The Earl's Forbidden Ward. Bronwyn Scott

don’t panic on any account, my lord,’ Miss Branscombe informed him crisply.

      The remark won a smile from him. ‘I didn’t mean to imply that you would. My apologies.’

      Miss Branscombe was more than happy to help him find his way to the door. In the hall, Peyton felt the need to offer her a final assurance. ‘All will be well, Miss Branscombe.’

      She met his eyes evenly. ‘I know it will be. I won’t tolerate anything less.’

      ‘Good evening, Miss Branscombe.’ Peyton bowed over her hand, choosing to ignore her cold farewell.

      Outside felt warm compared to the chill of Miss Branscombe’s parting comments. Peyton’s mind was already whirring with lists and plans in regards to the Branscombe girls before he got down the town-house steps. They would need additional staff and new gowns. The younger girls would need a governess to help with their studies. He suspected Miss Branscombe was overseeing that herself, but she’d be too busy once the Season started to plan lessons.

      He stopped at the bottom of the steps to caution himself. It was best not to make too much of this guardian role. This was make believe. This was a role he was playing for his country in order to prevent a war. This was about recovering a list that could save the lives of British soldiers. His guardianship would terminate once the list was recovered. In all reality, his role wouldn’t last past the Season, regardless of his offer to take them to Dursley Park. If Tessa Branscombe ever fully understood his role in all this, she would be glad to see him go, a thought that sat decidedly ill with Peyton for no logical reason.

      Peyton tried to shrug off the feeling of disappointment. Most likely, that gladness would be reciprocal. The next time he saw Brimley, he would ring a peal over the man’s head. The man had left out quite a lot about Tessa Branscombe when he’d outlined the mission, starting with her ethereal beauty and ending with her inconvenient streak of tenacity. Both attributes made Peyton Ramsden extraordinarily uncomfortable.

      Chapter Four

      Tessa climbed the stairs to the schoolroom, trying to decide how best to put the news to her sisters. A guardian was a completely unlooked-for development. All her protective instincts were on alert. She didn’t like it in the least and not only because it curtailed her own freedom and plans. Such a development simply didn’t make sense. Why would a codicil appear now? The Earl had implied she feared a swindle of their trust funds, but he was wrong there. She feared something worse than losing money.

      Tessa shivered at the thought. It conjured up the disconcerting incidents that had occurred before they’d left St Petersburg. Their home had been broken into days after the funeral. She’d told Sergei, but even with his protection, she’d known she was being followed whenever she went out. She had hoped that distance would have quelled the subtle danger she’d begun to feel in Russia. The appearance of the Earl today suggested otherwise. They knew no one in England, but he’d certainly known them.

      It seemed to be an eerie coincidence that after a month alone, they were beset with visitors. Sergei had arrived and now this unknown Earl was claiming guardianship. These newly developed circumstances begged the question: was this truly an accidental happenstance brought on by a quirk of fate, or were these men after something or someone? If the latter were true, it would be much easier to defend herself if she knew what their objective might be.

      Tessa took a deep breath and pushed open the door, taking a moment to appreciate the rare tranquillity of seeing her sisters quietly engaged in activity. Eva sat with her embroidery. Petra pored over a beloved book of horses and Annie played quietly with her dolls. Then they spotted her at the door and questions erupted on all sides.

      ‘Wait! Wait! One at a time,’ Tessa said, moving to sit on the floor next to Annie.

      Eva and Petra gathered around her. ‘Well, is he or isn’t he our guardian?’ Petra asked pointedly.

      Tessa opted for the direct approach. ‘He has legal documents that proclaim him as such. Until I can prove otherwise, it seems we must abide by this development. I will meet his solicitor and look through the situation quite thoroughly, I assure you. I won’t allow us to be taken advantage of.’

      ‘When will we see him again? Is he going to live in the house with us?’ Eva asked.

      ‘Tomorrow and no,’ Tessa responded. ‘He will keep his own residence. His aunt will come with him tomorrow afternoon.’ Tessa paused before adding the next bit of news. ‘It seems that I am to have a Season, although I’ve told him I have no interest in such doings.’

      Eva protested immediately. ‘Oh, Tess, you must have a Season! Think of all the gowns and parties. You’ll meet new people. You’ll know how it’s all done when it’s Petra’s turn and my turn.’

      Tessa smiled thinly, thinking of the Earl’s goad that she must be cognisant of her sisters’ needs even if she would shun such an opportunity for herself. It was the argument of a traditionalist and it helped alleviate some of her suspicions about his appearance. It was exactly the sort of argument a real guardian would make, wanting to see his charges married off. A man on a different mission would hardly take an interest in such things. ‘Of course, dear.’ She patted Eva’s hand, aware of Petra’s gaze on her.

      ‘The Earl is not married?’ Petra asked, her natural intuition easily reading between the lines of what had and had not been said. ‘Is that why his aunt is calling?’

      Tessa nodded.

      Eva gushed, ‘He’ll escort you everywhere, Tess. It will be like a fairy tale. He’s what they call an “eligible parti”.’

      Tessa grimaced at the notion. Where had Eva learned such a thing and so quickly after their arrival? She was growing up far too fast. Tessa tried to tamp down Eva’s romantic notions. ‘I have Sergei to act as an escort. I needn’t rely on the Earl wholly, just because a set of papers made him guardian.’

      Eva shook her head. ‘Sergei will have to go home eventually. Besides, I thought the Earl was much more handsome than Sergei. He was so dark and mysterious.’ That was saying a lot, considering Tessa knew that Eva harboured an adolescent infatuation with Sergei’s blond Slavic good looks and courtly manners.

      ‘I thought he was rather pompous and stuffy,’ Petra argued.

      Eva shot Petra a sly look. ‘It’s the perfect ones who have the most to hide.’

      ‘Hush, girls,’ Tessa scolded. She made a mental note to keep a closer eye on Eva’s reading material.

      ‘Will we stay in London with you, Tess?’ Petra asked, returning to the subject at hand.

      ‘Yes. I have the Earl’s promise we are not to be parted.’

      Petra nodded. ‘Then perhaps his guardianship won’t make that much difference and we’ll be allowed to go on as we have been doing.’

      Tessa smiled her assurances, hoping to convince her sisters that Petra was right and all would be well. Life would certainly be easier to manage if that was the case. Although she’d protested against the idea of a Season, and although she’d argued that Sergei would be a preferable escort, Tessa couldn’t fully deny that the idea of spending an evening or two on the Earl’s arm held some appeal. He’d been arrogant today, but beneath that arrogance she’d sensed compassion. He’d offered to keep the girls in London and to let her decide where they went after the Season. Tessa found such a mixture intriguing, and, in Eva’s words, slightly mysterious.

      Petra’s idea of a laissez-faire guardian succumbed to reality at precisely eleven o’clock the next morning. The hypothesis that the Earl of Dursley would leave them be had hardly lasted fifteen hours, and they’d been asleep for eight of them.

      Mrs Hollister arrived in the modest library Tessa used as her private office, nervous and out of sorts. ‘Miss, there’s visitors here to see you.’