by Emily Larkin
“Do you like it?” Ninian said. His gaze was bright and hopeful, and he might be a fribble and a fop, but he was also Uncle Algy’s son and Oliver’s only cousin.
Oliver strove for a compliment. “Very pretty coat. What color do you call it?”
“Periwinkle,” Ninian said, beaming.
“Suits you,” Oliver said, and then, “Excuse me, Ninian; I’m claimed for the next dance.”
His last partner for the night achieved a respectable one hundred and twenty-eight points, not because of her bosom, but because she had a very pretty pair of dimples. Oliver liked dimples, and in another time and place he might have tried to coax a kiss from Miss Norton. But he was no longer a devil-may-care dragoon captain, he was a prudent duke, and so he escorted Miss Norton back to her mother, unkissed.
Oliver was aware of young ladies hopefully eyeing him. He made for the door, not pausing long enough for anyone to catch him.
A flight of stairs beckoned him downwards. He breathed a sigh of relief and descended to the vestibule. A footman fetched his hat for him. Oliver stepped outside. It wasn’t completely dark under the portico—flambeaux burned, keeping the night at bay—but it was blessedly cool and quiet after the ballroom.
A dozen marble steps led down to the street, gleaming in the light from the flaming torches. Oliver stood for a moment on the topmost step. Funny that one could feel lonely in a city as large as London, but he did feel lonely at this moment, had in fact felt lonely rather often in the month he’d been back on English soil.
If this were India, he’d have Ned Lovelock at one shoulder and Tubby Hedgecomb at the other, and they’d be laughing together, enjoying being young and alive.
But this wasn’t India.
Oliver put his hat on, tilted the brim until it sat just right, and promised himself that he’d call on Rhodes Garland tomorrow. A few hours in Rhodes’s company would make him feel less alone.
His ears caught the faint scuff of a shoe behind him—and then someone shoved him violently between the shoulder blades.
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Acknowledgments
A number of people helped to make this book what it is. Foremost among them is my developmental editor, Laura Cifelli Stibich, but I also owe many thanks to my copyeditor, Maria Fairchild, and proofreader, Martin O’Hearn.
The series logo was designed by Kim Killion, of the Killion Group, and the cover is the work of the talented Jane D. Smith. Thank you, Jane!
Emily Larkin grew up in a house full of books—her mother was a librarian and her father a novelist—so perhaps it’s not surprising that she became a writer.
Emily has studied a number of subjects, including geology and geophysics, canine behavior, and ancient Greek. Her varied career includes stints as a field assistant in Antarctica and a waitress on the Isle of Skye, as well as five vintages in New Zealand’s wine industry.
She loves to travel and has lived in Sweden, backpacked in Europe and North America, and traveled overland in the Middle East, China, and North Africa.
She enjoys climbing hills, yoga workouts, watching reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, and reading.
Emily writes historical romances as Emily Larkin and fantasy novels as Emily Gee.
Never miss a new Emily Larkin book. Join her Readers’ Group and receive free digital copies of The Fey Quartet and Unmasking Miss Appleby.
www.emilylarkin.com
Also by Emily Larkin
THE BALEFUL GODMOTHER SERIES
Prequel
The Fey Quartet novella collection
Maythorn’s Wish ~ Hazel’s Promise ~ Ivy’s Choice ~ Larkspur’s Quest
Original Series
Unmasking Miss Appleby
Resisting Miss Merryweather
Trusting Miss Trentham
Claiming Mister Kemp
Ruining Miss Wrotham
Discovering Miss Dalrymple
Garland Cousins
Primrose and the Dreadful Duke
Violet and the Bow Street Runner
Pryor Cousins
Octavius and the Perfect Governess
OTHER HISTORICAL ROMANCES
The Earl’s Dilemma
My Lady Thief
Lady Isabella’s Ogre
Lieutenant Mayhew’s Catastrophes
The Midnight Quill Trio
The Countess’s Groom
The Spinster’s Secret
The Baronet’s Bride
FANTASY NOVELS
(Written as Emily Gee)
Thief With No Shadow
The Laurentine Spy
The Cursed Kingdoms Trilogy
The Sentinel Mage
The Fire Prince
The Blood Curse
Copyright © 2020 by Emily Larkin
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
www.emilylarkin.com
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Octavius and the Perfect Governess / Emily Larkin. -- 1st ed.
ISBN 978-0-9951366-6-3
Cover Design: JD Smith Design
Created with Vellum