He stole another gulp of whisky from the bottle, watching her. A fierce, burning need flared to life within him. Revealing the delicious curves beneath her hideous costume would be more thrilling than swiving all three of his favorite whores at once.
Curse it, no.There were boundaries even he could not cross, and ruining an innocent governess in the morning darkness of his study was just such a boundary.Think of Mrs. Nulty, he ordered his mind.Mrs. Reeves. Madame Laurier. The perfect trifecta.
As though she had heard the bent of his thoughts, she spoke, cutting into the heavy silence he’d allowed to fall between them in his lust. “You wished to determine my ability to act as governess for your sisters, I understand?”
Erm, yes, that was rather the point of this wasn’t it?He should feel like a beast for plotting her seduction, for not even bothering to recall he was meant to determine her suitability for Con and Nora. But that was rather the trouble, these days. He didn’t feel a damn thing.
“How long have you been a governess, Miss…”Hell and damnation.He’d forgotten her name again. “And I assume you have letters to recommend you?” he continued, ignoring his pause as if it hadn’t occurred.
She did not blink. “I have been honored to be a governess for four years, Your Grace. The Earl of Aylesbury vouches for me.”
“Honored?” He could not stay the brow that winged up his forehead, could not tamp down the disbelief.
“Honored,” she echoed, her chin tipping up a scant inch, the only sign of defiance. “I take great pride in my charges. When they flourish, I flourish through their successes.”
Good God.Who would enjoy being relegated to servitude? For that was a governess’s lot in life. She enjoyed a slight distinction above the rest of the domestics, but she was still a paid servant, ever aware of her station. Ever serving at her master’s whim.
But he said none of those things aloud, for he was a drunkard but he was not a fool. “You find your role a rewarding one, then?”
“Of course, Your Grace.” She folded her hands in her lap, almost as if in prayer.
He thought about binding her wrists together and tying them to his headboard. “You are fluent in French and Latin? Adept at playing the pianoforte? Can you teach watercolors, proper decorum, and whatever other bloody nonsense is required of females?”
She flushed. “I am well-versed in the feminine arts, and I am able to speak fluent French and Latin, with a smattering of Spanish. I am a fair hand at all musical instruments, watercolors are a particular joy of mine, and decorum shall be a foremost objective for Lady Constance and Lady Honora.”
His eyes narrowed on her for a moment. The chit was well-prepared. Quick with her answers. Facile with her tongue. He had no objections to her suitability as governess, and his amenable nature was no doubt aided by both his inebriation and his desire to watch her riding his cock, those full breasts bouncing.
Lord God, now he found himself wondering about the precise shade of pink her nipples would be. Would she cry out when he suckled them? Would she prefer the nip of his teeth?Beelzebub and hellfire, this had to stop.
“Why did you leave your position with Aylesbury?” he forced himself to ask, willing his fierce arousal to abate.
“My charges had outgrown their need of me, and I was no longer required in the household.”
Fair enough.He studied her for another moment. There was only one manner in which he could proceed. Con and Nora had been running wild in the absence of proper guidance. If the new governess proved too distracting or too much of a temptation, he could always sack her and find another. Or spend more time at The Duke’s Bastard, buried in whisky and lightskirts.
“You may begin the position immediately,” he decided, hoping it was not a mistake. “In the interest of disclosure, I must warn you I possess a certainreputation.”
“Idle gossip does not concern me, Your Grace.” Nothing seemed to shake her. She continued to assess him with those brilliant eyes. “I can begin today, should that suit you.”
Today. Yes.The heavy weight of guilt and obligation lifted from his chest. Con and Nora could become someone else’s headache. What a bloody relief.
“Today is agreeable, Miss…”Damn it all, he still couldn’t recall her name.
“Turnbow,” she supplied. “Thank you, Your Grace. I would be honored to accept the position, and I look forward to meeting Lady Constance and Lady Honora.”
A great, clanging commotion reached his ears then, and Crispin was reminded of precisely why his sisters were in such desperate need of management. “Perhaps you can meet them now. I’m afraid the crashing and clanging you’ve just heard was caused by the both of them.”
For the first time since she entered his study, the governess’s eyes went wide. “Caused by them?”
He took another deep swallow of his liquor for good measure and then stood. “Come with me, Miss Governess, and you shall see.”
Chapter Three
The Duke ofWhitley was a lecherous drunkard, and his sisters were wayward hoydens who were currently delighting in the act of riding silver salvers down the carpeted staircase of Whitley House.
No.
Jacinda’s eyes were not mistaken.
