The Captain Takes a Bride
By Lily George
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About this ebook
Lord Richard Carew has just returned from his last ocean voyage with more cargo than expected – a fortune to call his own and a child entrusted to his care. Unsure if he should settle down or heed the call of the sea once more, he enlists the help of governess Laura Stephens to raise his young ward. As Laura quietly turns his house into a home and his ward into family, Richard wonders if perhaps his existence as a wandering rake is as appealing as it used to be.
Miss Laura Stephens has nothing to call her own – raised a penniless orphan, she must make her way in the world. Thanks to Captain Carew, she has a roof over her head and some measure of independence – as long as she doesn’t do anything so foolish as to fall in love.
~Originally published in the Outwitting the Duke anthology~
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The Captain Takes a Bride - Lily George
Chapter 1
April 16, 1817
11 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London
Miss Laura Stephens raised her hand to grasp at the doorknocker, but then took a step backward, drawing in a deep breath. If only she could stop trembling all over. This was no way to present oneself to a potential employer like Captain Carew. If his housekeeper suspected that she was a mere slip of a girl seeking her first position, well, then, she might not get the job.
She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the sidelight of the door. Her blue eyes had darkened to the point of blackness, a telltale sign of her fear. The depth of color was in stark contrast to her pale countenance. She looked as wretched as she felt, and if the tables were turned, she would not hire such a timid, cowering creature. For how could a green girl, afraid of her own shadow, possibly become a good governess?
Enough was enough. She tugged her gray bonnet more tightly over her hair. Laura Stephens had no friends, and no relations, and her livelihood depended on this position. So she must get it.
She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and knocked.
Silence.
Laura glanced around. Surely this was the right address? She squinted at the scrap of foolscap her teacher had given her. Number Eleven, Lincoln’s Inn Fields. This imposing stone townhouse must surely be the right place. Miss Pickard had told her the house was blond stone with a black door.
She knocked again.
Footsteps sounded from within, echoing strangely as though their owner were walking through some sort of tunnel. This must be either the housekeeper or the butler. Laura composed herself, breathing deeply, and folded her hands to still their trembling.
The massive door flung open and a tall, broad-shouldered man not much older than herself reached out, grasping her hands. Good Lord, come in. I thought for certain you’d come through the back entrance.
Laura gasped as she flew over the threshold, the power of the young man’s grip still holding her tightly. I beg your pardon,
she managed. "I had no idea. Miss Pickard gave very strict instructions to come around to the black door."
Well, there’s nothing that can be done about it now.
The young man loosened his hold on her, staring down at her with deep blue eyes. So, what’s your name? They told me they would be sending around an applicant, but neglected to tell me who she might be.
She disentangled herself from his grasp and faced him squarely. What an odd, impertinent butler he was. Based upon her limited experience, a butler should be old, grey-haired, and fearfully correct. Yes, I believe the housekeeper is waiting for me. I am Miss Stephens, here to interview for the governess position.
I haven’t a housekeeper.
He shrugged. Do you have a first name, Miss Stephens?
Laura.
She stared at the young man before her, who must be no more than a few years older than she. If he had servants, then he must be someone of importance in the house. She must assert herself if she was to win his approval, and with it, this opportunity. She fixed him with a steady gaze. And you are?
There, she managed to be brief and precise, hopefully conveying that she was the kind of governess who would tolerate no nonsense from her charge.
He gave her the merest flicker of a glance, amusement brewing in his dark blue eyes. I’m Richard Carew.
Captain.
What on earth should she do next? Curtsey or apologize? I am so sorry, you must think me terribly insolent.
She managed to say it in a rush without tripping over her words, as she curtsied briefly, keeping her eyes trained dutifully on the bare parquet floor.
Oh, never mind that.
He grabbed her by the hand. Look, the only room I’ve got furniture in is the sitting room. Is it all right if we speak in there?
Certainly.
How odd that he would even ask her opinion, for it was really his decisions that mattered. As far as she was concerned, they could stand on one foot on the head of a pin to do the interview. It didn’t matter where, so long as she was able to secure the position.
Captain Carew, still holding her by the hand, tugged her down the vacant hallway, their footsteps echoing on the wooden floor.
Here.
He pulled her into a room that was completely stripped of all ornamentation, save two small wooden chairs and a spindly table near the fireplace. Even the windows were bereft of curtains, and the morning sun streaming in was bright enough to hurt her eyes. The captain loosened his grip on her and indicated one of the chairs with a brief nod of his head. She sank onto it, eyeing him expectantly. Surely he would give some sort of explanation for all of this strangeness. Gentlemen didn’t live in bare houses, and they certainly didn’t live alone, without staff of any kind. Why was he even in search of a governess? There seemed to be no children about.
Captain Carew clasped his arms behind him and began pacing the floor as he might pace the deck of a ship. Laura took this opportunity to get a better look at her potential employer. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and his skin was tanned. He must have been at sea for some time to be so brown. He was clean-shaven, and his dark brown hair was cropped close to his head. As he paced, she could detect the flex of his muscles beneath his shirt sleeves.
He stopped pacing abruptly and fixed her with a piercing glance. Laura dropped her gaze to the floor, heat rushing to her cheeks. She’d been ogling him so rudely, and she had been caught.
I owe you an explanation,
he began. You have every right to stare. I know how this must look. A vacant house, no servants—it’s strange, I know. The thing is, I’ve only just rented this place. I’ve been ashore for exactly two days. I just got back from the West Indies, and I have a child.
Richard watched in fascination as the color rose in Miss Stephens’s cheeks anew. It had been so long since he’d been around a proper British young woman, and he’d forgotten how prettily they could blush. Miss Stephens had, since he had offered her a chair, held herself quietly with her hands folded in her lap. Yet there was something about the set of her shoulders that spoke of determination and grace. It was almost as though she were holding herself in check.
What would happen if she slipped her own leash?
She raised her eyes to his. A child?
Yes.
Better to get back to business. His thoughts were straying down unprofessional