Shev Read Online Free Page B

daughter. Within a day of her arrival, he had explained what he could. However, without verified details, he found the conversation challenging.
    How does one tell a five-year-old her father is not her father and that she should start calling the English-speaking stranger in front of her “Papa”? Given her young age, he couldn’t even be sure what she understood and what she didn’t.
    “I’m in the process of verifying Jacqueline’s mother’s death.”
    “You don’t know for certain?”
    His lips twitched. “I wondered how long it would take for that expression to appear.”
    “What expression?”
    “The one that conveys, ‘You’re an idiot.’”
    “You’re seeing no such thing. I’m simply confused by the circumstances.”
    “No more so than I, Miss Crawford. Until a month ago, I was blissfully unaware of my parental obligations.”
    She began pacing the narrow space. With one arm propped atop the other, she thrummed her fingers against her chin.
    “Let me see how much of this I understand,” she said. “Your French lover may or may not have died before sending her daughter to you—her natural father.” She glanced at him for confirmation.
    Shev did his best not to smile at her easy use of the word lover . “Correct.”
    “Jacqueline arrived on your doorstep with a letter, I’m assuming, from her mother.”
    “Also correct. A trusted servant of Giselle’s escorted Jacqueline and her nursemaid to London along with a letter addressed to me.”
    “Giselle, your lover?”
    Although he didn’t smile, he couldn’t keep the amusement from his tone. “A fact we’ve already established.”
    “Since you have not mentioned your lover’s name before, I wanted to make sure we were speaking of the same person.”
    “Former lover.”
    She lifted a brow.
    “You seem captivated by the details, so I thought I’d clarify my current relationship—or lack thereof—with Giselle.”
    The governess nodded and continued her circuit about the room. “I take it the letter identified you as Jacqueline’s father.”
    “Yes. Though one only has to look at the girl to divine the truth.”
    “Do you have a profligate brother? Uncle? Cousin? Someone who carries similar facial characteristics as you and might have had relations with Jacqueline’s mother?”
    “Only a sister, and I’m quite certain she is not responsible for Jacqueline’s birth.”
    She sent him a “none of that” look. An expression not dissimilar to ones he had received from his mother on occasion.
    “Why do you believe Giselle is dead?”
    “At the time she wrote the letter—a month and a half ago—her doctor predicted she only had a short time to live.”
    “Patients have been known to survive their doctors’ predictions.”
    “Precisely why I’m not taking any chances and have dispatched someone to the Continent to verify her existence or demise.” His indifferent statement sat between them, stark, raw, and perhaps far too revealing.
    “You don’t seem particularly upset about your former lover’s possible death.”
    “Upset, no. I knew Giselle for only a short time. However, for Jacqueline’s sake, I hope the news is otherwise. No child should lose her mother at such a young age.”
    “No, indeed.” Her gaze drifted away a moment before returning to his. “What’s become of Giselle’s husband, the gentleman who raised Jacqueline?”
    “According to Giselle’s letter, Bélanger turned his back on Jacqueline the moment he learned she was not of his blood. He banished both Giselle and her daughter to the country. After receiving her doctor’s diagnosis, Giselle sent her daughter to me on the misguided notion I would be a better father than the one she has known her entire life.”
    Miss Crawford’s open, analytical expression collapsed into sadness. Shev thought back over his words, and something that felt like regret twisted his insides before he brushed it away. Anyone who knew him would agree with his