A Governess for the Earl: Regency Romance - Clean and Wholesome (Earl Diaries Book 1) by Keating Eleanor

Author:Keating, Eleanor [Keating, Eleanor]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2020-05-07T16:00:00+00:00

The Earl

Josiah Howard felt as if the floor was spinning underneath him as he scrambled to find steady footing.

When he’d tasked Huxley with advertising in the newspaper for a governess, he had an image in his mind regarding the sort of woman who might respond. Josiah had expected that the subject of his interview would be a plain-looking and stern old maid. He imagined the governesses of his youth. His breath was thoroughly knocked out of him when Huxley introduced the stunning young Miss Campbell.

She was anything but plain nor old. Her blonde curls hung freely down about her shoulders, and a healthy pink blush painted her freckled cheeks. He took a brief moment to reorient to the reality in front of him, then found the resolve to carry on with the interview. He reminded himself that he was capable of keeping a professional manner.

Quickly, Josiah realized he had his work cut out for him. It was going to be an uphill battle to recover from the embarrassment of misplacing his spectacles on top of his own head. The fact that Miss Campbell seemed amused by his forgetfulness was of little comfort. Every smile on the woman’s face felt like it could push him closer to embarrassing himself again. Josiah wondered when he had become the type to lose his wits in the presence of an attractive young woman.

He should cut his losses. How could he maintain any degree of decorum, when he had already proven himself to be a bumbling idiot? He knew that it would have been wiser to think of some polite excuse to dismiss her then and there. Yet he did no such thing. He continued this farcical interview because he could not bear to turn her away.

She seemed to possess no professional background, only that she had hoped to unburden her father by taking the position. He wondered why she had not married. She would have had no shortage of suitors, even if her dowry was nought but her enchanting smile.

He wondered if it would be wrong of him to hire her as a governess for his children when he found himself so openly admiring her. Despite himself, he wondered what the children would think of her. Their opinion was of the utmost importance, as far as Josiah was concerned.

“Should you like to meet the children this afternoon, Miss Campbell?”

Her dark brown eyes grew wide with surprise.

“This afternoon, my lord?” she asked.

Perhaps she thought she stood no chance at the job and was only amusing herself with flirtation until he dismissed her. Josiah could not know her reasoning.

“Yes. My children should have some say-so regarding a person of such importance in their lives. Is that agreeable, Miss Campbell?” Josiah pressed.

“Indeed, it is agreeable, my lord. I shall be happy to meet the children of such a thoughtful and loving father.”

“Very well then,” Josiah said, standing up to pull at a cord on the wall. A bell rang deeper in the house.

He watched as Adelia Campbell rearranged herself while she waited for the children.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.