My Lady Governess (Zebra Regency Romance) (18 page)

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Authors: Wilma Counts

BOOK: My Lady Governess (Zebra Regency Romance)
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“No! Miss Palmer,” Bess cried and wound her arms tightly around Elinor’s neck.
“It’s all right, Peter. Come along, Anne, dear.” Elinor and Adrian shuffled the exhausted children off to the nursery, bidding Peter good night along the way.
When the children had been deposited in their rooms, Adrian found himself in the hallway with Elinor—alone with her at last.
“Will you join me in the library for a glass of wine, my lady?” he asked rather formally.
“I should like that very much. Will you give me a moment? I need to shed this cloak.” She turned toward her room, then turned back to him. “Oh, and, Adrian, ‘Elinor’ is still just fine with me.”
She flashed him a brilliant smile, but he thought there was a touch of sadness in it. He wanted to pull her into his arms here and now, but forced himself to walk calmly down to the library.
When she entered a few minutes later, he drew in a sharp breath. She had to be the most desirable woman he had ever beheld. Suddenly he felt all tongue-tied. He knew very well what he wanted to say to her, but how to get the words out?
He latched onto something inane. “I notice you have given up your spectacles.” He steered her toward a settee.
“Yes.” She looked embarrassed. “I—they were a part of my disguise. I thought they would make me look more like a governess.”
He chuckled. “A mask to hide behind?”
“Precisely. Did it work?”
He did not answer immediately. He busied himself pouring the wine and handing her a glass before taking his own and joining her on the settee. He raised his glass in a silent salute which she answered, looking over the rim of her glass into his eyes.
“Did it work?” he repeated foolishly. “For others, perhaps, but I have never found it easy to think of you as merely a governess.” He set his glass on a table and took hers to set it down also so he could possess her hands. He bent to kiss her fingertips.
“Adrian—I—perhaps this was not a good idea.”
He moved closer, slipping his arm around her. He brushed his lips against her neck and felt her tremble in response. The fresh, woodsy smell of her hair and skin was intoxicating.
“Au contraire
, my love. It is an excellent idea. Besides, I have your brother’s permission.”
She pulled away from him with a startled look in her eyes. “You
what?”
“Last night I asked for and received Peter’s permission to pay my addresses to you.”
“Oh, Adrian. Surely you know it is impossible.” She reached her hand to caress his cheek, sending desire surging through him. He caught her hand and placed a lingering kiss on her palm.
“No. I know no such thing.”
“But the scandal. Even now the
ton
must be feasting on my having served as governess here.”
“And tomorrow when Lady So-and-So runs off with her footman, they will savor another dish. It does not signify.”
“But it does. Your position with the Foreign Office ...”
“Is secure. They need me,” he said smugly. Then he added, his voice suddenly husky, “And
I
need
you
. I love you. I want to marry you. Please say yes.”
“Adrian, I love you, too, but it will not work. Had we met under different circumstances ...”
He could not endure the pain in her eyes. Clutching her head gently between his hands, he pressed his lips to hers in a searing, searching, probing kiss that sought to quell all her doubts. Caught up in the intensity of her response, it was some moments before he drew back only far enough to whisper, “You see? Everything else is irrelevant to this.”
He would have pulled her closer for another kiss, but she put her fingers against his lips. “What about your family? Your mother will hate the circumstances of our relationship. I cannot believe your father would favor such a match.”
Adrian laughed softly. “You are reaching for obstacles where none need exist, my love. Once they understand how much I love you, they will welcome you with open arms. Their own marriage was a love match, you know.”
“Oh.”
“Aunt Henny liked you. Uncle Philip thought you charming. Caroline was friendly enough tonight, was she not?”
“Yes, but ...”
“And the most important people in my family absolutely adore you—as do I.” He punctuated his words with a bombardment of kisses to her eyes, cheeks, nose, and lips. “Geoffrey and Bess need you as their mother, not their governess. And Anne needs you as well.”
“I hate the idea of leaving them—and you,” she said softly.
“Then don’t.” He sensed her yielding. “Besides, you cannot return to the Continent as Peter said you planned. There is going to be war there again. And I had your Lady Mary Kincannon MacGregor investigated. She has been dead these five years and more.”
“Are you telling me I have no choice but to marry you?”
“Do you? Do you want a choice?” he asked with a kiss that demonstrated most thoroughly that his children’s needs aside, the Marquis of Trenville had his own needs that only she could fulfill.
“No, not at all.”
And she gave herself up to an equally thorough response.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Wilma Counts lives in Nevada. She is currently working on her third Zebra Regency romance, which will be published in November 2000. Wilma loves hearing from readers and you may write to her c/o Zebra Books. Please include a self-addressed stamped envelope if you wish a response.
ZEBRA BOOKS are published by
 
 
Kensington Publishing Corp.
850 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
 
 
Copyright © 2000 by J. Wilma Counts
ISBN: 978-0-8217-6483-1
 
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
 
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
 
 
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