He did.
Benedict Cole.
That was his name. She’d stared at it, scrawled in black paint at the corner of the canvas.
She’d discovered his passion and power when she’d seen his painting at the Royal Academy of Art. It had stopped her in her tracks, her breath shuddering.
The work was marvellous. The subject was simple, a woman holding sheaves of wheat. But the subject of the painting wasn’t what caught her attention. It was the strokes of his brush.
As if his paintbrush stroked her skin.
As if it touched her heart.
There was a secret in that painting, as if it held a message, as if it spoke directly to her. She...recognised it. That was it. Somehow, she understood the soul of the artist who had painted that picture. The effect on her had been extraordinary. She wanted to stand in front of it for hours, soaking in the colours, the textures, his use of light. She returned again and again to view it.
Benedict Cole must teach her. She knew it. She needed to learn everything he knew. Only he could free her hands and the emotions locked inside her. Only he could show her how to put them on paper, on canvas, with charcoal, with paint, until the work came to life.
She must find a way.
Now at last she’d gathered up her courage to write to him.
She yearned to pour out all her hopes and dreams in the letter, her longings and desires. But her phrases remained stilted. Draft after draft, pen staining her fingers, she’d tried to find the right words to ask his consent to give her lessons and that she would pay him handsomely for his time.
And she hoped that he would understand. It meant so much more.
Her heart beating fast, she picked up the letter.
Sealing it with a drop of wax, she blew out the candle.
She could only pray for his answer.
Copyright © 2015 by Eliza Redgold
ISBN-13: 9781460387733
Temptation of a Governess
Copyright © 2015 by Sarah Mallory
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