Sherlock Holmes meets Pride and Prejudice in this bewitching and scintillating romance between an eccentric gypsy detective and a young spinster governess.
Harriet Morgan, a shy, nurturing young woman, watches the finishing school she has seen as he...
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The others sat and observed as the two stared at one another. Nicu picked up the cards and began shuffling. Harriet watched him, transfixed by his skill, but said nothing.
Harriet observed the man with his roguish appeal, eyeing her with a blazing fire in his antique golden eyes. She was once again spellbound by how the color reflected him so well. He obtained ancient knowledge that only a few have ever been blessed with.
He was so different than the other two men in the room, one who was a big brawny man and the other who appeared as a fallen angel. But Nicu Rowe was neither of those, he was something else entirely with his sleek catlike frame and exotic boldness.
He dealt and soon it started. "Tell me what happened that night."
Harriet found herself playing the game mechanically, while the rest of her was having an out-of-body experience. The past nights were catching up to her quickly, like the fire's rage.
She swallowed. "I was awoken by a shrill scream. A girl shouting fire." Licking her lips Harriet watched Nicu cut the deck and she earned two points for a Jack being on top. "I immediately woke up. At first, I thought I was in a nightmare, but it soon had become very real when I saw the smoke entering my room from underneath the door. When my senses finally restored, I got out of bed and checked to see if the handle was hot."
Nicu's eyes flicked to her. "Smart girl."
Harriet ignored the compliment. "After conducing that it was safe, I opened it and only saw heavy smoke. That's when I started to hear voices, men's voices, and then in the haze I saw them yanking girls out of their rooms..." Harriet paused, and her breathing grew heavy. "Th-that pushed me into action a-and I stared grabbing as many girls as I could. Rosa, Felicity, Helen, Anne..."
Harriet's hand became unstable, and she put it over her mouth for a brief second to collect herself. "Gracie was down the next hall, trying to get away from the smoke and men, all by herself. She had been the one to scream, she had used up all her remaining strength to warn us, even knowing what it would cost." Harriet's pained face morphed into sorrow as she stared at the cards in play, "Gracie always put others first, despite coming from a home where she was an aggravation and ignored."
Wiping a few tears from her eyes, Harriet laughed a little. "You'd never think she came from such a hostile place. She was so sweet and compassionate."
Harriet gave a bitter smile. "She would use to wait after everyone had gotten their food at every meal before she would get some for herself. It bothered me and when I had asked why she did that... she looked at me with those massive blue eyes and said she would hate it if she grabbed something someone else wanted. She was just that kind of girl with that mindset that's only blessed in few people. It was a good thing she had that mentality that day, as much as I hated it when I saw her slumped form against the wall... she was the reason we survived."
"She sounds like a good girl," Nicu stated with a hint of compassion.
"She was," Harriet answered then took a deep breath and sensed Nicu's unnerving patience. He didn't rush her, push her, or try to interrupt her. He simply listened. "I took them downstairs to where I knew an old passageway went under the school and into the woods. We were in the kitchen when I saw Claire, my lady's maid. She was in a panic trying to hide from the men that would appear out of nowhere, as if they were an extension of the smoke. I managed to calm her, and we turned to the hallway that would take us to the secret corridor... that's when I saw it."
