Tainted by Temptation Read Online Free PDF Page A

bowl and onto Velvet’s last clean dress. Discreetly dabbing at the spill with her napkin, she waited until her employer picked up his spoon.
    Too nervous to risk a silent prayer when he didn’t offer one, Velvet mimicked him. The rich chowder settled in her stomach like lead.
    “Have you taught a girl before?” asked Mr. Pendar.
    Her stomach too unsettled, Velvet put down her spoon. “A long time ago.”
    He watched her as he continued to raise his soup spoon to his lips. His mouth fascinated her. His lips were angular, not quite thin, but a long way from sensual, poised on the edge of cruel.
    She clasped her hands in her lap. “I assisted my father in the parish school. We taught girls as well as boys.”
    “I am told you can teach Iris to play the pianoforte and feminine skills.”
    His agent in London had asked her these questions. “I can teach her rudimentary pianoforte, watercolors, and needlework skills. But my true strengths are in the classroom.”
    He gave a slight snort. “You’ll have a hard time getting her in the schoolroom. She’s like her mother.”
    “Her mother didn’t value education?” asked Velvet.
    His mouth twisted in a slightly cruel way. “Not for women.”
    All Velvet’s positions had been with families with boys. Boys she’d taught Latin and mathematics, readying them for Oxford and Cambridge. “Do you share that view?”
    He met her gaze, and a shiver raced down her spine. “Iris should know how to read and write and enough math to manage pin money.”
    Mrs. Bigsby entered and slapped a platter of fish and potatoes on the table. Velvet jumped. Mr. Bigsby followed with rolls, wine, and a bowl of peas. The housekeeper scowled as she removed Velvet’s barely touched bowl of soup.
    Mr. Bigsby splashed red wine in her glass.
    “Will you be needing anything else?” asked Mrs. Bigsby.
    “Thank you, that will be all,” said Mr. Pendar. He served himself from the nearest dishes.
    The Bigsbys left the room.
    “Anything beyond rudimentary skills isn’t necessary. If you can get Iris ready for marriage in a half-dozen years, I’ll count myself lucky.”
    Velvet’s heart plummeted. Her love of academics would be wasted in this household. But then she was grateful to have a job at all. In six or seven years perhaps her reputation would be forgotten or she would be too old to be considered a threat. She’d have thought most would have considered her well past her prime now.
    “I’ll do my best,” she said, then took a sip of the rich wine.
    “Iris will be in your care from nine in the morning until she goes to bed at eight.” He placed a portion of the flaky white fish on her plate. “I’ll leave it to your discretion whether she takes dinner with us or not. I suppose she is getting too old to exclude.”
    Velvet breathed a sigh of relief. Surely having her charge dine with them would be better than dining so intimately with her employer. Or perhaps he had insisted they dine together to discuss her duties. “Very well, sir.”
    “You may have Saturday afternoon and Sunday to yourself.”
    She nodded. An afternoon and an entire day off was generous.
    “As you know, keeping a governess for Iris has been difficult.” His eyebrows tightened as he dished peas on his plate and passed them to her. “You will not receive your wages for twelve months.”
    To be paid twice a year was not unusual, but without access to any of her wages for a year was a long time. She would be virtually trapped here. “What if I need to make some incidental purchases?”
    “Give a list to Mrs. Bigsby, and I will review and authorize each purchase on your behalf.”
    So much for the shilling sixpence she’d need to get to Plymouth. Besides she needed new strings for her corset. Even though he was responsible for cutting the strings, she wasn’t sure she wanted him reviewing her need for them.
    “I see,” she said dryly. She bit back her objections. She couldn’t go back to London or she would