by Amelia Grey
“Twins. How fortunate.”
“I consider it a misfortune, Miss Swift,” he said sardonically.
“Because they are your responsibility?”
“Yes. No doubt you and all of Society would agree that I’m the last person who should be in charge of young ladies making their debut, but the fate of their future fell to me when I became the duke. And to add to that obligation, I received word just today that my aunt, who was to accompany my sisters to all the events for the Season, is ill and can’t make any of the outings, parties, or balls.”
“That is unfortunate, Your Grace,” she said with quiet resolution.
“And that is why I’m looking to employ a chaperone for them.”
“I don’t mean to sound trite, but while we can’t replace the love and attention your aunt would give your sisters, I’m confident we can help you find the right person to take over your aunt’s duties. We have three well-qualified women with excellent references and credentials who should be available to start at your convenience. May I set up interviews with them for you?”
Griffin realized that the reason he couldn’t figure out exactly what it was about Miss Swift that attracted him was because everything about her did. Almost everything, he corrected his thoughts. He didn’t like the matronly way she wore her hair with the spit of white lace covering her chignon or the unbecoming shade of gray she was wearing, but other than that, he hadn’t discovered one thing about her that wasn’t enticing.
It was obvious she was schooled in manners and conviction and was well-trained to handle anyone who walked through the door. Her speech was faultless and her courage dauntless. Her wit was an added bonus. The way she carried herself and the ease with which she traversed the conversation with him made her appear a cut above her station in life. Well above. She’d obviously learned a lot from being in service in the homes of Polite Society.
If not for the fact he’d mended his wicked ways, he could have easily succumbed to the wanton feelings she created in him—to touch her satiny-looking cheek, to hear her little gasps of breath while he tasted her enticing lips, and to pull the pins from her golden-brown tresses and watch them tumble deliciously around her softly rounded shoulders.
At the thought of kissing her, a warmth of slowly rising passion settled low in his loins. He was tempted to let the primal heat stirring between his legs build and linger, but enjoyment of those pleasant feelings was not the reason he’d walked through the agency’s door today. There were more pressing matters to attend to than his male stirrings for a beautiful young lady. He had to ignore those feelings and change the direction his body was taking him.
Blast it, quite simply, she fascinated him.
Suddenly he knew exactly what he wanted to do.
Grudgingly clearing his head of the wayward thoughts, Griffin moved to stand toe-to-toe with her and said, “No.”
“No?”
She didn’t back away from his nearness, but he watched the faint stain of an embarrassed flush ease up her slender neck and settle in her pale, soft-looking cheeks.
When he didn’t immediately respond, she gave him a long, hard look before her spine stiffened. She obviously thought he wasn’t interested.
“All right,” she said, quickly regaining her professional composure. “That’s not a problem. Perhaps you would like to tell me more about your sisters. I would be happy to make the decision for you and save you the trouble.”
“That won’t be necessary either, Miss Swift. I’ve already decided who I want.”
“Oh, I see.” She paused as if she were weighing what she should say next.
Clearly he’d confused her, and he sensed her retreat from him.
“Perhaps you are already familiar with someone who’s currently in our agency.”
“Yes.”
“Wonderful,” she said with the first genuine smile she’d given him, though she was careful not to inflect too much happiness in her tone and appear too eager to hear who had captured his notice.
Pleasing her with such a simple word as “yes” caused Griffin’s lower body to tighten again.
“That makes things easier for both of us,” she continued. “Unless of course, she’s already positioned with another family and not willing to agree to make a move in order to accommodate you. But that would be doubtful, I’m sure.”
“I believe she’s available.”
“In that case, tell me who you’re referring to and I’ll do my best to obtain her.”
Griffin reflected again on the events that brought him to this moment. According to the gossip, his sisters could be in real danger from someone wanting to ruin their chances at making a good match or simply playing them for a fool in hopes of breaking their hearts. Rumors or not, he couldn’t take that information lightly and do nothing to protect them. He needed a strong and fearless chaperone to watch over their every move when he wasn’t around. Sara and Vera were clever in an innocent way and would not be easy to keep up with.
Even though Miss Swift had shown she had backbone, talked with mettle, and maintained a self-reliance that impressed him, Griffin had also seen what he was sure was a rare moment of vulnerability in her too. He sensed a sweetness, a kindness, and an intangible warmth inside her that couldn’t be deliberate or pretend.
He liked those things about her most of all. Griffin let his gaze glide over her lovely features once again. Oh, yes, she would do nicely handling his sisters and keeping them in line.
He stepped still closer to her and, keeping his voice low, said, “You, Miss Swift. I want you.”
Chapter 2
Don’t turn down employment no matter how menial or challenging it might appear. Do make something good come out of it.
MISS MAMIE FORTESCUE’S DO’S AND DON’TS FOR CHAPERONES, GOVERNESSES, TUTORS, AND NURSES
A breathless surprise washed over Esmeralda Swift. The words “I want you” reverberated in the silence of the room, fluttering around her like delicate flakes of snow seeping into her heated skin, nourishing her. And for the briefest amount of time she took the comment at face value and gloried in the purest meaning—he wanted her!
Esmeralda stood transfixed in front of the most imposing man she had ever met and looked into the most intriguing blue eyes she’d ever seen. She’d been trying to calm her ragged breathing and quaking stomach since she had looked up to see him watching her with such deep intensity that it had startled her. It was a mystery to her why her knees weren’t knocking together from his sheer presence in the agency. Not only was he a duke, he was tall, powerfully built, and quite possibly the most handsome man on earth.
He stood straight, commanding, and intimidating in his buff-colored riding breeches and shiny black knee boots. The tiered dark cloak he wore over his wide shoulders was held together at his throat with a large, engraved pewter medallion, giving him a rakish appearance that made her heartbeat whirl like a spinning wheel in her chest.
Thick dark brown hair was cropped short over his ears but fell to the crest of the white collar that showed at his nape. There was an inflexible quality to his strong features—wide, attractive mouth, high-bridged nose, and determined set to his chin.
Yes, he had said I want you, and for a moment it had thrilled her to her core. Esmeralda was seldom at a loss for words, but the duke had completely stunned her by his statement. She wasn’t a foolish miss. She knew what the duke meant.
Thankfully, so far at least, she’d managed to control the flustered feeling that had assailed her when she first looked up and saw him gazing so keenly at her through the open doorway. She still hadn’t been able to ascertain whether he’d overheard her reproachful conversation with Miss Pennywaite, but surely if he had, he wouldn’t now be asking that she chaperone his sisters.
Something she couldn’t possibly do.
She knew she must be staring at him as if his words weren’t making any sense, so taking in a short breath, she backed away from him and moved closer to the desk behind her.
“I’m sorry, Your Grace,” she finally said, her voice a mere whisper. “I don’t actually chaperone. I am the administrator of this agency. I coordinate and counsel the women who are under my direction. It’s also my duty to make sure we place the right person in your household.”
He didn’t move an inch from his uncompromising stance, and his gaze didn’t leave her face. “But you are trained and fully capable, are you not, Miss Swift?”
Esmeralda wasn’t sure if he was giving her a compliment or merely stating what he felt was the obvious, but she responded, “Of course. Quite capable. I couldn’t properly supervise the women who work out of this agency if I didn’t understand their duties.”
“I thought so.”
He glanced around the room for the second time. Esmeralda watched his striking blue gaze take in the worn, aged furniture, the unadorned front window, the barren walls, and the unlit fireplace. There was no doubt that just as he had assessed her, he was now assessing the office.
There had been nothing she could do after Mr. Fortescue had stripped the building clean. She had no money for appropriate furnishings. When he’d approached her about leasing the business and the two-story building from him and paying him from the earnings each month, she’d assumed the office decorations would be included. She had wrongly presumed many things, including that the man was honest in his dealings with her.
“I must admit that I’ve never actually been a chaperone. I was a governess for eight years before taking responsibility for the agency.” As Esmeralda said the words a sudden sadness gripped her as it had when the duke had mentioned the ghosts of one’s past.
At first, it hadn’t been easy for her to go from having a governess when she was a child to becoming one when she turned nineteen, but that was the life she’d been dealt after her mother had become an outcast in her own family. Once Esmeralda had realized there was no other alternative, she’d shouldered the responsibility and determined to be good at it. She hadn’t needed much training, already knowing exactly what was expected of a governess.
“Tell me, what happened to Miss Fortescue?” the duke said.
Esmeralda shook off the offending memories and replied, “I’m sorry to say she passed on and left the building and agency to her nephew. Knowing nothing about a business such as this, he asked if I would like to lease the agency, administer it, and keep everyone employed for him. I agreed.”
“How long ago was that?”
It seems like forever, she thought, but said, “Just shy of a year.”
“And you’re doing well?”
“Well enough,” she hedged, knowing that was far from the truth. And judging by how high the duke’s brows rose—and much to her chagrin—he knew it too.
His gaze scanned the sparsely and poorly decorated room one more time, zeroing in on the unlit fireplace before he settled his attention back on her face. She knew he must be thinking that anyone who had a bit of fuel at their disposal would have a fire lit on such a cold and dreary day. More from a feeling of protection than chill, Esmeralda wrapped her shawl tighter around her shoulders. She may not have much, but she did still have her pride.
To keep from appearing completely foolish by her guarded comment, she added, “It’s been a struggle from time to time, but nothing I haven’t been able to manage so far.”
The duke acknowledged her comment with a slight nod and said, “I’m glad to hear that you are managing.”
Barely, she thought.
Because of Mr. Fortescue’s false reporting of the agency’s income, Esmeralda had agreed to pay him way too much each month for the right to manage the agency and live in the small residence above stairs. At the time, the steady employment and a place to live was a godsend. By the time her second payment was due, she was well aware of the fact the man hadn’t been honest with her about how much money the business brought in each month.
Esmeralda was good with sums and after triple-checking her arithmetic she realized Mr. Fortescue must have shown her a false set of books. He had inflated the income by at least three times what actually came in from the ladies who worked for the agency. When she took him to task over the discrepancy, he’d only laughed and told her he was more than willing to throw her out and obtain someone else to oversee the business and render payment to him.
There was no way she could have known she couldn’t trust the man to be fair and honest. She had worked for Miss Fortescue for more than eight years and considered the woman’s reputation above reproach. Not so for her heir.
It was taking every penny the agency brought in just to pay him and buy a little food. All her winter debts remained owing, including the coal bill, which was the reason there was no warmth in the large room on such a cold and wet afternoon. She still had plenty of oil for the lamps and tallow for candles, but they offered very little warmth.
Esmeralda had to pay Mr. Fortescue first. He was a merciless man. She had no doubt that if she failed to make one payment, he would make good on his promise to throw her out and find some other unsuspecting woman to lease his agency with his false kindness and fraudulent bookkeeping records. Besides, she had nowhere else to go.
The duke said, “I’d like you to start as chaperone tomorrow morning.”
As she should have expected, the duke wasn’t used to taking no for an answer. She knew well that peers were seldom told no by anyone. A small part of her would have liked to decline the handsome duke with relish, but she must tread carefully in how she spoke to him. Already she’d been too impertinent and outspoken with him at times. Placing an employee in his household would bring in some desperately needed income. She couldn’t possibly do the job for him, but she had someone available who could. So she would keep her disdain for the peerage to herself.
“I apologize, Your Grace,” she said, using her placating tone. “I’m afraid I didn’t explain myself well. I’m not available to work in homes. My presence is needed here.”
He took an easy, confident step toward her and closed the distance she’d put between them. Esmeralda’s natural instinct was to back up again, but she forced herself to stay still.
Never taking his gaze off hers, he leaned in and reached around her, placing his hat on the desk behind her. He came so close she caught the clean, enticing scent of shaving soap. She felt warmth from his strong body. It heated her as thoroughly as a blazing fire on a freezing night. The fine fabric of his cloak brushed lightly across her arm. A scintillating sensation tightened her chest and tingled through her breasts. Her lower stomach contracted as she breathed in deeply.
He looked down into her eyes with what could only be called intense interest. “I understood you perfectly. I don’t accept your answer. You are the one I want.”
You are the one I want.
He said it again, and started her heart spinning out of control—again. She took a calming breath and, much to her consternation, had to remind herself that he wanted her to care for his sisters and for no other reason.
That he was so adamant after she explained she had never been a chaperone didn’t surprise her. It only reinforced her feelings that to the titled few it didn’t matter what anyone else wanted. Only what they wanted. And they expected to be obeyed.
But once again she tamped down her feelings of resentment and asked, “Did someone perhaps recommend me?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact someone did.”
She studied over that assertion. During her time as a governess, she’d held only two posts. Both families had been happy with her performance and had given her excellent references. She wondered which family must have mentioned her to the duke but decided it was best not to ask.
“That was very kind of whoever it was, but I’m sure you must have been told that I was a governess. Not only do I not have any practical experience as a chaperone, I feel sure some members of Society would consider me too young to be a proper companion for ladies starting their first Season.”
“How old are you?”
/> “Twenty-six at the end of next month.”
He studied her for a moment and then asked, “Is there a minimum age requirement on being a chaperone?”
“No, not that I’m aware of.”
“Good. You are old enough as far as I’m concerned.”
“I fear you may be the only one who would think that,” she countered as quickly as he’d spoken.
He inched another step closer to her, lowered his head toward her face again, and stared at her with his gorgeous, fathomless blue eyes. “I am the only one who matters when it comes to the care of my sisters, am I not, Miss Swift?”
His nearness caused more new and wonderful sensations to awaken her senses. “To be sure, but what if it causes a scandal for your sisters?”
“I am no stranger to scandal, Miss Swift. It’s true there will always be certain people in Society who are unforgiving. Especially when we fail to live up to the expectations they have set for us.”
Like the duke, Esmeralda knew that better than most, so she quipped, “I can’t argue with that assessment, Your Grace.” Her mother was never forgiven for falling in love with the wrong man and having the nerve to marry him after Esmeralda’s father died.
“But that is no reason for anyone to back down from what he knows is best, is it?”
“I believe you just made my point for me, Your Grace.”
His mouth quirked into an attractive grin. “You are quite clever, Miss Swift. I don’t usually find myself in the position of having my own words used against me.”
She couldn’t keep her own lips from forming a smile. It felt very good to best him at his own game. “What a shame.”
“Your sarcasm will not sway me, either. It only encourages me to continue.”
“That wasn’t my intention.”
“I know. Nevertheless, it does. My aunt has already accomplished most of what needs to be done to get Lady Sara and Lady Vera ready for the Season. She will be in the house and available to help with the finer details. What occasions they will attend, which gowns they will wear, and the like, but she won’t be able to attend any of the festivities. That will be your obligation. I wouldn’t have decided on you if I didn’t think you were up to the task. I’ll pay handsomely for you to be their chaperone. And I’ll give you more time to make arrangements. I’ll expect you to arrive day after tomorrow at the latest.”