The Governess's Scandalous Marriage
A ruined governess… …and a marriage born of scandal! When penniless Linnet Osborne takes a job as a governess, she’s shocked to discover her new employer is none other than Christian, Lord Blakely! They once shared a passionate embrace which almost forced them to marry. Christian is no less compelling now—so much so that Linnet is tempted to explore beyond those fleeting kisses… But that would mean they’d have to wed!
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A ruined governess
And a marriage born of scandal!
When penniless Linnet Osborne takes a job as a governess, she’s shocked to discover her new employer is none other than Christian, Lord Blakely! They’d once shared a passionate embrace that almost forced them to marry. Christian is no less compelling now—so much so that Linnet is tempted to explore beyond those fleeting kisses... But that would mean they’d have to wed!
HELEN DICKSON was born and still lives in South Yorkshire, with her retired farm manager husband. Having moved out of the busy farmhouse where she raised their two sons, she now has more time to indulge in her favourite pastimes. She enjoys being outdoors, travelling, reading and music. An incurable romantic, she writes for pleasure. It was a love of history that drove her to writing historical fiction.
The Master of Stonegrave Hall
Mishap Marriage
A Traitor’s Touch
Caught in Scandal’s Storm
Lucy Lane and the Lieutenant
Lord Lansbury’s Christmas Wedding
Royalist on the Run
The Foundling Bride
Carrying the Gentleman’s Secret
A Vow for an Heiress
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.
ISBN: 978-1-474-08927-2
THE GOVERNESS’S SCANDALOUS MARRIAGE
© 2019 Helen Dickson
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
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Contents
Note to Readers
Cairo, Egypt—1814
The Englishman heard the wail of the muezzin and the cries of the street pedlars hawking their wares up and down the narrow alleyways. Neither the grilling heat, which beat down on his head with relentless force, nor the persistent flies had the effect of delaying him. Beggars tugged at his clothes, whining for alms, but he paid them no attention as he carried on his way. Tall, with broad, muscular shoulders, deep chest and narrow waist, his handsome features, bronzed by the Egyptian sun, were ruggedly hewn. He was Lord Blakely of Park House, situated in Sussex, England.
There was an urgency about him. If he delayed any longer the ship would leave without him. All passengers were bidden to be aboard by five o’clock. Two hours.
Hailing an empty hantoor, drawn by a skinny horse, he gave the driver an address and told him to hurry.
The man nodded vigorously. ‘I take you there.’
The Englishman didn’t ask how much it would cost him, he simply climbed aboard. The conveyance made good speed, the horse clopping briskly through the narrow streets with their pungent smells of spices mingled with open drains. Obstacles got in their way—bullock carts and laden donkeys, crowds of men and women with baskets on their heads and hips, myriad children, their dark eyes ringed with kohl, who ran beside the cart holding out their hands for the Englishman’s coin.
At last the cart halted in front of a house set back from the road behind high iron railings. Asking the man to wait and telling him that he would pay him handsomely if he took him to his ship, the man climbed down and rang a bell attached to a tall gate. A stout middle-aged Egyptian waddled down the path and opened the gate.
