Andrea Pickens - [Lessons in Love 02]

Second Chances

Lessons in Love

Book Two

by

Andrea Pickens

Award-winning Author

SECOND CHANCES

Reviews & Accolades

"Creating a marvelous heroine... Ms. Pickens combines a wonderful sense of the absurd with appealing emotional intensity to create a lilting romance for all to enjoy."

~
RT magazine

Published by
ePublishing Works!

www.epublishingworks.com

ISBN: 978-1-61417-416-5

By payment of required fees, you have been granted the
non
-exclusive,
non
-transferable right to access and read the text of this eBook. 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 hereinafter invented without the express written permission of copyright owner.

Please Note

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

The reverse engineering, uploading, and/or distributing of this eBook via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the copyright owner is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated.

Copyright © 1997, 2013 by Andrea DaRif. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

Cover and eBook design by eBook Prep
www.ebookprep.com

Chapter 1

"You
what
?"

The young man shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "You said I might inquire as to a suitable person." A note of defiance had crept into his tone.

The Earl of Wrexham regarded his son over steepled fingers. It was not the challenge to his authority that disturbed him, rather it was the pinched, confused look that pulled at the lad's sensitive mouth. Not for the first time in the past few months did he wonder whether he had been fair in keeping Max isolated up in the wilds of Yorkshire for so much of his life.

It hadn't really been a concern until recently, for the two of them had gotten on splendidly together. But now it seemed that everything he said rubbed the lad in the wrong way. Lord knew, it was difficult enough to pass from adolescence into manhood, but perhaps the transition was made even more awkward with only a father for company and without other young men the same age to cut a caper with. Not that Max showed any inclinations towards wildness—that, in fact, was another cause for concern. The lad was perhaps a trifle too studious....

"The applicant is most qualified, I assure you," continued his son.

"You might have consulted me in the matter before making such a decision," replied the Earl dryly. "I do have a modicum of experience in this sort of thing."

"You are always... busy," muttered Max, struggling manfully to keep his lower lip from jutting out as if he were six instead of nearly sixteen.

Wrexham's brows came together. Was he really such a neglectful parent? It was true that he spent a goodly amount of time in the library but the lad had never voiced a complaint before. Why, his own nose was usually buried in a book as well. A sigh escaped the earl's lips. At least in another few years, Max would finally be able to enter Oxford and study to his heart's content.

But until that time, there was this matter to attend to.

"But was it truly necessary to appeal all the way to London? Surely—"

"You know as well as I do that I've exhausted the store of knowledge possessed by any of the vicars within a few day's journey of the Hall," interrupted Max. "So why not advertise in London, if one advertises at all? You have always told me to eschew bargains and purchase the very best quality one can."

The earl's mouth crooked ruefully at having his own pompous advice thrown back at him, but he had to admit his son was right—on both accounts.

"Very well. I shall meet with the man, and if he is as qualified as you say, there is no reason why he shouldn't be hired as your tutor." He smiled pleasantly. "After all, it is an abominably long journey he has endured to reach us."

The young man swallowed hard. "I... I should warn you of one little thing, sir."

Wrexham folded his long hands on the tooled blotter of his desk. An eyebrow arched up in query.

"Er..."

"Go on, Max." The earl's lips twitched in amusement. "Do you wish to warn me that he has a harelip or a squint?"

"Actually, it's not a he, sir."

* * *

Allegra Proctor stiffened in her chair. The roar of the oath was audible even through the heavy oak of the library door. The young viscount, obviously unaware of the usual social graces, had bade her to take a seat in one of the formal wooden sidechairs flanking a console in the hallway rather than in the drawing room, so she was more privy to the discussion between father and son than the earl realized.