by Alice Kirks
The Runaway Chaperone
A REGENCY ROMANCE NOVEL
ALICE KIRKS
Copyright © 2020 by Alice Kirks
All Rights Reserved.
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Table of Contents
The Runaway Chaperone
Table of Contents
The Runaway Chaperone
Introduction
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Epilogue
The Recipe to Win An Earl's Heart
Introduction
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
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The Runaway Chaperone
Introduction
Forced into a loveless betrothal with a man who terrifies her, Alexandra Drake decides to run away from home. As luck would have it, she is then hired as a chaperone for a dashing Duke’s younger sister. While it seems to be an easy position for an accomplished woman like her, keeping an eye on the young girl will prove harder than she expected. To make matters more complicated, Alexandra will inevitably find herself falling in love with her charming employee and unable to think of anything else than his captivating eyes... Could Alexandra ignore her growing feelings for the sake of conventional rules? Will true love manage to shine through the emotional whirlwind that has turned her world upside down?
Matthew Lammore has been the Duke of Blakeley since the tragic loss of his parents when he was only fifteen. This entire time, the responsibility of taking care of the estate and his beloved sister has fallen upon his shoulders. However, as his sister has reached the age of sixteen, he will need a well educated person to help her prepare for her debut into Society. Luckily for him, he finds the most appropriate woman for this role, who among other talents, seems to also have a heart of gold. Little did he know though that the beautiful chaperone would exceed her role and end up being the breath of fresh air he has longed for, casting light upon his dull life. This doesn’t however alter his awareness of how inappropriate it would be for a Duke to fall in love with his own employee. Will Matthew defy social norms and give true love a chance? Or will he turn down the woman of his dreams out of fear of ruining his reputation?
The more Matthew and Alexandra fall for each other, the more they realize they are moving towards a tangled labyrinth. As if this wasn’t enough, Alexandra's secret past is haunting her and threatening to tear this blossoming romance apart. Will the two soulmates dare to take the leap of real love and have faith in each other? In the end, will they declare their undeniable feelings, or will they be overpowered by the threatening internal and external obstacles?
Prologue
Alexandra looked out of the window, her dark hair spilling over one eye, obscuring her view a moment. She felt sick, her palms slippery with sweat. She had to move fast.
She tiptoed down the hallway to her bedroom, opened the door and reached for her suitcase. She didn’t need to think about packing now; it was ready, a week of careful planning going into this escape.
Her hands were slippery on the handle of the case. It was the one chance she had.
Now.
She gripped her suitcase, went along the long corridor and ran down to the front door.
“Go, go,” she urged herself as she shut the door. She had escaped detection, but now she had to move! There was every possibility that someone would see her in the street. She had to run.
She looked down the darkening street, running briskly, aware of the danger all around now. It was not that late, but the nights descended faster as the year moved to wintery cold and frost. She drew her cloak around her.
“Hey there!” a man shouted as she stepped into the street. Freezing with fear, Alexandra turned to stare at him, but he was only shouting because she’d got in his way. Heart thumping, she ran up the street, joints aching at the weight of the heavy suitcase. She’d barely taken anything with her, but the suitcase itself – big and cumbersome – was hefty.
I need a coach to take me away from here, and fast.
The first coach was battered and dark-varnished with no insignia; the coach of one of the drivers who gave lifts to people about the city for a fee. Alexander swallowed hard. Aware of how dangerous it was for a woman to travel on her own, she scratched in her purse to find the coins.
“Here,” she said, passing them up.
“In you get, then,” the driver said, checking the coins and counting them.
Alexandra gritted her teeth, aware that every second was immensely important, then hauled her case into the coach. She put it down and shut her eyes, content now the door was shut.
She was out of the house and safe. All she needed to do now was get away.
Every second was the difference between danger and freedom.
The drive was short, but it was already starting to get dark, the sky black against the flare of lamplight in the windows of public-houses as they went swiftly past. Alexandra felt her heart thump fearfully as they stopped.
“Here you are, lass,” the driver said. “Now, you’re sure you’ll be all right?”
“Yes,” she said.
There were people all over – some smartly-dressed gentlemen and ladies in big cloaks, and some men pushing barrows from the edge of the square, or carts with nightsoil. She felt frightened.
“Does the stage-coach stop here?” she asked a group of people, standing near a fencepost. Their faces shone in the lamplight from a nearby window.
“No…we’re waiting for the Last Judgement,” the man retorted.
Alexandra grinned, her ready humor unable to resist the joke, even in this danger. “The coach is good enough for me. Thank you.”
She still had a long drive to reach Blakeley and the job she had taken there.
She stood with the people and, when the coach arrived, she let the driver take her luggage. She sank gratefully in
to the back and shut her eyes, desperate for sleep.
The lifting and rolling of the coach soon set her into a drowse. She recalled the afternoon – the interview with the Duke’s chief of staff had been surprisingly simple, despite her terrors. Not that she would have expected the questions to be that difficult – her aim was to work as a chaperone for the Duke’s sister. She had felt lucky to hear about the opportunity.
Alexander opened one brown eye as the coach went over a bump, then shut it again, sleepily. She had some idea of what the job would entail, and oddly she wasn’t too nervous – she felt sure that a young girl could be a pleasing companion, and the age-difference was only eight years. At four-and-twenty years old herself, she would be a friendlier chaperone than the young girl of sixteen might expect.
“Here we are, Miss…Blakeley Heights.”
She looked up at Blakely Heights as she walked from the coach. She could see the edges of the building against the sky – it was three floors at least, crowned with imposing turrets. As she got closer, she saw windows glinting in the dark night, though it was all unlit, save a torch burning by the front door.
“Good evening?” she said, waiting for the butler to greet her as he opened up.
“Are you the governess?” he asked.
Alexandra swallowed. “I am the chaperone…Alexandra Ilfield, yes.”
“Oh. In you get, then,” he nodded, jerking his head at her. “Let’s have your bags…you get yourself upstairs. Mrs. Watford will deal with you.”
“Thank you,” Alexandra said, a touch stiffly. He was really terribly rude! She tried to ignore the tingle of fear down her spine as she went inside.
She looked around. The hallway was marble-floored, the ceiling soaring above them into darkness. The stairs were broad, and faced with pale stone that gleamed in the light of the lamps.
“Good evening,” the housekeeper greeted her when she reached the top floor. “You’re the chaperone, are you not?”
Up here, the scenery was quite different – the beauty of the hallway had altered drastically: the walls were bare wood, the floor uncarpeted, the lamp bracketed to the wall sputtery with poor-quality oil.
“Um, yes. Good evening,” Alexandra said hesitantly.
“Here’s your room. Now, we put you right on the top floor, so there’ll be no sneaking out late. You understand?”
“I beg your…” Alexandra began. The woman sniffed.
“You’re a servant, like one of us – don’t care how fancy you think you are ‘cos you get to sit down with the nobs. You’ll be answerable to me.”
Alexandra felt her cheeks pale, insult and anger rooting her to the spot.
“I don’t think anything of the sort,” she said instantly. “I’ll go and rest now, if you please…I had a long journey and I’m tired and whatever I think of someone, I think it’s best not to treat them appallingly. Goodnight.”
She walked past the woman and into the room, shutting the door behind her.
She heard the woman gasp, and then the sound of her approaching the door.
As soon as she’d gone, Alexandra opened the door. She had to find her bag!
She heard swift footsteps coming towards her and stopped.
A man in a black suit stopped too. He was tall, with sandy hair and a long, firm-jawed face. He had a high cravat about his neck, fashionably fastened, and his body was lithe and strong, the long jacket and velvety breeches showing his firm muscle. He looked at her with mild surprise. It was his eyes that held her attention, though – dark, wide and cool, they drew her in.
“Um…” Alexandra tried to think. “Good evening. I’m looking for my suitcase?”
“Ah. The butler, Mr. Denning, has it. If you can wait here, he’ll give it to you. Please don’t disturb me further…the house is full of guests now.”
“Oh.” Alexandra stared at him. He was already walking away, his tall back turned to her.
“Here you are, Miss,” the butler said, heaving her suitcase to the foot of the stairs. “I’ll take it up for you. Now, I trust you found your sleeping-place?”
“Yes, I did,” Alexandra said. “Thank you.”
“No trouble, Miss. Good night.”
Alexandra nodded to him and shut the door. She closed her eyes. Every moment was worth it, for a life of freedom.
As she rinsed her face and tucked her dark hair back into a bun for sleeping, she found that, despite all the fears of the day, the one thing that stayed on her mind was her meeting with the dark-haired man. She presumed he was the Duke, and he was, she thought, quite handsome, even if he was quite distant. His manner had been confusing – at once rude and not too unfair.
She fell asleep wondering what would happen tomorrow.
Chapter 1
Alexandra woke, stretched, and took a moment to tuck a strand of hair behind one ear. She didn’t feel too tired, and she’d slept heavily following her escape. She studied her reflection in the distorted, silvery mirror on the wall. It was a small looking glass, but one part of it worked reasonably well and it showed her a long oval face with a graceful dark brow, a slim nose, and pale skin. Her eyes were wide and black-lashed, and she thought their dark depths looked frightened.
“Now, there’s no good in being frightened. You’re safe here,” she told herself.
She nodded. She was safe here and, when she was dressed in her high-necked cream gown with its long, starched sleeves, she felt sure nobody from home would recognize her.
“That’s silly,” she giggled. Nobody from her home would ever think to look here. Besides, she reasoned, they wouldn’t think about the possibility that she would have been given this job.
She knew, though, that she was well-prepared.
“Good morning,” she greeted the butler briskly, walking past him as she headed down the hallway. “Can you tell me where the schoolroom is, please? And where I might find breakfast?”
“Yes, Miss. Schoolroom’s over there. Breakfast’s downstairs. I thought you said you weren’t a governess?”
“I’m not,” Alexandra said, nodding. “But, if Lady Arabella and I will be friends, we should have a good understanding of each other. And part of my job is to prepare Lady Arabella for society, is it not? So, we shall be spending a good part of each day in here, studying important materials and skills.”
The butler gawped. “Yes, Miss.”
Alexandra grinned as he walked away. It felt like a victory, if a small one.
She went into the schoolroom and sat down at the desk.
“Books. What do they have, I wonder…they have Byron? Yes. Good, and Shelley. And…well, there are a lot of books about the Continent in here…I wonder who reads those?” She ran a hand down the wood, staring at the books that lined the shelves.
The Duke, she reckoned, must be a strange man if he had prepared all these for the education of his sister. Most men, she imagined, would wish their sisters to present themselves in society, and not to be thoroughly learned on the grounds for the Napoleonic conflicts! She found herself smiling.
What would he have said if he’d been the one hiring her, she wondered?
Her stomach growled, and she was just standing up to find breakfast when she heard footsteps in the hallway.
“Now, Arabella…don’t run…”
“Brother! I can’t help it!” a high voice replied. “I’m so excited! Oh, where is she? Where is Miss Ilfield?”
Alexandra swallowed hard, hastily turning to the door. A small, brown-haired bundle exploded into the room, wrapping her arms about her. Behind her walked the man from the previous evening. Alexandra stiffened.
“Alexandra!” the girl said, looking up. “Oh! Here you are. I may call you that, yes? Only, Brother thinks we must be formal. We don’t need to be formal…you’re to be my confidante. And you do look like an Alexandra, don’t you? So tall and pretty!”
