An Unexpected Pleasure (The Mad Morelands #4)(28)



Well, she thought with some satisfaction, he would find out that she was not some helpless female whom he could seduce—or force himself on—with impunity. Megan Mulcahey was well able to take care of herself.

She laid her hand on his arm, pleased that not the slightest twitch betrayed her nervousness at doing so. As he led her down the hall and up the main staircase—rather wider than the servants’ stairs that she and Mrs. Brannigan had climbed earlier—she remarked on the other halls that sprouted off from the main passage and all the rooms that lined them. Broughton House was enormous. She could see that the task of searching it would be almost overwhelming. Even the fact that she had gotten some faint idea of what she should be looking for made it very little easier—a pendant was a rather small item to find in this house.

“I can see why you thought I would need a guide,” she said lightly. “There are an awful lot of rooms here.”

“You should see Broughton Park,” Theo responded wryly. “Some of its wings are a veritable rabbits’ warren.”

“Broughton Park?”

“The country seat,” he responded. “My parents generally spend most of their year there. They only come here for the season. I can’t think why, as neither of them likes it.”

Good heavens, Megan thought with an inner sigh, there was a whole other house in which this “precious” object might be hidden. She had to wonder how she would manage to hold up this charade of being a teacher long enough to explore everywhere.

As they neared the nursery, Megan could hear the sound of laughter, not only the childish tones of the twins, but also a deeper masculine chuckle and the lighter, higher notes of a woman. Theo’s eyebrows went up, and he moved at a faster clip down the hall.

“Reed!” he exclaimed as he turned into the schoolroom. “I thought that was you I heard. And Anna! What a wonderful surprise. When did you get in?”

“This morning.” The man who was seated on one of the desktops, his long legs stretched casually out in front of him, rose with an easy grace and came toward them, stretching out his hand to take Theo’s in a firm shake. “I promised Anna a season.”

He cast a warm look back toward the cluster of desks, where a well-dressed, attractive woman sat between Con and Alex. She stood up and came toward them, too, smiling at Theo a little shyly.

“Hello, Theo.”

“Hello, Anna.” Theo took her hand and leaned in to lightly kiss her cheek. “You look radiant. It’s hard to believe that you have been traveling.”

Anna chuckled. “We have been up since five o’clock. We are still on country hours, you know.”

She turned toward Megan, her wide gray eyes resting on her for a long moment. “Hello,” she said, extending her hand. “I am Anna Moreland. You must be the new tutor.”

“Why, yes, I am,” Megan replied, faintly surprised.

“Anna always knows things,” Alex told Megan in explanation.

“I beg your pardon?” Megan looked at the boy in confusion.

“She sees things,” Con added matter-of-factly. “I mean, things other people don’t see.”

An icy finger ran up Megan’s spine.

“Con! Alex!” Anna scolded, casting the two boys a dark look. “Stop. You’ll make Miss Henderson think I am some sort of witch or something.” She turned back to Megan, smiling. “I’m sorry. Con and Alex sometimes exaggerate a little. They had described their new tutor to me. That is how I guessed who you were.”

“No, I am sorry,” Theo put in. “You should not have had to guess. I am lax in my introductions. You are correct, Anna. This is Miss Henderson, the newest sacrificial lamb on the altar of the twins’ education. Miss Henderson, please allow me to introduce my brother, Reed, and his wife, Anna.”

“How do you do?” Megan smiled politely at the tall man whom she thought she would have guessed was Theo’s brother even without any introduction. Though he was not quite as handsome as Theo and his eyes were gray rather than green, his square-jawed face was similar enough to Theo’s to mark him as a relative.

The woman beside him was quietly attractive, with thick golden brown hair and large, intelligent gray eyes. She was a trifle taller than Megan and slender, and there was about her an air of calm that drew one to her. Megan liked her immediately, and she sensed that if she had met this woman in any other situation, they would have become friends. As it was, she knew that she could not afford to let herself become close to anyone in this household.

“Is this your first day with these rapscallions?” Reed asked, smiling, reaching out to ruffle Alex’s hair.

“Yes, it is,” Megan replied. “I am looking forward to teaching them.” Looking forward with trepidation, if the truth be known, Megan thought, but she wasn’t about to let anyone see that fact.

“I hope you still feel that way by this evening,” Reed joked.

“Stop it. You and Theo both,” Anna scolded her husband, shooting him a fierce look. She turned toward Megan, saying earnestly, “Con and Alex are really quite wonderful boys, and I am sure that you will enjoy teaching them. Their brothers simply like to tease.”

“I am sure that I will have no problem with Con and Alex,” Megan agreed, casting a smile at the boys. “We have already worked well together, haven’t we?”

Candace Camp's Books