The School for Brides Read Online Free

tenderness to Rose clearly had an effect on all the women. They were no longer facing this as five separate women, but as a collective and supportive group.
    With one show of tears, Rose had done what usually took days or weeks to achieve. Togetherness.
    Eva walked to Rose and pulled her to her feet. She tipped up the girl’s chin and looked into her shimmering eyes. “You need not worry, my dear Rose. By the time I’ve finished with you, you will be well able to care for yourself.”
    With a wavering smile, Rose nodded and pulled her into a tight hug. Eva flinched but allowed the embrace. The other women stood and circled around, their excited chatter infectious. Eva had opened her mouth to offer further reassurance when her butler, Harold, came through the open door with a troubled expression on his face. Eva gently extricated herself from Rose’s embrace and stepped away from the group.
    A sudden chill seeped into her bones, and she shivered. She looked to the windows, certain one had blown open to invite the cool morning into the stuffy room. But the panes were securely closed and locked and the heavy blue drapes showed not a flutter.
    Strange. This was the second time in a week she’d felt that same dank chill slide through her body. If she wasn’t a woman of solid mind and not one to dabble in fits of fancy, she would worry that this chill was a sign of impending doom.
    Rubbish. She shook her head to clear it and faced Harold. She was a bit ruffled by his intrusion, as her orders were clear: He was not to interrupt the lessons unless it was an emergency. She stepped close, out of earshot of the women. “What is it, Harold? Has something happened to Mother?”
    He shook his head firmly. “No, Miss.”
    Harold led her to the open doorway by her elbow. Her butler was tall, nearing thirty, and built like a pugilist; a perfect guard for the door of both this house and her home. He kept the girls safe and the riffraff off her front steps.
    And Eva trusted him with her secrets. All her secrets.
    He leaned toward her and whispered, “A man, a gentleman, is at the front door. He insists he has business with you that cannot wait.” He glanced down the hallway and scowled. “When I informed him you were not taking callers today, he said to explain to you that if I send him away, he will return with a Bow Street Runner in tow and have you arrested.”

Chapter Two
     

     
    A wave of worry infused Eva. Strange men did not come here to see her without an invitation, either by accident or by design. Not even her male clients, who first had to submit to being blindfolded and then transported in a coach with blackened windows, under Harold’s careful watch.
    This nondescript town house was a safe haven for the women who chose to stay under this roof during their instruction, as some had fled abusive patrons. Their safety, as always, was first and foremost. When Harold was with Eva, a second butler, Primm, kept watch in the evenings. To have a caller at her door making threats was completely unacceptable and, well, shocking.
    Eva smothered her anxiety and gathered her wits. “Did he present you his card or give you his name?” she murmured to Harold, thankful that his massive frame all but hid her from view.
    “He did not,” Harold murmured back, his jaw tight. “But he is no common man, Miss. His coat alone must have cost a year’s pay.”
    A man who called without an appointment and wore expensive clothing? Her worry turned instantly to puzzlement.
    Perhaps he was an escapee from Bedlam? Harold could well protect her were that the case.
    But her girls and their privacy must be guarded at all costs from the prying eyes of the neighbors. Bringing a Bow Street Runner to her door would be a disaster.
    “Then I must grant him an audience.” She forced a smile and turned to her ladies. “I apologize for the interruption, but there is a small matter I must attend to that cannot wait. If you ladies would kindly head to the