Lord Braybrook’s Penniless Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

adding, ‘And you won’t this time.’ Which was so illogical as to defy comprehension. Companions and governesses always travelled on the stage.
    ‘Yes, I will,’ she said.
    Julian gritted his teeth in barely concealed frustration. ‘Miss Daventry,’ he ground out, ‘I begin to see why you consider yourself unsuited to the position of companion!’ The inescapable fact that she was perfectly right about the situation didn’t help in the least. Nor the defiant chin that said she knew she was right, and that she knew that he knew…He halted that train of thought at once.
    ‘Ma’am, I cannot agree to a lady under my prot—’ one look at her outraged countenance and he corrected himself before the façade exploded in flames ‘—for whom I am responsible, travelling on the common stage. Or the Mail,’ he added, before she could suggest it. ‘You will travel with me!’
    ‘Not unchaperoned!’ she shot back.
    ‘Very well!’ he snapped. ‘Will it be acceptable if a maid shares your room at the inn we put up at, or must I inveigle a Dowager Duchess into service? I’ve no designs on your virtue, but even if I had, seducing the governess in my travelling coach is not one of my favoured pastimes!’
    Miss Daventry flushed. ‘There is no need to be horrid about it. I am not at all concerned about you . Merely how gossip might construe it. I have no wish to find myself the object of vulgar curiosity and censure! A servant at night will be perfectly adequate. Naturally I will pay for my own accommodation and—’
    ‘You will do no such thing,’ he stated with deadly calm. ‘As of this moment, Miss Daventry, I consider you to be in my employ. Any expenses incurred on your journey will be borne by me . Are we clear?’
    For a moment the prim mouth took on a mulish set, but she dropped a slight curtsy. ‘Yes, my lord.’
    Discretion, ever the better part of valour, suggested it was time to beat a hasty retreat. Before he strangled her, or worse, swore at her again. Having solved several problems in one stroke, he was in no way minded to have his plans upset by Miss Prim and Proper deciding she could not enter the employ of a gentleman so dissolute as to swear in front of a lady, let alone allude to the possibility of seducing her in a travelling coach.
    ‘I will bid you a good day then, ma’am.’ He set down his cup and rose. ‘I have business tomorrow and Wednesday. We will depart on Thursday. My carriage will take you up at seven a.m.’ He bowed. ‘If you do not object to starting early.’
    She had risen too.
    ‘I will be at the top of the steps outside the Chapel of the Three Kings. Will a trunk and valise be too much?’
    He raised his brows. ‘You will pack whatever you require. If it does not fit, a carrier will bring it.’
    He held out his hand. A polite gesture to seal their bargain. Nothing more. For a moment she hesitated and then placed her own hand in his. Awareness shot through him. Her hand fittedhis as though they completed each other. Startled, he met her gaze. Behind the spectacles her mismatched eyes widened, as though the same awareness had taken her. For a shocking instant their gazes linked as tangibly as their hands. Then her lashes swept down, veiling her eyes, closing him out.
    He released her hand and stepped back. ‘Good day, ma’am. My man of business will call.’
    ‘Good day, my lord,’ she responded quietly.
     
    Having seen Lord Braybrook out, Christiana Daventry closed the door behind him with trembling fingers and leaned against it.
    Had she run mad? What was she about to accept his offer of employment? What if he wasn’t Lord Braybrook at all? And what was it about him that had broken her usual self-control? Not since she was sixteen had Christy lost command of herself like that. It hadn’t done any good then, either. Not that she cared. She could manage without being beholden to anyone.
    She fished Lord Braybrook’s card out of her pocket, frowning. Anyone could