The Duke's Governess in Disguise by Claudia Stone

Author:Claudia Stone [Stone, Claudia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-15T04:00:00+00:00

Following the rumours of an altercation, the D of K and Lady E were spotted yesterday on the Row, looking much happier. The sound of wedding bells cannot be far off...

Gracious—it was obvious that they were referring to Kilbride and Ava. She wondered how her sister was faring with the dull Duke of Kilbride and hoped that she had made some inroads into entangling herself from her engagement.

My engagement, Emily corrected herself; heavens, it was confusing!

Rumours of an altercation sounded rather promising and Emily paid no mind to the pair having been spotted looking "much happier". The papers had oft reported on her own outings with the duke, describing her as "misty-eyed with love", when she had been anything but!

The children began bickering over the ownership rights of a book, pulling Emily from her deep reverie. She stood, brushing down the skirts of her plain, grey day-dress, and wandered over to break them apart.

"It's mine," James yelled, holding tight to a particularly battered looking volume.

"I saw it first," Cressida argued, reaching out to snatch it away from her younger sibling.

"Heavens, children," Emily chided, "Neither of you own it! It belongs to His Grace. Now give it to me."

James reluctantly handed over the book, the title of which was A Meditation on the Impact of Field Rotation Upon Tillage Yields.

"Why on earth are you fighting over a book about farming methods?" Emily asked with a laugh.

"The heart wants what it wants," a voice called from the doorway.

Emily started at the interruption and turned to find a young, fair haired man, standing in the doorway, watching them all with amused eyes.

"Uncle David!"

James raced over to the man, whom Emily presumed was the brother of the late Lord Dunstable, and threw his arms around his legs.

"Lud, you'll knock a man over," David complained, as he lifted James bodily into his arms.

He was, Emily observed, a very striking young man; his clothing was of the highest quality, his hair arranged in the latest mode, and his face was handsome and set into a pleasant repose.

"I don't believe we've met," Dunstable said, as he carried James across the room to where Emily and Cressida stood. "I am David, proud uncle of these two hellions."

"I am E—e—Ava Smith," Emily replied, hoping that Mr Dunstable would not think her afflicted with a stammer.

"Ah, I presume you are the new governess?" Dunstable replied, with an easy smile, "Pleased to meet you, I'm afraid that I did not chance to meet the last girl, before her unfortunate accident. I hope I'm not interrupting anything? I was just passing by and thought to call on Hemsworth and visit with the children."

"We were just selecting a book to read together," Emily replied, charmed by Dunstable's easy manner, "His Grace is in town, but I am told he should return shortly."

"Wonderful, perhaps I shall stay and help you select something?"

The children appeared delighted by their Uncle's presence and he was led, by the hand, to the bookshelves, where he spent an inordinate amount of time helping James and Cressida to select a novel.

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