A Governess for the faithless Duke (Regency Romance) (Regency Tales Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Milton stepped into the room. It was clear from his expression that he was somewhat agitated.
    “Please do pardon my intrusion, ladies,” he began. “I have just heard some rather disturbing news.”
    Mrs Thomson, intuitive woman that she was, offered him a chair, and fetched a third cup so she could press some tea into his hands. Having thus fortified him, she proceeded to interrogate him.
    “Now, what has got you in a dither, Mr Milton?” she inquired, sipping her own tea.
    “It seems, Mrs Thomson, that our Duke has managed to enrage the families of one of the women he rejected. They are threatening legal action against him for breach of contract!”
    “Oh my, that sounds dreadful!” Charlotte exclaimed.
    “Well, he did leave the poor young woman at the altar,” Mrs Thomson said. “I’m sure her parents are only doing what they think is best.”
    “It certainly can’t have been a pleasant experience for her to have been jilted,” Charlotte said, thinking of how his former fiancée must have been humiliated.
    “As I understand it, the Duke had no particular affection for the lady in question,” Mr Milton said. “And though it is not the fashion among the aristocracy to marry for love, His Grace is not one to follow the fashions, except in his style of dress.”
    “He certainly is independent,” Mrs Thomson agreed. “And that got him into a lot of trouble, too, when he was a boy.”
    They chuckled, and Charlotte could see that they held their master in great affection. There must be something more to the man than the terrible things she had been hearing. The fact that he took in his orphaned nieces was certainly something in his favour, and he had not interfered in any way in their education since her arrival. She had seen him walking in the gardens with his houseguests in that first week and she had admired the manliness of his form, wondering what it would be like to be the woman on the receiving end of his attentions.
    “I overheard a conversation about the Duke very recently,” she said, “and it seems that there is at least one other woman who would love to receive his attentions, despite his reputation.”
    Both the butler and the housekeeper looked at her, before Mr Milton said, “I have no doubt you mean Lady Henrietta Aston.”
    “She has set her cap at him, to be sure,” Mrs Thomson said. “But he has not shown his intentions toward her so far.”
    “It is rumoured that the engagement to the young woman whose family is threatening legal action was an arrangement that was forced upon them both,” Mr Milton added.
    Charlotte couldn’t imagine being forced to marry someone she didn’t love, and she was suddenly very glad that she was just a poor vicar’s daughter. Her dear papa would never try to make her marry for anything other than love. He and her mother were proof that love made even the humblest house a home.
     
    The following day, she took herself off for a walk in the garden. It had been a rainy morning, so she kept to the stone pathways to avoid soiling the hem of her gown. The rain-washed air was fresh, and a delight to her senses. That morning she had once again spied the Duke as he took a turn about the grounds, accompanied by a woman she did not recognize. She wondered if that was the ambitious Lady Henrietta. She had watched them, the Duke gallantly giving the lady his arm, as they strolled through the garden talking and laughing. Charlotte felt a pang of envy for a life she knew she would never have. He was indeed a well-made man, beautifully turned out, handsome of face and form, and entirely out of her league. Why then did a small part of her heart ache because he had not noticed her?
    As she wandered around, the feeling of desolation overtook her. She stopped by a stone bench and swept away the few drops of rain still clinging to its surface so she could sit and gather herself.
    A sound in her ear brought her head up, and the object of her thoughts was standing a few