Parthena's Promise by Valerie Holmes Read Free Book Online Page A

she slid under its spell. She was stiff from the long coach journey to return to this county, then all her walking and seeking answers as to where her new employer was, and then trying to find alternative employment. All that had been hard enough, but then she had met Mr Jerome Fender, stolen his money and embarked upon the cold lonely trek across the moor to end up sleeping on a bed which, although welcome, had been as hard as nails. Closing her eyes, she let her head dip under the water level so that the roots of her hair could be massaged by her fingers as she cleaned it. When she sat up, trying to keep as low to the water level with her knees tucked up to her naked breasts, she begun to soap herself when she heard him speak. For one fleeting second she had started to enjoy the bath and had forgotten he was there.
    “Now, Miss Parthena Munro, begin talking, and I would know the exact truth, no embellishment and no untruths.”
    *
    Jerome was soon sure that her bag held few secrets. She had a letter of introduction written for her by her cousin, apparently, thanking Mr Bartholomew Squires for offering Miss “Parthena” Munro a place as governess to his two sons. It seemed genuine and would have sufficed along with the reference from a Reverend Dilworth stating her good character and her family’s pedigree. She was obviously well connected, yet this had not stopped her being turned out by this cousin, Mr Bertram Munro, he guessed. It was not an uncommon situation for a single young woman to find herself in. Parthena’s future was dependent upon the goodwill of her male relations to look after her, arrange for an introduction to a prospective husband or find her a position, such as that of governess. If what she was telling him was true, this cousin had sent a young woman, unchaperoned, to a house where the people had apparently moved on from before he even wrote the letter. He began to understand how desperate she must have been. He had glanced to his left when he heard her step into the tub. The looking glass above the table in the corner of the room offered him an unexpected and very pleasant view as she had gracefully entered the water. Jerome was mesmerised, the sight of her beautiful firm breasts stirring his deepest desires. His hand tightened on the handle of the bag when she had turned her back ready to slide down into the water. Her exquisite lean body slowly captivated his vision, the curve of her buttocks as they disappeared from view had made him breathe slowly and deeply. Jerome’s mind told him what he should be doing, but a very different part of his anatomy was telling him what he wanted to do.
    Thena’s hair was the only part of her visible – the colour of a cornfield. He stared back at the bag in front of him, closed it and controlled his breathing, thoughts, and repeated the word “Thief” in his mind to dampen any desire he had for this woman… It was not only her eyes that were captivating; he now had seen more of her that literally took his breath away. He shook his head; an experienced soldier had returned to his country to become an incurable romantic. This would never do. Her words began to drift over him, but she had given him a story that was backed up by the letters he had read. But then she would have to be a complete fool to tell him a tale that was at odds with them. However, even the small detail added up so he had no reason to disbelieve her. It all tallied with what the blacksmith had said, the mill man, and what she had said at the convent.
    “Did you honestly think that you could get away with robbing a total stranger?” he asked, his voice slightly husky.
    “I just did not think. I just did not know what else I could do. If I asked for charity, with all the men returned from the war, I would have been laughed at, or worse. They were not going to offer me help; they would have offered me warmth for a night.”
    “I did,” he said. “I said nothing other than I would help