Secrets and Sensibilities: A Regency Romance Mystery (The Lady Emily Capers Book 1) Read Free Page B

once.
“Classical,” she responded before she could think better of it. Then, knowing
how scandalous that confession was, she quickly corrected herself. “That is, I
hope to one day paint portraits.”
    “Have you studied, then?” he asked. “Would you know a
classical piece if you saw one?”
    Was this some kind of interview? She seemed to remember
being asked such questions when she had arrived at the Barnsley School.
    “I am self-taught,” she told him proudly. “My family did not
have the funds to send me to school. But I can assure you I know the Masters.”
    He grinned. “Then maybe I could show you a few of the
Brentfield pieces.”
    She looked him askance, still trying to determine why he was
so interested. She had met few who were interested in her painting, even among
those she painted. “Are you an artist, too?”
    His smile deepened. “I’ve been called that a few times. But
I work in leather, not paper or canvas.” He held out his hands, which she saw
were stained brown. His smile faded. “Although my badge of honor looks like
it’s wearing off. The mark of a gentleman, I guess.”
    Even with his gentle voice and accent, he made it sound as
if being marked as a gentleman was a shameful thing. He shook himself and
offered her a smile that was a pale copy of his original. “I’d love to see your
work. And I do have a project that I’d like your help on. You’ll be staying
until Easter, I hope?”
    “As long as the girls need me,” Hannah replied. Belatedly,
she glanced up the drive after her charges. Not a single girl was in sight. She
rolled her eyes at her own ineptitude. Her first assignment as a chaperone, and
she hadn’t even escorted them into the house!
    A tall, elderly dark-skinned gentleman in tan knee breeches,
navy coat, and the undisguisable air of command, was making his way toward
them. Othello Coming to His People , her bemused brain suggested.
    “I’m in trouble now,” her companion murmured. “Derelict in
duty once again.” He heaved a sigh, but the twinkle in his eye told her he was
hardly sorry.
    “You’re needed inside,” the older man intoned with a nod.
Hannah wondered why the Tenants would have use for their own in-house leather
craftsman, but she felt a shiver of pleasure that she would be able to see him
again during her visit. Perhaps she might find a moment to help him with his
work here.
    The older man turned to her with a bow. “You’d be the Miss
Alexander for whom the young ladies are searching?”
    “She’s still beside the carriage, so they can’t be searching
very hard,” her David quipped. “Now, don’t glare, Asheram. You wouldn’t want to
reduce me to a quivering pulp in front of Miss Alexander, would you?”
    “Perish the thought,” the man replied.
    “Good. Earn your keep and introduce me the way you tell me
these Brits insist on.”
    The older gentleman rolled his wide-set eyes. “If you would
be so kind as to tell me your first name, Miss Alexander?”
    Her David leaned forward as eagerly as when he had asked
about her painting and set her blushing again. “Hannah,” she murmured.
    “Miss Hannah Alexander,” the man said solemnly. “May I
present David Tenant, Earl of Brentfield?”

Chapter Two
     
    David watched as the adorable little woman gasped and
blanched. His grin faded as he thought for a moment she might actually faint.
He caught her arm as she swayed, but she snatched it back, staring at him as
fixedly as she had when he had first encountered her on returning from his
walk. Then he had found it flattering. Now he felt downright alarmed.
    “Miss Alexander, welcome to Brentfield,” he tried, bowing
lower than was probably socially acceptable. “Shoulders for a peer,” Asheram
had explained during one of their many tutorial sessions on the boat over,
“chest for a better, and waist for royalty.” Well, Miss Alexander was a
princess in his book. And she was by far the most interesting person he had met
since