The Mysterious Governess (Daughters of Sin Book 3) by Beverley Oakley Page A

You know what will happen if you do.”
    Lissa was surprised as she tilted her head to look at him in the dim interior of the carriage. He’d dented her enjoyment of the afternoon, when she’d thought he’d be pleased.
    She hesitated to suggest that gratitude might be in order, but was taken aback when Cosmo muttered, “I rely on you, Miss Hazlett, and I don’t like it. However, if you let me down, I’ll see your reputation shredded.”

Chapter Four
    “R eally, Araminta, it’s not like you to be so agitated. Who are you waiting for? A lover to signal you from the apple tree?”
    Araminta swung back from the window to glare at Hetty, who was relaxing in a chair and looking over the top of the book she had in her lap.
    Hetty’s charge was too close to the truth and it irritated Araminta beyond measure that her little sister could so easily read her. And others, according to their mother, who claimed Hetty’s sweet and empathetic nature made her a good gauge of people’s feelings. She’d added that this was something Araminta could learn to her benefit, which had done nothing to endear the apparently remarkable Hetty to her, if that’s what dear Mama had hoped.
    Hetty, Araminta had quickly pointed out, was only able to observe things and people unnoticed because she was such a timid little dormouse in both looks and temperament that no one ever noticed her.
    The reflection, though, gave Araminta pause. In fact, it was something that was beginning to trouble her more than a little lately, when she stopped to consider it. Hetty seemed less and less the plump pudding she’d been when she’d set her cap at cabbage-headed Edgar, their late, lamented cousin, who’d drowned after rushing off into the night with that designing piece, Lady Julia.
    No, it wasn’t so much that Araminta had observed an improvement in her sister’s looks, but that she had observed Hetty seemed to create far more interest from the male contingent than she ought.
    Araminta stepped back into the center of the room and stretched languidly. “A lover, Hetty?” She affected a lazy smile though her heart was beating just a little faster than usual. “‘Wouldn’t you like to know? But,” she cocked her head as if in great thought, adding, “didn’t Cousin Stephen say he and Mama would love your company for their afternoon walk?”
    “Is it that time already?” Hetty leapt up, obviously forgetting any suggestion Araminta might be engaging in a possible assignation so that, when Araminta glimpsed in the distance from the window, the dark-haired governess in her drab clothing approaching the property, she was in good time to make her way to the fence to greet her.
    The girl looked surprised to see her, for the agreement was that Larissa was going to simply leave the parcel in the crook of the apple tree for Araminta to fetch.
    But Araminta was eaten up with curiosity to learn what had transpired the previous afternoon. Immediately she began to question the girl. Had Sir Aubrey been there? To whom had Lord Debenham spoken? Had he mentioned Araminta directly to Miss Hazlett? What were Miss Hazlett’s impressions of him?
    At this question, the young woman’s eyes narrowed. “He’s a dangerous man. Even my employer says he’s eaten up with vice, and he’s one to talk!”
    Araminta smiled. Since she’d decided she was going to marry Sir Aubrey, Lord Debenham’s character didn’t matter, unless he posed a danger to Sir Aubrey’s prospects or reputation. Rumors swirled around Sir Aubrey, she knew, but they’d never been substantiated. No, she was more concerned that His Lordship had remarked upon similarities in looks between Miss Hazlett and herself. For Araminta had to concede that they shared the same glossy dark hair and similar bone structure. Not that Miss Hazlett possessed Araminta’s flawless beauty, to be sure. But now, even more, Araminta wondered how such a resemblance could be utilized to her benefit.
    “You were successful