The Reluctant Guardian. Susanne Dietze

Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Chapter Nineteen

       Chapter Twenty

       Chapter Twenty-One

       Chapter Twenty-Two

       Chapter Twenty-Three

       Chapter Twenty-Four

       Chapter Twenty-Five

       Epilogue

       Extract

       Copyright

Chapter One

      Hampshire, England, 1817

      With a furtive pat, Gemma Lyfeld blotted her nerve-damp palms on her white muslin gown. It would not do to receive a marriage proposal with moist hands. Or silly apprehensions. Besides, it was just Hugh. Her neighbor.

      And she’d been expecting this moment since she was a child. Today, at long last, he’d requested privacy with her in the drawing room.

      She shifted closer on the sofa to the Honorable Hugh Beauchamp and placed her clammy hands in his. It had been years since she’d sat this close to him, eye level with the crescent-moon scar on his chin he’d received when they were eight.

      “I do.” She bit her lip at once. Too soon.

      Hugh’s pale lashes blinked over wide blue eyes. “Pardon?”

      “I do...want to hear what you have to say.” She squeezed encouragement into his fingers. “No need to be shy.”

      He pulled back one hand and tapped her nose with a long finger. “Never with you, Gem, not after all our adventures. And you’re about to have another one. A Season in London, at last.”

      Gemma glanced at the mantel clock. Her sister-in-law, Cristobel, had allotted them ten minutes, scarcely enough time to remark on the drizzle, much less accomplish a satisfying marriage proposal. But if conversation set a nervous Hugh at ease, some trivial talk was worth the end result.

      “Long last. Cristobel couldn’t deny me my come-out this year. I’m practically on the shelf.”

      “Not for long.” He smiled.

      A shiver of anticipation skittered up her arms like the first breeze of spring, chill but pleasant, expectant of blossoms and bees.

      “Don’t say you’re scared, Gem.”

      Of what? Marriage or making her debut in society at the advanced age of four-and-twenty?

      “No. I am ready.” For both. Even though her insides quivered like a Christmas pudding.

      “You’ll love London. So many things to see and do.”

      “Will you introduce me to your favorite places?”

      “It is my friends to whom I cannot wait to introduce you. They’ll adore you, and you, them. One in particular, with whom I’ve grown quite close—”

      The sound of boot steps in the hall swept under the door, silencing Hugh and pulling his gaze to the closed portal behind her. Gemma swung her head to stare at the oak expanse. Ten minutes could not have yet passed, but with Gemma’s sister, Amy, and her husband, Lord Wyling, here to fetch her to London, the house was full of people—children and servants and Wyling’s vexing associate, Mr. Knox. Any one of them could interrupt.

      When the door failed to open, she turned back in time to see Hugh take a painful-looking swallow.

      “Speaking of friendship.” His gaze met hers. “Sometimes a gentleman has...moments in life. Do you understand my meaning?”

      She nodded. I do, I do.

      “You and I have been friends for an age.”

      “Forever.” Her mouth was dry as vellum, but their joined hands were slick with sweat.

      “There has l-long been an informal understanding between our families that you and I would w-wed. Nothing binding, but expected.” He shifted. Did one knee lower a smidgen off the edge of the sofa? Gemma’s breath hitched.

      “Gem.”

      “Hugh.” Her voice was just above a whisper.

      “The time has come to—”

      With the click of the latch and a swoosh, the drawing room door swung wide on its hinge. Hugh dropped her hands like they were used handkerchiefs and popped to his feet.

      “Oh.” With a single syllable, the baritone voice of Tavin Knox conveyed surprise and, to Gemma’s frustration, amusement.

      She didn’t need to turn to know their houseguest grinned. No doubt that left brow of his arched, too. He had seemed unable to contain either response whenever he’d seen her with Hugh this past week.

      “May I assist you, Mr. Knox?”

      “I was looking for your brother. Or Lord Wyling. But I, er, perceive they’re not in the room.”

      She spun to face him. Sure enough, Mr. Knox’s eyebrow curved. So did the corners of his lips, prompting a dimple to wink in the curve of his cheek. Other ladies no doubt found the expression on his fine-looking face charming, but she was practically betrothed and had no business noticing such things, no matter how appealing.

      Besides, he was no one to her. A friend of Wyling’s who’d tagged along with him to Hampshire. Something about having business, the nature of which he’d not shared with the ladies. No matter how subtly she had tried to ask.

      “I cannot say where Lord Wyling might be found, but my brother is out shooting. You are welcome to borrow a horse and set out after him.” Preferably deep into the New Forest, taking his dimple with him.

      He grinned. “Thank you. Pardon my interruption—”

      “Nothing to interrupt.” Hugh’s serious expression from thirty seconds past vanished, replaced by his affable smile.

      Gemma hopped up. “Hugh, we can walk in the garden if you—”

      “Too wet for a stroll, Gem. I must be off, at any rate. I leave for London in the morning. Do stay, Mr. Knox, and keep my old neighbor company.”

      Old neighbor?

      Mr. Knox’s grin slipped.

      “I’ll call on you after you’re settled at Amy and Wyling’s.”

      Gemma licked her still-dry lips. For six years, she’d been confined by Cristobel in a cage of obligation. Hugh was the key to her escape. A sigh escaped her lips. Could she endure a fortnight more?

      She forced a smile. “Until then, Hugh.”

      He bowed. “Safe travels, Gem. Mr. Knox, I hope your business is tempered with pleasure while you visit Verity House.”

      Mr.