Paid Companion Read Online Free PDF

only heightened her feelings of wariness and excitement.
    “Dear me,” Mrs. Willis said quickly. “I had quite forgotten you were standing there, sir. I beg your pardon. Allow me to introduce Miss Elenora Lodge. Miss Lodge, the Earl of St. Merryn.”
    St. Merryn inclined his head ever so slightly. “A pleasure, Miss Lodge.”
    No one would ever label him handsome, Elenora thought. The power, control and harsh intelligence that stamped his features left no room for elegance, refinement or traditional masculine beauty.
    His hair was a deep shade of brown. Unfathomable smoky green eyes watched her from some concealed lair deep inside. He had the bold nose, high cheekbones and distinctive jaw that one associated with creatures that survived on their hunting skills.
    She realized with a start that she was allowing her imagination to get the better of her. It had been a very long day.
    She pulled herself together and made her curtsy. “My lord.”
    “It would seem that we might be of service to each other, Miss Lodge,” he said. His gaze never wavered from her face. “You are in need of a position. I have a distant relative, the widow of a cousin on my father’s side, who is staying with me for the Season. I require a companion for her. I am prepared to pay you triple your usual fees.”
    Triple her usual fees.
She was suddenly a little breathless. Steady now, she thought. Whatever else she did, she must maintain an air of dignified calm. She had a feeling that if St. Merryn detected any indication that she suffered from delicate or easily excitable nerves, he would withdraw his offer.
    Raising her chin, she gave him what she hoped was a coolly polite smile. “I am prepared to discuss the position, sir.”
    She heard Mrs. Goodhew and Mrs. Willis murmur between themselves, but she paid no attention. She was too busy watching the satisfaction that glittered briefly in the earl’s enigmatic eyes.
    “There is a bit more to the post than the duties that are generally expected of a paid companion,” St. Merryn said very deliberately.
    She recalled the old adage about things sounding too good to be true and steeled herself
    “For some reason, I am not surprised to hear that,” she said dryly. “Perhaps you would be so good as to explain?”
    “Of course.” St. Merryn switched his attention to Mrs. Goodhew and Mrs. Willis. “I would prefer to have this conversation in private with Miss Lodge, if you two ladies do not mind.” He paused a beat and smiled faintly. “The situation involves a family matter. I’m sure you comprehend.”
    “Certainly,” Mrs. Goodhew said. She seemed relieved to have the excuse to exit the room. “Mrs. Willis?”
    Mrs. Willis was already on her feet. “After you, Mrs. Goodhew.”
    The two women stepped smartly around their desks and crossed the room. They closed the door very firmly behind them.
    A heavy silence descended. Elenora did not like the feel of impending dread that accompanied it.
    Some of her initial excitement faded. It was replaced with wariness. Her palms tingled with a strange chill. She sensed the weight of the heavy fog pressing at the windows. It was so thick that she could not see the buildings across the narrow street. Was it just her imagination that made the room seem suddenly very small and intensely intimate?
    St. Merryn walked deliberately across the office and came to a halt in front of one of the windows. He meditated for a while on the featureless mist that shrouded the narrow street. She knew that he was debating just how much to tell her.
    “I may as well come straight out with it, Miss Lodge,” he said after a moment. “What I told Mrs. Goodhew and Mrs. Willis was not the full truth. I am not in need of a companion for my relative, although she is, indeed, staying in my house.”
    “I see. ‘What do you require, sir?”
    “A fiancée.”
    Elenora closed her eyes in despair. Just when she had begun to believe that the nature of the potential employers