Sari Robins - [Andersen Hall Orphanage 05] by The Governess Wears Scarlet Page A

Impartially, Steele could see that he might be appealing in a Byronesque sort of way. Had Miss West fallen for the young greenhorn? An unfamiliar feeling twisted in his gut, but he ignored it and forced himself to focus on the lady beside him.
    Steele shortened his stride to match her smaller tread, and again was amazed at how she’d managed to fell Carlton, a much larger man. “Where did you learn that move that you used on Carlton?”
    “You won’t believe me if I told you.” Her voice had a breathy quality to it that at first he’d labeled as trepidation. Now he knew it to be more of a reluctance to speak. As if words might somehow betray her , he thought.
    As a barrister, Steele had learned to listen for those hidden meanings beneath people’s words, and he never dismissed the idle thoughts that whispered in his mind. As if words might betray her.
    He wondered what it would take for her to open up and speak freely. Somehow he suspected that she might have some very interesting things to say; thus far she’d been a constant surprise. “Try me. I believe I can maintain an open mind.”
    The moonlight blanketed the trees, giving some sense that they were alone in the world.
    “Very well. I learned it from a book.”
    He felt his brows rise. “A book taught you how to bring a man to his knees?”
    Miss West nodded.
    “I must read this volume,” Steele murmured, fascinated. “Where can I find it?”
    “At Andersen Hall Orphanage, in Headmaster Dunn’s library.” Turning slightly away so that her features were masked by darkness, she murmured, “I went to live there after my parents passed.”
    “I serve on the board of trustees at Andersen Hall.”
    She looked up. “You do?”
    “Yes. Even though I’m new to the board, I am very impressed with how the institution is managed and the progressive principles upon which it’s founded.”
    “Andersen Hall reflects the man who shaped it. Headmaster Dunn was brilliant and caring and loved all the children as if they were his own…” Her voice caught.
    Steele had to resist the urge to squeeze the small hand resting on his arm. “I’m so sorry for his loss. His death must have been a terrible blow for you.”
    She nodded. “Headmaster Dunn was…very dear to me.”
    “He was a good man. Principled. Much more so than many of the men I’ve encountered. And canny. Very canny.” Steele’s lips almost lifted as he recalled his first encounter with Uriah Dunn and how handily the man had manipulated him. He remembered this meeting without rancor. Yet it was the compromise Steele had made with Uriah Dunn that allowed Sir Lee to blackmail him into helping Benbrook. Sir Lee was one of three people in theworld who knew that Steele had knowingly allowed the Thief of Robinson Square to escape justice. If anyone learned that secret, Steele’s reputation would be in tatters.
    Steele exhaled. “Headmaster Dunn had a way of making one see things his way, without being a bully about it. I wish I had that gift.”
    Miss West peered up at him. “Why? So you can convince Carlton that he likes children? I don’t believe that even Headmaster Dunn would be able to do that. Mrs. Pitts, on the other hand, seems quite biddable.”
    Sir Lee had been right; she was perceptive. Then it hit him: She’d quite neatly deflected him from the subject of Headmaster Dunn and her grief. She seemed unwilling to allow anyone to breach the mighty walls that surrounded her heart. If he managed it, he wondered what he’d find. He filed away that notion for later consideration.
    “Pray tell me the name of this book,” he asked.
    “It’s called Defensive Arts of the Eastern Civilizations , by J. Imperatori. It’s filled with defensive exercises.”
    “They must be very good exercises.”
    “Only if one remembers to use them,” she muttered under her breath. “Sometimes I wonder if I’ve forgotten more than I’ve learned.”
    “When you grabbed Carlton, you weren’t thinking. You