His Remarkable Bride Read Online Free

to chuckle, probably at her manners this time. Some habits refused to leave a person, though. Her governess had taught her deportment when she was young, and for the past six years, she’d been attempting to teach it to the children she was hired to tutor.
    Elspeth would have been much more confident in her abilities if any of those children had taken to her lessons. She squared her shoulders and marched toward the train car’s door. Perhaps the Strong children would be well-mannered souls who would soak up the lessons of her childhood the way she and her siblings had instead of being grubby little rascals. It wasn’t that she disliked her previous charges, but with no references, a dubious history, and nothing to distinguish her aside from an accent that Americans considered distinguished, the only families she’d found work with were social-climbing new money with one foot still in the gutter or the back alley.
    The Strong family would be different. Mrs. Breashears had assured her of it. Elspeth turned to step down from the train car and onto the platform with hope in her heart. This time, she really would make a go of things, really would start over. Mr. Athos Strong came highly recommended after all, and she was marrying him, not entering his employment. This time, things would—
    “That’s her! I know that’s her,” a child shouted.
    “She looks just like Mrs. Breashears said she would,” a second, older child added.
    “Hurray! Hurray for our new mother!” a third whooped.
    More young shouts followed, and before Elspeth could get her bearings and assess the situation, a mob of eight children rushed her. Four or five of the youngest of the bunch slammed into her, nearly knocking her off her feet as they hugged, grabbed, and clutched her.
    Elspeth yelped before she could stop herself. She dropped her bag and was bowled back several feet by the clinging crowd of happy youngsters.
    “Your dress is so soft!”
    “You’re just as pretty as I knew you’d be.”
    “I’m going to be your favorite, I just know it.”
    “Papa, Papa! Come and look!”
    A chorus of voices and motion buzzed around her as Elspeth panted to catch her breath.
    “You vagrants step back and leave her alone,” a slightly older girl scolded the younger ones.
    “Papa, they’re going to smother her,” a second girl, who looked to be the first one’s twin, added.
    Elspeth scrambled to remember the list of names Mrs. Breashears had given her. The twins must be Ivy and Heather. The littlest one—presently clinging to her skirt—was Thomas. The second set of twin girls were Geneva and Millicent. That meant the two boys who had hugged her and backed off must be Lael and Vernon, and the young man who stood on the fringes of the group wearing a grin on his pimply face must be Hubert. Good gracious! A paper list of names was one thing. A crush of children was another.
    “Sorry, sorry, sorry.” An older woman in a moss-green riding dress with a fetching hat perched on her silver hair stepped forward, wedging her way between the children. “This lot always has been…exuberant. I’m Virginia Piedmont.”
    Virginia thrust out her hand with as much exuberance as any of the children.
    “Isn’t she pretty, Mrs. Piedmont?” one of the younger twin girls asked.
    “Did somebody pick up her bag?” the boy who must have been Vernon shouted.
    “Will you read me a story?” Thomas asked, eyes as big as moons.
    “I…I…”
    “Children, step back. Give Miss Leonard some air.”
    The final command was given by a man who stood on the edges of the scene wearing a stationmaster’s uniform. He crushed a round, black hat in his hands and shifted his weight from foot to foot as he looked on. His sandy-blond hair framed a round face with soft, hazel eyes. Elspeth had hardly noticed him, but she knew in an instant that he must be Athos Strong. Her husband-to-be.
    “Do as your papa says and give Miss Leonard some space,” Virginia declared. She