A Lady in Disguise Read Free Page A

must have spent a good hour before the glass arranging it to lie in those rich waves.
    Thorpe Everard put his mug on the table next to hers. “Very well. I know Addy has been beside herself all day waiting for you.” A grimace twisted the line of his firm mouth a moment. He ran his hand over his cheek and chin. She could hear the rustle of afternoon whiskers. Then his big brown hand lifted to his head and he raked his fingers through his hair, leaving it even more attractive than before.
    “I confess. Miss Cole, my daughter has never yet had a governess. My grandmother has had sole charge of Addy almost since her birth. Are you tactful?”
    “Tactful?”
    A warm smile came to his face. Lillian had to drop her eyes. It really wasn’t fair. He had a tremendous natural advantage in any conversation. He said, “I’m afraid I’ve never acquired the knack of saying one thing when I mean another. I hope you have the talent for smoothing down hackles, or you may not last in my house, Miss Cole. As she never had a governess in her youth, my grandmother is of the opinion that governesses are unnecessary. I didn’t tell her you were coming. Neither she nor Addy may take the notion of a resident teacher with equanimity.”
    “I’m sure I shall manage,” Lillian said with a lift of her chin. A challenge of this sort was precisely what she needed to take her mind off her deception. Lady Pritchard had never managed to remember Thorpe’s daughter’s name, so Lillian was glad to have that piece of information. “Addy’s a charming name.”
    “It’s an abbreviation of Adrienne. When she was small, she couldn’t pronounce it. Now she won’t answer to it.” Lillian saw a gleam of pride in green eyes unveiled by thick dark lashes.
    “Lady .. . Mrs. Garnet said your daughter is six. Does she know her letters?” Oh, dear, she’d have to be more careful. He didn’t seem to notice the slip, however.
    “I think so. I’m not quite sure. My grandmother thanks no one for interference. Not even me. Especially not me. Men, in her opinion, are as unnecessary as governesses. Is this yours?” At her nod, he lifted her valise without effort. “You did not bring very many things, Miss Cole.” How wicked of nature to give him the facility of lifting one black brow without troubling any of the other muscles of his lean face.
    “I was not sure what I would need. I can send for the rest of my belongings as I require them.”
    “Such foresight. Or perhaps wisdom. You may yet run screaming out the front door.”
    “You make the castle sound like something from Otranto,” she said, following him through the inn. “I trust you have no resident monsters.” It would be too bad, she thought, if this magnificent-looking man is henpecked, but she could not expect a paragon to be strong willed.
    “Grandmother’s a ... no, she’s not as bad as all that. Merely used to being in command. I don’t mind, as long as she doesn’t try to rule me. That is a battle she will not win. Take my advice and stand up to her.”
    “I shall.” She returned his gaze with great firmness, ignoring the strange quiverings of her knees. The corners of his mouth lifted in a smile of great charm, showing front teeth that overlapped the tiniest amount. Rather than diminishing his great good looks, this insignificant flaw brought everything else into perspective. Despite the strange quivering rising into her midsection, Lillian did not look away.
    Thorpe chuckled. “I believe you could do it. But you’re rather young. And small. Those Garnet girls are nearly grown, aren’t they? How ever did you manage them at your age?”
    “I am older than I look.”
    “You’d have to be.” He stowed the valise in an exquisitely sprung curricle with a gleaming black body. “You’ll want to hold on to your bag, lest it jounce out onto the road,” he said. He held out his hand to help her to mount.
    On an average day in London, she might require the assistance of a