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“No,” returned Francine. “You stay, Miss Cherry … ’tis a nice fire. Felix and I—well, we’ll just go wash up and play another game in our rooms.”
Again, the funny little smile appeared on Francine’s face before they left the library. Cherry turned to his lordship, all too aware that Francine had closed the lib
rary door, and said softly, “I think I’ll turn in as well.”
He reached for and caught her fingers. “No.” He pulled her towards him. “Wait awhile yet.” He moved to the sideboard and poured her a cup of coffee with a dab of cream and handed it to her. “I have noticed that you like a cup after dinner.”
She felt a warm glow as she took the cup from him and he bade her be seated. She couldn’t believe how shy she felt and took a ladies’ chair across from him, rather than sit on the sofa beside him. Only a few nights before she had been wildly, erotically, passionately in his arms. Now, she couldn’t meet his eyes. She turned towards the fire and sipped her coffee. She could feel him watching her. Something began vibrating in her chest. It was vibrating so strongly she thought he might hear it … was that her heart?
“I … we … I thought we might talk.”
“Talk?” Oh no, was he going to send her away?
“About Freddy,” he said after a moment, looking at her intently. “Has Freddy told you something I should … at this point know?”
She shook her head. “He has not confided in me. He said it was his job to protect me, not embroil me in anything that might be troubling him.”
“Did he? Well, that is something, at least.” He bent over and touched her knee, and Cherry felt a shiver shake her. When she met his dark blue eyes, he sucked in a breath of air as he said softly, “Cherry … sweet … we are in a difficult situation.”
Ah, she thought at once, here it comes. “Yes … perhaps we are. The rogue in me, and, my lord, I am … you must realize by now, a rogue, does not give a fig about proprieties. However, the governess … does, very much.”
He frowned at her. “Miss Cherry … or Sarah Parker … I think the time has come for you to tell me who you really are—where you really come from.”
“I have given you my name.”
“Stop it. Don’t prevaricate to me, woman. Look at you—at the clothes you arrived in, which I’d wager came from the best shops on Bond Street. Look at the way you carry yourself, the way you ride.”
“Indeed, your point?”
“My point being that you were not groomed to be a governess!” he snapped.
“True. I was certainly taken very good care of … until I chose to leave.”
“Ah, now we are getting somewhere. Why did you choose to leave, and whom did you choose to leave?”
“I found it impossible to stay. Remember? It was I … running away. You must recall?” she teased, attempting to lighten the moment.
“This is absurd. Look at you now—your gown, while modest, displays style. Even when you shopped for a governess’s gown you still were able to clothe yourself in the first stare. Do not try and fob me off by telling me you have chosen to be a governess!”
“I am telling you that I choose to be a governess to your darling Felix and Francine,” she answered, her brow up with the challenge. She put away her coffee cup and stood up. “They are most important, and I think it best that we maintain a distance from one another. The other night … was the other night, and now I mean to—”
He was on her in a trice, pulling her into his embrace. His voice was husky, tender, and full with emotion as he whispered her name. “Cherry … at least that was the truth. That is your name … I can feel it.”
His lips found hers immediately, gently at first with a cherishing aura that enveloped them both. This moved quickly into something wild, something that nearly engulfed her, and she was amazed at her own strength as she pulled away from him. “Please, my lord, do not—”
“Do you think I would not take care of you always?” He frowned as his eyes hungrily looked into hers.
“It was a moment of madness, that night, but it ends there. I shall not take on two responsibilities—governess by day, mistress by night.” She turned and gave him her back as she walked stiffly from the room.
It had taken everything she had to walk away from him. So much depended on it. She wanted him, but she wanted him for all time …
* * *
They sat in a somber mood at the breakfast table. The day was a bright one, and spring was displaying itself in seductive waves, but even this did not heighten the spirits of the assembled family at Bromley. This was due nearly all to the fact that Freddy had not returned home until ten minutes before breakfast had been served!
In addition to that, his lordship appeared to be ill-tempered on every front. Cherry wondered (somewhat hoped) that it had been because her door had been locked last evening.
Freddy attempted a cavalier air as he sauntered past his older brother and made for his bedroom, while the twins and Cherry looked on just as they entered the breakfast room.
