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Not Just a Governess (A Season of Secrets Book 1), by Carole Mortimer
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GOVERNESS?
Darkly delicious Lord Adam Hawthorne doesn't care a whit for society—especially the tedium of finding a wife. So taking on a new governess for his young daughter shouldn't shake his steely disposition!
OR LADY IN DISGUISE?
Except Mrs. Elena Leighton, an enigmatic widow, is a most intriguing addition to the household. What are those ladylike airs and graces beneath her dowdy exterior?
Despite great impropriety, Lord Hawthorne is compelled to discover the real Elena—no matter what secrets are unveiled along the way….
A Season of Secrets A lady never tells…
- Sales Rank: #129276 in eBooks
- Published on: 2013-08-01
- Released on: 2013-08-01
- Format: Kindle eBook
About the Author
Carole Mortimer was born in England, the youngest of three children. She began writing in 1978, and has now written over one hundred and seventy books for Harlequin Mills and Boon®. Carole has six sons, Matthew, Joshua, Timothy, Michael, David and Peter. She says, ‘I’m happily married to Peter senior; we’re best friends as well as lovers, which is probably the best recipe for a successful relationship. We live in a lovely part of England.’
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Late April, 1817—the London home of Lady Cicely Hawthorne
'I, for one, am disappointed that you do not seem to be any further along with finding a bride for Hawthorne, Cicely,' Edith St Just, Dowager Duchess of Royston, gave her friend a reproving frown.
'Perhaps we were all being a trifle ambitious, at the start of the Season, in deciding to acquire suitable wives for our three grandsons?' Lady Jocelyn Ambrose put in softly.
The three ladies talking now had been aged only eighteen when they had shared a coming-out Season fifty years ago and had become fast friends, a state of affairs that had seen them all through marriage and their children's marriages. They now had their sights firmly set on the nuptials of their errant grandchildren.
'Nonsense,' the dowager duchess dismissed that claim firmly. 'You had no trouble whatsoever in seeing Chambourne settled—'
'But not to the bride I had chosen for him,' Lady Jocelyn pointed out fairly.
'Nevertheless, he is to marry,' the dowager duchess dismissed airily. 'And if we do not see to the marriage of our respective grandsons, then who will? My own daughter-in-law is of absolutely no help whatsoever in that enterprise, since she retired to the country following my son Robert's demise three years ago. And Royston certainly shows no inclination himself to give up his habit of acquiring a mistress for several weeks before swiftly growing bored with her and moving on to the next.' She gave loud sniff.
Miss Eleanor Rosewood—Ellie—step-niece and companion to the dowager duchess, glanced across from where she sat quietly by the window with the two companions of Lady Cicely and Lady Jocelyn, knowing that sniff only too well: it conveyed the dowager duchess's disapproval on every occasion.
But Ellie could not help but feel a certain amount of sympathy towards Lady Cicely's dilemma; Lord Adam Hawthorne was known by all, including the numerous servants employed on his many estates, for being both cold and haughty, as well as totally unapproachable.
So much so that it must be far from easy for Lady Cicely to even broach the subject of her grandson remarrying, despite his first marriage having only produced a daughter and no heir, let alone finding a woman who was agreeable to becoming the second wife of such an icily sarcastic gentleman.
Oh, it would have its compensations, no doubt; his lordship was a wealthy gentleman—very wealthy in-deed—and more handsome than any single gentleman had a right to be, with glossy black hair and eyes of deep impenetrable grey set in a hard and arrogantly aristocratic face, his shoulders and chest muscled, waist tapered, legs long and strong.
Unfortunately, his character was also icy enough to chill the blood in any woman's veins, hence the reason he was known amongst the ton as simply Thorne!
Hawthorne's cold nature aside, Ellie was far more interested in the dowager duchess's efforts to find a bride for her own grandson, Justin St Just, Duke of Royston…
'Adam is proving most unhelpful, I am afraid.' Lady Cicely sighed. 'He has refused each and every one of my invitations for him to dine here with me one evening.'
The dowager duchess raised iron-grey brows. 'On what basis?'
Lady Cicely grimaced. 'He claims he is too busy…'
Edith St Just snorted. 'The man has to eat like other mortals, does he not?'
'One would presume so, yes…' Lady Cicely gave another sigh.
'Well, you must not give up trying, Cicely,' the dowager duchess advised most strongly. 'If Hawthorne will not come to you, then you must go to him.'
Lady Cicely looked alarmed. 'Go to him?'
'Call upon him at Hawthorne House.' The dowager duchess urged. 'And insist that he join you here for dinner that same evening.'
'I will try, Edith.' Lady Cicely looked far from convinced of her likely success. 'But do tell us, how goes your own efforts in regard to Royston's future bride? Well, I hope?' She brightened. 'Let us not forget that a week ago you wrote that lady's name down on a piece of paper and gave it to Jocelyn's butler for safekeeping!'
The dowager duchess gave a haughty inclination of her head. 'And, as you will see, that is the young lady he will marry, when the time comes.'
'I do so envy you, when I have to deal with Adam's complete lack of co-operation in that regard…' Lady Cicely looked totally miserable.
'Hawthorne will come around, you will see.' Lady Jocelyn gave her friend's hand a reassuring squeeze.
Ellie, easily recalling the forbidding countenance of the man, remained as unconvinced of that as did the poor, obviously beleaguered Lady Cicely.
'Oh, do let's talk of other things!' Lady Jocelyn encouraged brightly. 'For instance, have either of you heard the latest rumour concerning the Duke of Sheffield's missing granddaughter?'
'Oh, do tell!' Lady Cicely encouraged avidly.
Ellie added her own, silent, urging to Lady Cicely's; the tale of the missing granddaughter of the recently deceased Duke of Sheffield had been the talk both below and above stairs for most of the Season, the duke having died very suddenly two months ago, to be succeeded by his nephew. The previous duke's granddaughter and ward had disappeared on the day following his funeral, at the same time as the Sheffield family jewels and several thousand pounds had also gone missing.
'I try never to listen to idle gossip.' The dowager duchess gave another of her famous sniffs.
'Oh, but this is not in the least idle, Edith,' Lady Jocelyn assured. 'Miss Matthews has been seen on the Continent, in the company of a gentleman, and living a life of luxury. Further igniting the rumour that she may have had something to do with the Duke's untimely death, as well as the theft of the Sheffield jewels and money.'
'I cannot believe that any granddaughter of Jane Matthews would ever behave so reprehensively,' Edith St Just stated firmly.
'But the gel's mother was Spanish, remember.' Lady Cicely gave her two friends a pointed glance.
'Hmm, there is that to consider, Edith.' Lady Jocelyn mused.
'Stuff and nonsense,' the dowager duchess dismissed briskly. 'Maria Matthews was the daughter of a grandee and I refuse to believe her daughter guilty of anything unless proven otherwise.'
Which, as Ellie knew only too well, was now the end of that particular subject.
Although she knew that many in society, and below stairs, speculated as to why, if she truly were innocent, Miss Magdelena Matthews had disappeared, along with the Sheffield jewels and money, the day of her grandfather's funeral.
One day later—Hawthorne House, Mayfair, London
Do not scowl so, Adam, else I will think you are not at all pleased to see me!'
That displeasure glinted in Lord Hawthorne's narrowed grey eyes and showed in his harshly patrician face, as he heard the rebuke in his grandmother's quiet tone. Nor was she wrong about his current displeasure being caused by her unexpected arrival; he had neither the time nor the patience for the twittering of Lady Cicely this afternoon. Or any afternoon, come to that! 'I am only surprised you are visiting me now, Grandmother, when I know you are fully aware this is the time of day that I retire to the nursery in order to spend half an hour with Amanda.'
His grandmother arched silver brows beneath her pale-green bonnet as the two faced each across the blue salon of Adam's Mayfair home. 'And may I not also wish to visit with my great-granddaughter?'
'Well, yes, of course you may.' Adam belatedly strode across the room to bestow a kiss upon one of his grandmother's powdered cheeks. 'It is only that I would have appreciated prior notice of your visit.'
'Why?'
He scowled darkly. 'My time is at a premium, Grandmother, nor do I care to have my routine interrupted.'
'And I have just stated that I have no wish to interrupt anything,' she reminded him quietly.
'Nevertheless, you are—' Adam broke off his impatient outburst, aware that his grandmother's unexpected arrival had already made him four minutes late arriving at the nursery. 'Well, you are here now, so by all means accompany me, if you wish to.' He nodded abruptly as he wrenched open the salon door—much to Barnes's surprise, as the butler stood attentively on the other side of that door—for his grandmother to precede him from the room.
'You really are the most impatient of men, Adam.' Lady Cicely swept past him into the grand hallway, indicating with a nod that her paid companion should wait there for her return. 'I do not believe even your grandfather and father were ever as irritable as you.'
Adam placed a gentlemanly hand beneath his grandmother's elbow as he escorted her up the wide staircase, in the full knowledge that Lady Cicely's overly fussy nature—to put it kindly!—had irked his grandfather and father as much, if not more, as it now did him. Nevertheless, his grandfather and father were no longer with them, leaving Lady Cicely alone in the world but for himself and Amanda, and so it fell to Adam, as the patriarch of the family, to at least attempt kindness towards his elderly relative. 'I apologise if my abruptness of manner has offended you,' he said.
His grandmother released her elbow from his grasp to instead tuck her hand more cosily into the crook of his arm. 'Perhaps as recompense you might consider dining with me this evening.?'
Adam stiffened as he easily recognised Lady Cicely's less-than-subtle attempt at coercion; he hesitated to call it actual blackmail, although he could not help but be aware of his grandmother's recent attempts to introduce him to suitably marriageable ladies—suitable according to Lady Cicely, that was. Adam was having none of it. The ladies. Or the marriage. 'I have to attend a vote in the House tonight, Grandmother.' After which he fully intended to retire to his club for the rest of the evening, where he hoped to enjoy a few quiet games of cards and several glasses of fine brandy.
'Then perhaps tomorrow evening?' Lady Cicely pressed. 'It is so long since the two of us spent any time together.'
Deliberately so, on Adam's part, since he had realised what his grandmother was about. He had absolutely no interest in marrying again and his life really was now such that he had little time for anything other than his responsibilities to the House of Lords and his many estates. The dinners and balls, and all the other nonsense of the Season, held no interest for him whatsoever.
'We are together now, Grandmother,' he pointed out practically.
'But not in any way that—never mind.' Lady Cicely sighed her impatience. 'It is obvious to me that you have become even more intransigent than you ever were!'
Adam's mouth tightened at the criticism. Well-deserved criticism. But his grandmother knew the reason for his intransigence as well as he did; having been married for over two years, and so been dragged along as his adulterous wife's escort to every ball, dinner, and other society function during the Season, and to summer house parties when it was not, Adam now chose, as a widower these past four years, not to attend any of them. There was no reason for him to do so. Most, if not all, of society bored him, so why would he ever choose to voluntarily put himself through those days and evenings of irritation and boredom?
Even so, he instantly felt a guilty need to make amends for the tears he now saw glistening in his grandmother's faded grey eyes. 'I may be able to spare an hour or two to join you for dinner tomorrow evening—'
'Oh, that is wonderful, Adam!' His grandmother's tears disappeared as if they had never been as she now beamed up at him. 'I shall make sure to serve all of your favourite dishes.'
'I said an hour or two, Grandmother,' Adam repeated sternly.
'Yes, yes,' she acknowledged distractedly, obviously already mentally planning her menu for tomorrow evening. And her guest list. Some of which would no doubt be several of those eligible females Adam wished to avoid! 'How is the new girl working out?'
'New girl?' Adam's mind had gone a complete blank at this sudden change of subject, not altogether sure he understood the meaning of his grandmother's question; surely Lady Cicely could not be referring to the woman he had briefly taken an interest in the previous month, before deciding that she bored him in bed as well as out of it?
'Amanda's nursemaid.' Lady Cicely clarified.
Adam's brow cleared at this explanation. 'Mrs Leighton is not a girl, Grandmother. Nor is she Amanda's nursemaid, but her governess.'
'Is Amanda not a little young as yet for a governess? Especially when you know as well as I that society does not appreciate a blue-stocking—'
'I will not have Amanda growing up to be an ignoramus, with nothing in her head other than balls and parties and the latest fashions.' Like her mother before her, Adam could have stated, but chose not to do so; the less thought he gave to Fanny, and her adulterous ways, the better as far as he was concerned!
'—and you never did explain fully why it was that you felt the need to dispense with Dorkins's services after all these years?'
Lady Cicely was slightly out of breath as they ascended the stairs to the third floor of the house where the nursery was situated.
Nor did Adam intend explaining himself now. Having the nursemaid of his six-year-old daughter make it obvious to him that she was available to share his bed, if he so wished, had not only been unpleasant but beyond acceptable. Especially as he had never, by word or deed, ever expressed a carnal interest in the pretty but overly plump Clara Dorkins.
Now, if it had been Elena Leighton, Amanda's new governess, then he might not have found the notion of sharing her bed for a night or two quite so unpalatable—
And where, pray, had that particular thought come from?
Since the death of his wife Adam had kept the satisfying of his carnal desires to a minimum, considering them a weakness he could ill afford. And, whenever those desires did become too demanding, even for his now legendary self-control, he only ever indulged with those ladies of the demi-monde whose company he considered he could stand for longer than an hour, possibly two. Less-than-respectable ladies, who expected nothing more than to be handsomely paid for the parting of their thighs.
Adam had certainly never so much as thought of forming an alliance with one of his own employees, hence his hasty dismissal of Clara Dorkins two weeks ago.
Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Don't say you haven't been warned
By Sandy Milan
I bought this book as I've pre-ordered the last in the trilogy, which sounded quite intriguing and I've enjoyed some of this author's work but most especially her Daring Duchess series. Sadly I missed a few vague comments in other reviews, which if I'd paid attention to, would've stopped me buying and putting myself through this book. I'll mention some of them in my spoilers. I'm not a fan of one of the main themes in this book and it usually prevents me enjoying the story, not matter how I try. Added to that the H is thoroughly unpleasant for such a major part of the story that I wasn't given enough time to come around. By 70% he was still an incredible ass as well as being terribly cruel and although we, the readers were privy to some of his thoughts towards her, he was still being an ass 80% of the way in.
+++Spoilers+++
The h was raped by her evil cousin 2 months before the start of this book and I fail to believe that the h would've responded so quickly to the H in a sexual way. The theme I most hate is the one where the H wants to make the h his mistress despite the wonderful care she is giving his needy daughter. He knows that he needs to put his daughter first and that for the first time she is happy with a governess. Already his character is determined by his selfishness and he's no ideal father to begin with. He treated the h awfully from the start, was incredibly cruel to her after the first time they 'dallied', he immediately believed she was a murderess when he heard who she was. There was no romance only lust as far as I could tell. What on earth she saw in him, besides the fact that he was gorgeous, I'll never know. By the time he redeemed himself it was way too late for me and I certainly didn't believe they could be in love with each other since there was no evidence of that.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Nice, but Nothing Special
By Reading Fanatic
I really enjoyed this book by Carole Mortimer. It is the second book in her A Season of Secrets series. The first book is actually a short story, being only 44 pages long. The essence of the series is that three grandmothers, all leading hostesses in the ton and longtime friends, want to get their grandsons married off. Each book in the series is one of their grandsons' story.
The plot of this book, while a popular one in historical romances, was very nicely handled by Ms. Mortimer. Elena is a runaway granddaughter of a recently deceased Duke. Her evil cousin, Neville, now the current Duke and her guardian, accused Elena of murdering their grandfather and stealing from the family after she declines his offer of marriage and rebuffs his advances. The night of their grandfather's funeral, Neville attacks Elena causing her to flee the family home. Elena is now in hiding under an assumed name, working as a governess in Adam's household.
Adam does not participate in society after having endured a disastrous marriage with a selfish, petulant, beauty who cheated on him quite openly during the course of their marriage. Needless to say, Adam is now suspicious of women in general and has no use for them other than to satisfy his base needs, and even that only occasionally. Consequently, in general he is withdrawn, cold, and haughty towards everyone, including his 6 year old daughter, to a degree. Elena is very beautiful and Adam is drawn to her....the typical lord/governess plot.
During the time that Elena works for Adam their relationship develops. While deeply attracted to Elena, Adam is also suspicious that Elena is not all she appears to be. She is too outspoken and very often does not behave in the typical submissive manner of a governess! In particular, Elena is often critical of Adam's less than affectionate behavior towards his daughter and endeavors to help foster a more caring relationship between the two. In truth, Adam loves his daughter very much, but has difficulty expressing that love. With Elena's help, a more relaxed, loving relationship between Adam and his daughter begins to develop....again typical of the lord/governess plot.
Eventually, Adam discovers Elena's true identify. He then takes steps to help clear her name. I read where another reviewer said Adam was quite mean towards Elena. That is true, however, Adam felt he had to withdraw himself from Elena during the time he was attempting to prove her innocence. He did not want to be accused of having a personal interest in helping her. Consequently, he said mean, untrue things to Elena in an attempt to keep her away from himself. The author made it quite clear that at the time he was saying such things to Elena, Adam had to fight his natural inclination to comfort her. The ending was quite neatly wrapped up and eventually Adam and Elena got their HEA.
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a really sweet romance with some twist and turns. I wouldn't call this a "clean" romance as there is one fairly graphic sex scene between Adam and Elena, though not overly so. I gave this book 3 stars because although entertaining there was nothing earth shattering about it and the plot was quite predictable.
Furthermore, I think it could do with some extensive editing. On several occasions I found it necessary to re-read sentences because they were overly long and confusing. It seems Ms. Mortimer has a particular fondness for dashes and, IMHO, uses them where a period and a new sentence would have worked better. Overall a nice read. I look forward to the next book in the series...."Not Just A Wallflower." BTW I borrowed this book from the LA Public Library's Digital Library.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Good But Not Great
By Lovemuffins
Okay, so the reader knows very quickly that Mrs. Elena Leighton is not who she says she is... in fact she's a granddaughter of a Duke but she's also a fugitive on the run as she's been accused of killing said Duke. We also quickly discover that her reasons for being accused have to do with her awful cousin who forced himself on her.
Yet she feels perfectly safe around Lord Adam Hawthorne even though he's known as one of the coldest men in Society. He earns the title as well during the book, more than once, because he has a tendency to see things in black and white (as well as be a bit of a drama-queen) when truths start coming out.
On the other hand, he's also pretty sexy, he wants to be a good father and it's not entirely his fault that he has trouble relating to people. Oh, and he's a pushover for his grandmother and who doesn't think that's cute? To balance that out is the brooding, the angry outbursts and the whole black and white with no shades of grey thing. Elena is fun because she's pushy, sweet, and refuses to be a victim. Unfortunately that makes it even harder to like Adam when he's being mean to her. Especially because sometimes he gets a little too mean.
The reason this didn't get five stars from me was because the wrap-up was a little too convenient when it came to the whole false accusation thing... convenient and so super easy that it kinda reminded me of Twilight with how the tension builds and builds and builds... and then nothing happens. Everything is conveniently and quickly fixed with just a conversation! (Oh Twilight... you slay me). Anyway.
Easy and fairly enjoyable, a little cliche but done in an entertaining enough manner to be engaging.
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