Breaking the Governess’s Rules Read Online Free

return to England?’
    ‘To allow Miss Daphne to visit the places of her youth. She wants to see them one last time.’ Her lips turned up in a false smile. ‘You need not worry. I intend to depart from these shores as quickly as possible. England is anathema to me.’
    ‘A pity. And what charms does Italy hold?’ He looked her up and down, noting how she no longer tried to hide behind demure high-necked gowns but chose instead to wear a
décolleté
gown that barely skimmed her breasts,proclaiming she was a woman of the world instead of the naïve and somewhat gauche governess who blushed so charmingly. ‘For a woman like you.’
    The beauty-spot mole in the corner of her mouth flashed. ‘A marriage proposal. To a baronet. Think of that. Sir Francis Walsham wishes to marry me, honourably, with a large church wedding.’ She snapped her fingers. ‘I have rebuilt my life, Jonathon. Give my regards to your stepmother. Her instincts were correct. Italy has been far better to me than England ever was.’
    ‘When rebuilding anything, Louisa, you should have a care that the foundations are not made on sand.’
    A crease appeared between her perfectly arched brows and for the first time, she appeared less certain. ‘You have lost me, Jonathon.’
    ‘You admire plain speaking.’
    ‘Wherever possible.’ A smug smile crossed her lips. She tilted her head upwards. She believed she’d won.
    Jonathon waited, savouring the moment.
    ‘Unlike some I could mention, I am an admirer of the unvarnished truth,’ she said with absolute assurance.
    ‘Your besotted beau’s proposal might prove difficult to accept.’
    Her eyes narrowed and her smile trembled. ‘Why?’
    Jonathon leant forwards, his breath brushing her cheek. ‘I have a prior claim.’

Chapter Two

     
    A prior claim.
Claim to what? To her? To her hand, or her body? Louisa stared openmouthed at Jonathon as the words echoed around her brain. His hooded eyes held a sensuous promise and his lips were a mere turn of her head away.
    She stumbled backwards, away from him, away from his body, narrowly missing a gilt-edged chair.
    Louisa put out a steadying hand and grasped its back, shifting the chair so it was between her and Jonathon. She attempted to get her emotions under control. Emotions and dreams were the enemy. They had destroyed her before. They could again. Once she had longed to be married to him and to belong body and soul to him. She had considered them already married, soul mates, and had disregarded all the warnings and well-meant advice to wait until the wedding night. She had mistaken a young man’s lust for all-conquering love and had paid a heavy price. But she had finished paying, years ago.
    ‘Do you agree I have a prior claim, Louisa?’ Hishands closed over hers, pressing them against the giltedged wood.
    ‘Words said in jest can destroy a person’s reputation, Lord Chesterholm.’ Louisa gave a light laugh to show that his betrayal no longer had the power to hurt. It was in the past and she no longer pined for him or her girlish fantasies. She had rebuilt her life on rock-solid foundations. She had learnt from her mistakes. Her heart might bear scars, but it was whole and safe.
    ‘I am deadly serious.’ He released her hands and moved the chair so it sat squarely between them. ‘Perhaps you chose to disregard such things. But will your intended? Does he know that you bolt? Does he know you are promised to another?’
    ‘Hardly promised. What was between us ended years ago.’
    ‘We were engaged, Louisa,’ his voice purred. ‘We were as close as a man and woman could be, but forgive me—when did you sever our relationship?’
    Just after your stepmother informed me you were engaged to another woman, and had been promised to her for months before. You seduced me when you were not free.
Louisa kept her breathing steady and wished she had not done her laces up so tightly. ‘Your memory is indeed failing. You never returned.’
    ‘I was