Sari Robins - [Andersen Hall Orphanage 05] Read Online Free PDF Page A

but sneaking around as if we’d committed some crime!”
    “It was a crime! You were hardly worthy of my daughter!”
    Every time Steele and Benbrook got together, it was as if Deidre hung over them like an angry specter. Each man was raw with guilt and shame and grief, and the other man was a glaringly conspicuous target. It was the reason the two men had, by tacit agreement, stayed apart these almost nine years.
    Benbrook smacked the desk with his palm. “But enough of that! We’re talking about Miss West, not ancient history! She’ll be a bad influence on my grandsons.”
    Exhaling, Steele forced himself to calm down; he had promised Sir Lee to try not to harp on the past, and he would keep his word no matter how difficult that charge might be. “Sir Lee believes that Miss West is perfect for the job.”
    “I wouldn’t even have a bloody governess if it weren’t for…” Benbrook’s voice trailed off, his grief for his lost son and daughter-in-law etched on his face.
    Lord Benbrook’s daughter-in-law, Emily, mother to Felix and Seth, had left a note written in the event of anything ever happening to her. Lord Steele and Sir Lee had determined that it was drafted without fear of a specific threat in mind; it was merely a precaution written out of love for her children.
    In the letter, Emily had expressed her desire that if she died, the boys were to have a governess until the age of twelve. She’d explained in the note that she wanted the boys to have a female influence in their lives, separate and apart from their formal education. A tutor , she’d written, will be necessary as well , but a female must be the primary giver of care.
    Wiping a hand across his eyes, Benbrook recovered. “Miss Lorena Farmer is a better choice, I tell you, and you will have more peace in your home if you do as I say!”
    “Who’s Miss Farmer?”
    “She rode along with us from Dorset and was quite useful with the lads. The girl who’d been helpingout with the boys since the last governess suddenly became ill and resigned. Luckily for us, our cook had heard that Miss Farmer was headed to London to seek out a post as a governess.”
    Steele rubbed his chin. “Very lucky indeed.”
    Ignoring the obvious notion that he’d been played, Benbrook reached into his coat and pulled out a sheet of vellum. “Miss Farmer comes highly recommended and has impeccable references, unlike your Miss West.”
    Steele’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t bark up that tree, Benbrook. Sir Lee selected Miss West, not me. I don’t consort with my staff. I never have and never will.”
    Benbrook slid the paper across the desk. “I want Miss Farmer.”
    Steele ignored the vellum. “Well, we don’t always get what we want, do we?”
    “You are only their guardian temporarily!”
    “Thank the heavens.”
    “You don’t know how to handle such things! You’ve never been a father!”
    Steele leaned forward, his anger steeping. “And why is that, Benbrook? Why is it that I never had any children with my lovely wife?”
    Benbrook looked away, his face pained.
    Steele smile was cold. “Thanks to you—”
    “And to you!”
    “Yes, and to me, I have no children and never will. I know how it feels to know with certainty that there will be no heirs in my line. Do you want to start gambling with yours now?”
    Benbrook swallowed.
    Now was as good a place as any to draw his line in the sand. Benbrook had best get used to the new arrangement, for Steele wasn’t about to be bullied. “You agreed to follow my judgment and accept my decisions in all things in exchange for my help. That price starts coming due now.”
    Benbrook stood. “This is preposterous! I agreed to accept your help as it regarded the investigation and finding the villain who killed my son! I never agreed to accept your decisions as it regards raising my grandchildren!”
    “So I’m good enough to place myself in the line of fire, yet not good enough to decide who wipes your