Claiming a Lady's Heart

By Roxie Brandon

Daphne Rose James , a preacher’s daughter, is the new governess for the Duke of Wiltshire’s three children.

Whilst she is curious about her new surroundings and her new employer, it is his scoundrel brother that has her twisted in all sort of ways.

But soon it is clear the attraction between the duke’s brother and his governess. Stolen kisses, misunderstandings and thwarted villainy. Sometimes all a rogue needs to find his way is a good woman.
Enjoy this clean and wholesome Regency romance with a sweet happily ever after!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Roxie Brandon
• Release date: Mar 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005642631

Roxie Brandon

Roxie Brandon is an author of historical and contemporary romance, beauty and fashion books.Her romances range in setting from Medieval times to the Twentieth Century.She loves walks in the countryside and having afternoon tea with family and friends.

Book preview

CLAIMING

A LADY’S HEART

Copyright © 2021 Roxie Brandon All Rights Reserved

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

CHAPTER ONE

Daphne Rose James was nervous, more nervous than she had been in her entire life. Clutching her bag close to her chest as the mail coach made its way towards the small posting inn, Daphne let out a long breath. This was the last step towards her destination. It was her first time this far out, towards Bath.

The excitement of finally meeting her employer and his charges was setting in. However, at the same time, Daphne was growing a little anxious. Two months of preparation and anticipation meant she had no illusions about what challenges her employment would bring.

Being a governess was not going to be an easy position. She knew very well that the Duke of Wiltshire would expect her accomplishments and manners to be impeccable, all the while expecting that she kept her place. Daphne nervously started fiddling with her gloves. By misfortune, this position could make her the object of inadequate charity, useless compassion, and offensive condescension. Her station in the household would not be high enough to keep company with the Duke and his peers, nor low enough to keep company with the servants. Daphne was worried that she would grow a little lonely.

Chewing on her lower lip, she looked out the window and tried to keep herself calm and composed. A hard thing to achieve, when she was far from home on her own. She continued fiddling with her gloves. Women rarely travelled without a chaperone, unless their situation was entirely untenable. Thoughts of her desperate circumstances flitted into her mind, but Daphne swiftly batted them away. She would not give into melancholy or flights of fancy.

Unfortunately for Daphne, she had a very vivid imagination. In fact, she had spent the last five hours imagining all sorts of things that might happen to her: being flitted away by a highway robber, being stuck, cold and frightened, in the wilderness with a broken carriage. Lifting her chin, she continued to stare out of the window, reminding herself that papa would chide her so, if he had been here. Her heart squeezed with longing as she thought of his smiling face.

She would miss him more than her siblings. Daphne was the sixth daughter of one of the parish preachers in Gloucestershire, which meant that she had always lived in the shadow of the needs of the church, the congregation, and her other siblings. Her family and, particularly, her father had been Daphne’s entire world for the last nineteen years.

Although her Papa was a man of the cloth, he still had a great fondness for the outdoors. Daphne was the only one of his children that was interested in spending time with him in the garden; planting seeds and devising ways of makings their small garden crop grow even more. That had been their special time. It had given her a great deal of wonderful childhood memories.

At the thought of her Papa, Daphne smiled to herself. If only she had been more devoted to his teachings, as he’d so often lamented. Perhaps then, she might have been able to give up her less than proper behaviours. Truth be told, Daphne didn’t think any of her comportment was improper, but according to her sisters, she was sorely mistaken. Apparently climbing an oak tree to retrieve Mrs Franklin’s runaway cat was not something any young lady should be doing. They even found fault with her need to be outdoors, shocked at the occasional freckle that would appear on her face. To make her list of inadequacies even longer, she struggled to remember all her scriptures.

Everyone else in the family could quote large passages of the Bible, all except Daphne. Part of the problem had been her lack of concentration in church during her papa’s sermons. It wasn’t that she thought they were tedious or that stories of the good Lord bored her. It was simply that her thoughts would start wandering. She was ashamed to admit she spent an excessive amount of time daydreaming in church. Now, her older sisters: Mary, Anna, Emma, Margaret, and Sarah, were all the very picture of womanly virtue. Beautiful as could be, poised, God-fearing, and soft-spoken.

Daphne bit her lip. Did her sisters not have any shortcomings at all? Having thought about it for what seemed like an eternity, she realised she could not think of one. Perhaps that was why her eldest sister had made a very favourable marriage match and her second sister, Sarah, was engaged to a very eligible gentleman, with their wedding set for the end of the year. At the thought, Daphne winced again. Why did she persist in reminiscing about all the things she had done wrong and how short she came compared to her sisters?

Despite giving herself a stern scolding, her thoughts insisted on lingering on how she had managed to find herself halfway across the country, without so much as a chaperone. It all seemed like a lifetime ago. It had happened on the day Sarah officially announced her engagement. A bitter realisation had suddenly hit Daphne as she’d looked at Sarah’s glowing face—that this was never likely going to be her. She would not be a blushing young woman, on the verge of becoming a fiancée and then a bride. Not in Gloucestershire at least, where everyone knew who she was. Not one of the guests at the assembly ball wondered when it was going to be Miss Daphne James’s turn to tie the knot, in stark contrast to what speculations were being had about the other James girls.

It had bothered Daphne so much, that she had spoken to Sarah about it the very next day.

Your betrothal? Sarah had laughed when Daphne had suggested such an event. Short of an unsuspecting groom outside the county, who would have you, my dear? Surely you are jesting, her sister had added merrily before shaking her head and walking from the room.

It had been like a dagger to Daphne’s heart. At the unpleasant memory, she grimaced. She had known then that she needed to find a groom outside the county. Daphne was sure she could behave with all the propriety that society required until she was wed. There would be no need for anyone to find out about her eccentricities until after the wedding. But to accomplish the dream of becoming a bride and one day having a family of her own, meant venturing away from home.

Thus, she had begun her search for a way to leave Gloucestershire. Given that her family had no relative with means who could receive her, Daphne had realised she needed to find a way to make a living during her quest for the right groom. And, of course, her first thought was that of a governess. Once the idea had taken root in her mind, there had been no turning back.

Daphne had been utterly resolute. Surely as a governess, she would be able to find herself a suitor, for even a respectable curate would do. A love match was too much to hope for, but certainly, a marriage of convenience could be on the horizon if God and fate willed it.

Being an inventive headstrong young woman, she had promptly found such employment. It had taken a great deal of correspondence with