Well, that was a significantly less romantic story, but one that made her heart soar just the same. Because it was undoubtedly real, and entirely Chase.
She ran her hands over the binding and lifted it to her nose to breathe in the new-book smell. “It’s beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful.” He reached for her, laying a tentative caress to her cheek. “I wish I could promise to never, ever hurt you. But I’m new to this whole love and commitment business. I’m bound to cock it up from time to time. What I can promise is that I won’t give up. Not on you, not on myself. Not on us. You taught me that.”
“I can’t believe you listened.”
With a lopsided, charming smile, he pulled her close, drawing her into his arms. He looked at her with warm green eyes—truly looked at her—the way people rarely did, because it meant allowing the other person to truly look at them, too.
This time she didn’t feel like the only woman in the universe. Or the only woman in the world, or even the only woman in the bookshop.
She felt like the woman in his arms, and that was enough.
“Alexandra. My friend, my lover, my love. Come home.”
Epilogue
“Oh, Alex.” Penny lifted her head from the telescope. “It’s so beautiful.”
Alexandra laughed. “It’s a tiny sky smudge.”
“But it’s your sky smudge,” Chase said.
Alex corrected him. “Ours.”
Her friends were trying so very hard to seem impressed with her speck of light, bless them. To Alex, it didn’t truly matter if they understood. It mattered that they were there.
Everyone was there. The little sky-gazing picnic in Bloom Square had grown into a proper garden party. Even better, a family party.
Alexandra had never dreamed of having this many people to call her own. She had not only Chase, Rosamund, and Daisy—John, Elinor, and little Charles were her family now, too. As godmother to Richmond, she would always be connected to Emma and Ash. Nicola and Penny couldn’t be rid of her if they tried.
And then there was Marigold the goat, who had more than justified her attendance at the event by “accidentally” consuming a hamper’s worth of Penny’s sandwiches. And half of the hamper itself.
“Even if it is just a smudge in the sky, at least it has a grandiose name,” Nicola said. “Though I must admit, it doesn’t quite trip off the tongue. ‘Mountbatten-Reynaud comet’ is rather a mouthful.”
“‘Rather a mouthful,’” Chase repeated, musing. “People are always saying that like it’s a bad thing. What’s so terrible about mouthfuls? I like mouthfuls.”
“I enjoy a good mouthful myself,” Ash declared. “Emma does, as well. Don’t you, darling?”
Alexandra and Emma exchanged a look. It was lovely that their husbands were becoming a grudging sort of friends, but the two men were difficult enough to manage separately. Together, they could be exponentially incorrigible.
“You can blame my husband for the name.” Alex had insisted they share the naming of it. After all, he’d been with her that night in the garden, and then when they confirmed the discovery. “I wanted to call it Reynaud’s comet, since I’m a Reynaud now, too.”
“Yes, but you weren’t when you discovered it,” Chase pointed out. “We discussed this. You can insist on sharing the credit, but you are not allowed to hide your accomplishment behind my name.”
The irony of a husband dictating how his wife expressed her independence seemed utterly lost on him. Nevertheless, Alex let it pass without comment. There would be a more important naming conversation in the coming months, and she had to choose her battles.
She put her hand on her belly, and the tiny smudge growing within her. She’d kept her suspicions to herself thus far. She hadn’t wanted to tell Chase until she could be absolutely certain. What if she raised his hopes—and her own—only to be disappointed?
Now she found herself reconsidering. Any hopes or disappointments belonged to Chase, too.
Perhaps she’d tell him tonight.
Emma handed off the baby to Ash. “I want another turn at the telescope. It’s not every day one has a chance to view her friend’s very own comet.”
“No, indeed,” Alex said. “Take a good look now. According to Mrs. Somerville’s calculations, after this summer it won’t be visible again for a hundred and forty-seven years.”
“You had better leave a detailed note for the great-great-grandchildren,” Ash said.
“That would require them to have children first,” Emma pointed out.
“Excellent observation. We’ll get on that right away.” Chase clapped his hands together. “On that note, good night and good-bye. All of you.”
Her husband was such a terrible rogue.
Perhaps Alex wouldn’t tell him tonight after all.
Acknowledgments
To Bren, Tessa, Elle, Steve, Ruth, Kelly, Rose, Mr. Dare, and the Darelings:
There’s no way I could have finished this book without each and every one of you. Thank you, from the bottom of my sleep-deprived, over-caffeinated, eternally grateful heart.
About the Author
TESSA DARE is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than twenty historical romances. Her books have won numerous accolades, including Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® Award (twice) and the RT Book Reviews Seal of Excellence. Booklist magazine named her one of the “new stars of historical romance,” and her books have been contracted for translation in more than a dozen languages.
A librarian by training and a book-lover at heart, Tessa makes her home in Southern California, where she lives with her husband, their two children, and a trio of cosmic kitties.
www.tessadare.com
www.avonromance.com
www.facebook.com/avonromance
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Also by Tessa Dare
Girl Meets Duke
The Duchess Deal
Castles Ever After
Romancing the Duke
Say Yes to the Marquess
When a Scot Ties the Knot
Do You Want to Start a Scandal
Spindle Cove
A Night to Surrender
Once Upon a Winter’s Eve (novella)
A Week to be Wicked
A Lady by Midnight
Beauty and the Blacksmith (novella)
Any Duchess Will Do
Stud Club Trilogy
One Dance with a Duke
Twice Tempted by a Rogue
Three Nights with a Scoundrel
The Wanton Dairymaid Trilogy
Goddess of the Hunt
Surrender of a Siren
A Lady of Persuasion
The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright (novella)
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
the governess game. Copyright © 2018 by Eve Ortega. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.
Digital Edition SEPTEMBER 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-267213-1
Print Edition ISBN: 978-0-06-267212-4
Cover design by Guido Caroti
Cover illustration by Kirk Do
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Cover image © tunart/ iStockphoto / Getty Images (background)
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