Callie Hutton Read Online Free Page A

derrière and sat. Fascinated at the movement, he didn’t realize he stared until she addressed him.
    “Your Grace?”
    What was the matter with him? He mentally shook himself and cleared his throat. “ I think it would do us well to outline your duties as regards my wards so there is no confusion when the new governess arrives.”
    She dipped her head slightly.
    Expecting an argument of sorts, he found himself at a loss as to how to go on . He jumped up and leaned on the fireplace mantle. “Miss Sarah Jennings will arrive today. She will take over the duties you’ve held until now. The girls need to be instructed in appropriate decorum, how to conduct themselves in P olite S ociety, and the proper forms of address .”
    He clasped his hands behind his back, and staring at the carpet, paced in front of her. “It’s obvious their education to this point has been seriously lacking. Why Lord and Lady Bedford saw fit to allow such behavior on the part of their daughters will always remain a mystery to me. However, that will end today…” He glanced at Miss Chambers, who had risen from her seat, hands fisted at her sides, her face flushed a bright red.
    “How dare you!”
    Penrose stiffened his shoulders, his eyes wide. “I beg your pardon.”
    “You should. Beg my pardon, that is.” She rested her hands on her hips. “You are the most arrogant man I have ever met.”
    “Madam, please remember to whom you are speaking.”
    “Excuse me? I know precisely to whom I am speaking. And I have this to say. Lord and Lady Bedford understood the importance of a happy childhood for their daughters. They allowed them freedom, the opportunity to be little children.” She raised her chin. “Despite what you think of me, I do know the importan ce of the position Lady Charlotte and Lady Clare were born into. I also understand they will need to be taught how to conduct themselves. And, perhaps with my limited knowledge of your world, Your Grace , I am not the best person to continue with governess duties. But I will not allow you to malign their wonderful parents who loved their girls very much, and wanted the best for them.”
    As if all the air in her let out, she collapsed into a chair in front of the fireplace, and touched the corner of her eyes with her knuckle.
    Is she crying?
    Penrose returned to his seat behind the desk, allowing Miss Chambers time to compose herself. After a minute or two, she rose and joined him at the desk. The tip of her nose was bright red, as were her cheeks. Tears clumped on her eyelashes, giving her a look of being barely older than her charges. “I ’m sorry for my outburst.”
    He raised his eyebrows. The last thing he expected from her was an apology. Deciding to be gracious, he bowed his head. “I fail to understand Lord and Lady Bedford’s reasoning, but I didn’t mean to distress you. If I did, then I also apologize.”
    A slight smile tilted her lips. “You say that as though you rarely offer apologies .”
    “I rarely find it necessary to do so.” He smiled back at her, annoyed that her smile lit up her countenance so, turning a pretty face into a beautiful one. Small lines at the edges of her eyes crinkled, making him wonder at her age. Obviously out of the school room for years, he couldn’t help but dwell on her lack of a husband.
    Although he found her bra sh and outspoken, her beauty and feminine curves had definitely caught his attention. And that little bit of vulnerability when she cried over her employers had touched his heart. The heart he’d had under lock and key for years now, ever since Lady Eleanor had spurned his suit and chose Bedford as her husband .
    He and Bedford had both danced attendance on the young debutante for the Season. She ’d been named an I ncomparable that year, and no one was more surprised than him when she decided on an e arl instead of a duke . In retrospective, he often wondered how they would have gone on, had they married. Certainly her