local squire. My father did not deal in social snobbery."

"And you have inherited your tongue from her," he said, something that was almost a smile curling his lips for a moment. "The harpsichord was a wedding gift from a grateful employer, I suppose?"

Jessica inclined her head and was surprised to see a grin on his face when she looked up again.

"Three minutes," he said. "Your hand was in mine for all of three minutes, Jess. It quite distracted my attention from the trapeze artists, you know."

She blushed but would not break eye contact with him.

"Would the same thing have happened if you had been sitting beside Godfrey?" he asked.

"I have no way of knowing, my lord," Jessica said, very much on her dignity. "The action was quite involuntary."

He laughed and picked up her hand, which was lying in her lap. He turned it over and ran a finger over the lines in her palm. "I wonder what your plan is," he said. "Marriage to a rich and titled gentleman, Jess? One who will treat you as a lady?"

"Yes," she said, watching the long, slim finger on her palm, feeling her whole arm sizzle to life from the tickling sensation of its movements. "Though I could live without the wealth and the title."

"Could you?" he asked, his eyes narrowing as he lifted them to look into hers.

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