What Lies Beneath

A troublesome governess…
Mrs Harris has been in the Earl of Ashburton’s employ for over five years. His daughter, Tilly, adores her, and despite enduring a good many insults and snide comments from the prickly woman, Ashburton respects her and admires her devotion to Tilly.
Yet…
There is something else, something about the woman that nags at him, bothers him, and refuses to let him be. Like a wasp at a picnic, he cannot help but return his attention to her.
What is it about the prim and proper woman with spectacles that is driving him distracted?

A woman with a secret identity…
Mrs Regina Harris is a fraud.

She is not called Regina Harris, has never been married, and is not really a governess. Despite that, she credits herself with having done an excellent job with the earl’s wilful and rather spoilt daughter, for though she is illegitimate, Tilly is the apple of the earl’s eye. Not that it has been a hardship, for Tilly is an adorable minx, and life at Goshen Court is beautiful, and as for the earl…
No, she won’t think about the earl, for that would be the biggest mistake she could possibly make.
Well, maybe not the biggest. Her biggest mistake might be taking her revenge on the two men who forced her to run away from home and assume a fake identity. It might be writing the story of her life, and not adequately disguising fact from fiction, so that everything she has done to keep herself safely hidden is suddenly in jeopardy.

Her time is running out. Eventually, the façade will crumble, and the earl will see her for who she really is. Except Regina isn’t sure she knows who that is anymore.