Where The Heart Leads Read Online Free Page A

appeared quite genuine. “Good morning, Miss Ashford,” they chorused.
    Penelope bent a stern look on them. “Where is Mr. Englehart?”
    The boys exchanged glances, then one, the biggest, volunteered, “He just stepped out for a minute, miss.”
    “And I’m sure he left you with work to do, didn’t he?”
    The boys nodded. Without another word, they turned to their desks, righting the two that had been upended. Picking up chalks and slates, they sat on the benches and resumed their work; glancing over a few shoulders, Barnaby saw they were learning to add and subtract.
    The sound of swift footsteps echoed down the corridor; an instant later, a neatly dressed man of about thirty appeared in the doorway.
    He took in the boys and Penelope, then grinned. “For a minute I thought they must have killed each other.”
    A few smothered chuckles escaped from the class. With a nod forPenelope, and a curious look for Barnaby, Englehart moved to the front of the room. “Come along, lads—three more sets of sums and you can take your turn outside.”
    Muffled groans sounded, but the boys buckled down; more than one had his tongue clenched between his teeth.
    One raised a hand and Englehart went to him, bending over to read what was on the boy’s slate.
    Penelope surveyed the group, then rejoined Barnaby just inside the door. “Englehart takes the boys of this age through their reading, writing, and arithmetic. Most gain at least enough to be employed as more than just basic footmen, while others become apprentices in various trades.”
    Noting the earnestness in the boys’ interaction with Englehart, and the way he responded to them, Barnaby nodded.
    He followed Penelope outside. Once she’d closed the door, he said, “Englehart seems a good choice for that job.”
    “He is. He’s an orphan, too, but his uncle took him in and had him educated. He works in a solicitor’s firm in a senior position. The solicitor knows of our work, so allows Englehart to give us six hours a week. We’ve other tutors for other subjects. Most volunteer their services, which means they truly care about their students and are willing to work to extract the best from what most would regard as less than ideal clay.”
    “It appears you’ve attracted considerable—and useful—support.”
    She shrugged. “We’ve been lucky.”
    Barnaby suspected that once she had a goal in mind, luck was incidental. “The relatives who give over their wards to this place—do they visit first?”
    “Those who can usually do. But regardless we always visit the child and guardian in their home.” She glanced up and met his eyes. “It’s important we know what background they come from, and what they’re used to. When they first come to stay, many are frightened—it’s a new and often strange environment for them, with rules they don’t know and customs that seem peculiar. Knowing what they’re used to means we can help them settle in.”
    “You do the visiting.” He didn’t make it a question.
    She raised her chin. “I’m in charge, so I need to know.”
    He couldn’t think of any other young lady who would willinglygo where she must; it was becoming obvious that making assumptions about her, or her likely behavior or reactions, based on the norm for young ladies of the ton was an excellent way to find himself wrong-footed.
    She led him on, stopping in this classroom or that, showing him the dormitories, presently empty, and the infirmary and dining hall, lecturing him on their practices, introducing him to staff they met along the way. He drank it all in; he enjoyed studying people—he considered himself something of a connoisseur of character—and the more he saw, the more he found himself fascinated, most of all by Penelope Ashford.
    Strong-willed, dominant as opposed to domineering, intelligent, quick-witted and mentally astute, dedicated and loyal; by the end of their tour he’d seen enough to be certain of those qualities. He could