Candice Hern by The Regency Rakes Trilogy Read Free Book Online Page A

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 Catherine Fitzhugh, as you know. Dear Catherine was privy to Emily's