Kasey Michaels - Romney Marsh Trilogy

London, 1811

C HANCE B ECKET SAT IN the formal drawing room of his Georgian house located in Upper Brook Street, not two blocks from Hyde Park, unaware of his expensive, fashionable surroundings.

No, not unaware. Uncaring.

How could he not care? Wasnt this what he wanted, what hed always wanted? What he worked for, what he longed forwhat he had achieved almost entirely on his own?

Perhaps that was the rub. He had done nothing entirely on his own. His extensive education had been a gift from his father, Ainsley Becket, the mysterious, reclusive and very wealthy Becket of Romney Marsh.

This house? This house had been a gift from his late father-in-law. Even the furnishings, the fine silk sofa he slouched in now, had come to him along with his wife, Beatrice.

Chance sipped from the wineglass that had moments earlier dangled from his fingertips, nearly spilling onto the fine Aubusson carpet.

He was a sham, a farce, living no more than the shallow dream of a reality that had fallen far short of all his youthful expectations. Gentlemen were born, not constructed out of whole cloth. All hed achieved was the pretty shell; there was nothing pretty inside.

And yet, this was all he had, all he could ever hope to have, which was why Alice had to be rescued from him before she became as shallow and unfeeling as himself.

Mr. Becket, sir? There is still one more waiting on you downstairs. Perhaps you are fatigued. Shall I send her off? Or do you wish to see her?

Chance blinked away his self-pitying thoughts as he looked at his butler. Forgive me, Gibbons, Im afraid I was woolgathering. What a thoroughly depressing afternoon this has been. But theres another woman? I had thought that profane Billingsgate drab was the last of them.

Oh, no, sir, theres still the one more, and I apologize again that Mrs. Gibbons still feels too poorly to have handled this chore herself and youve had to take the trouble. Shed be up and about if she could be, sir, but her nose is still running a treat and

The last applicant, Gibbons, if you will. Concentrate, please. Time is running short if I am to have someone for Alice before we leave.

Oh, yes, sir. This last is younger than the rest, sir, and with a civil tongue in her head, if I may say so.

Please, Gibbons, dont raise my hopes. And please dont apologize yet again for your wifes illness. Im sure she didnt take to her bed with that putrid cold you keep telling me about simply to thwart me in my hour of need.

Yes, sir. Im sorry, sir. That is

Chance waved the butler to silence and stood up, heading for the drinks table, for interviewing potential nannies had turned out to be thirsty work. Well make this quick, shall we? I promised Miss Alice Id join her for her evening tea, although I have been informed I am not to be the guest of honor, as that distinction is reserved, as always, for her stuffed rabbit.

Buttercup. Yes, sir. Gibbons bowed. We shouldnt wish to keep Miss Alice waiting. Although this establishment will be a cold and dreary place without her, sir, if I may be so bold.

Our only sunshine, gone. Yes, Gibbons, I am aware of the sacrifice. But it is Miss Alice we must consider. London is no place for a motherless child.

Very good, sir, the butler said, bowing yet again before leaving the room.

Chance took up his position in front of the fireplace, placing his filled wineglass on the mantel as he stood, hands clasped behind him, awaiting what was sure to be another disappointment. Buttercup. Yes, of course. A good father would have known that.

Mr. Becket, sir, Gibbons announced from the doorway. Miss Carruthers.

Mr. Becket, the woman Chance now knew as Miss Carruthers said, sweeping into the room with all the grace of a duchess and the wardrobe of a millers daughter dressed up for Sunday services. A woefully unsuccessful miller. But then, if the woman had a full purse, she would not be hiring herself out as a nanny.

Miss Carruthers, Chance said, indicating with a slight sweep of his arm that she should take up her seat on the sofa to the right of the fireplace, while he, bringing his wineglass with him, retook his own seat. You have come in answer to my advertisement?

Apparently so, Mr. Becket. Her tone was neutral, her diction reassuringly untainted by Piccadilly, her words not quite as subservient as he might have liked. And her perfect posture would put a military man to shame.

He watched, rather nonplussed, as Miss Carruthers stripped off her gloves, noting her long, tapering fingers, her neatly trimmed nails and the fine mending on the thumb of the left glove. She then removed her aged straw bonnet to place it beside her on the sofa, revealing a thick head of warm blond hair shed mercilessly scraped back from her forehead and into a high, thick and rather lopsided bun.

Her skin was quite nice, pale but with hints of color, and her nose was delightfully straight above a full, wide mouth and a determined chin. He felt a stir of interest, which surprised him.

Miss Carruthers was down on her luck, most obviously, but she had pride and possibly breedingdefinitely more than he could claim, but then, most anyone did. Best of all, she was clean and, if his luck was to have turned all the way for the better, would be desperate enough for a decent wage to give up the delights of London for the mist and damp of Romney Marsh.

In any event, at least Alice wouldnt take one look at the creature and run screaming for her nursery.

Chance didnt realize hed been staring until Miss Carruthers raised her chin and looked at him with a most incredible pair of long green eyes framed by brows too low and straight to be considered in vogue. Forgive me, Miss Carruthers. Have you been waiting long? Would you care for a glass of lemonade?

Julia Carruthers frowned, wondering if she should acceptand take a step toward insinuating herselfor refuse, keeping the distance she was quite certain master and servant maintained. But, dear, she was thirsty. Thank you, sir, I appreciate your offer. Have there been many other applicants?

None worth considering, no. Im afraid youre the last, Chance said as he moved to the drinks table. A pitcher of lemonade was always kept there for Alice.

He bent over, opening the double doors beneath the tabletop, and Julia watched as he retrieved a lovely glass goblet, taking note of Chance Beckets tall, well-formed frame. That and the black mourning band pinned to his sleeve above his left elbow.

Shed expected a woman, a mother, not this young, handsome society gentleman. Shed been prepared for a woman. Shed dressed for a suspicious woman with a husband or grown sons in the house.

Now she felt an absolute drab, all angles and third-best finery and with her hair pulled back so tight a headache had been throbbing at her temples for the entirety of the three hours she had been cooling her heels in Mr. Beckets ground-floor sitting room. Shed spent that time as the very last of a steadily decreasing number of other applicants, some of whom had given her pause as she wondered if they all could have been the same species as herself. So her hopes had climbed. But now she worried.