A Proper Companion by Candice Hern Read Free Book Online Page A

the background. She knew Lady Bradleigh well
enough to know that she would not force Emily into any awkward
social situation. Emily's mood lightened as she thought of her
eccentric and gregarious employer. The dowager was more than kind
to her. She treated her rather like a member of the family than a
paid employee. Emily had developed a great affection for the older
woman.
    Lord Bradleigh had also shown her uncommon civility,
and was not in the least as top-lofty as she had expected. In fact,
he had shown her nothing but apparently unprejudiced courtesy and
friendliness, and Emily found that she couldn't help but like him,
regardless of his reputation.
    Emily, however, was not unaware that the earl had
more than once gazed at her when he thought she wasn't looking. At
one time she had in fact caught a rather smoldering look in his eye
when she happened to catch his glance. These few uncomfortable
moments had served to remind Emily of his amorous reputation,
sending off warning bells of caution. She resolved to keep up her
guard with the earl, realizing that he was well practiced in
charming women with more worldly experience than she could ever
hope to possess. How much easier to charm an inexperienced, naive
spinster who had never met such an attractive, charming man in her
life.
    Emily thrust aside this second wayward fear, feeling
decidedly foolish for even thinking of Lord Bradleigh in such a
way, and returned to her poetry.
     
    * * *
     
    Earlier that same morning, Robert had come down to
breakfast to find the dowager alone perusing her correspondence
while she sipped a cup of coffee.
    "Good morning, my love," he said as he bent down to
kiss her cheek. He walked to the sideboard and began to load his
plate with rare beefsteak, broiled tomatoes, fried eggs, and
kippers. "And where is the remarkable Miss Townsend this morning?
Do not tell me she is a slugabed!"
    "Don't be ridiculous, Robert." The dowager glared at
him over the top of tiny gold spectacles perched on the end of her
long, aristocratic nose. "You must know that she has been up and
about for hours, working with Mrs. Dougherty to organize the move
to London. She is a treasure, my Emily. I really do not know how I
ever got along without her. She is a lovely girl, don't you
think?"
    Robert dismissed the attendant footman with a flick
of a finger. "Yes, I rather like her," he replied as he took a seat
across from the dowager. "But hardly a girl, I think."
    "You are quite right, my dear. She is, I believe,
six and twenty years old. I have grown quite fond of her, you know.
She is such a comfort to me in my old age," the dowager said as she
cast a furtive glance at Robert over the top of the parchment she
was reading.
    "Oh, fustian!" Robert laughed, catching her glance.
"You have always told me that you are only as old as you feel. And
since when did you need 'comforting'? You're the most self-reliant
old termagant I have ever known. So, my love, what is the true
story of Miss Townsend? Since I have never known you to need a
companion, I suspect there is more to this situation than meets the
eye. Come now, why did you really hire her?"
    "Because I like her and truly enjoy her company,"
his grandmother replied as she put down the parchment and removed
her spectacles, a sure sign that she was ready for a serious
discussion. "She is quite intelligent and provides excellent
conversation, as you must have observed last evening. You know how
I detest insipid, empty-headed females."
    "And ..." Robert prompted.
    "Because I needed someone to help with my
correspondence, invitations, and the like." She gave an expansive
gesture encompassing the stack of correspondence before her. "Emily
has a beautiful hand, you know."
    "And.. ."
    "All right." She sighed, sinking back into her
chair. "If you must know, she rather intrigued me, and, I admit, I
felt a bit sorry for her." She slanted a hesitant look at Robert,
who narrowed his brows skeptically. "She had worked for