Passion and Propriety (Hearts of Honour Book 1) by Elise de Sallier

fate.”
    Hannah chuckled at her sister’s recital, which all too accurately mimicked their beloved but at times melodramatic sibling.
    “The usual, then?”
    Naomi nodded, and it was Hannah’s turn to sigh. “It seemed the right thing to encourage her love of reading, but I hardly expected her preference for adventure stories to have such a lasting impact. I do hope she hasn’t done anything too outrageous.”
    “Nothing beyond the pale.” Naomi’s mouth twisted in a grimace. “Though she may have been spotted riding astride the pony she talked the Jenkins boys into loaning her . . . but not by anyone of consequence . ”
    Hannah’s shoulders slumped. She’d tried so hard to stand in for their mother and raise her sisters to be respectable young ladies. But if their father’s debts and their lack of dowries weren’t obstacle enough to prevent them finding suitable husbands, Rachel’s outlandish behaviour seemed destined to do the trick. There was only so much abuse a young lady’s reputation could sustain before it was irreparably damaged, regardless of her angelic appearance.
    “Does Papa know?” she asked, and Naomi shrugged, one of her personal peccadilloes. Hannah’s middle sister was, in her own way, just as much a nonconformist as the youngest, though at least her passions were a tad less self-serving. A staunch advocate of Lord Wilberforce’s efforts to see slavery abolished, Naomi’s concerns tended more towards the plight of the widow and orphan than a thirst for adventure.
    “Don’t fret.” Naomi stood and wrapped her arm around Hannah’s waist. “I’ll talk to Rachel and try to keep a closer watch, though please tell me you’re returning home before too long? I’m beginning to worry the viscount has plans to keep you locked away in a tower once he recovers and never allow you to leave.”
    “Naomi! You say the most outrageous things. Why on earth would His Lordship want to do that?”
    “For companionship. Because he likes the look of you. To make you pay for bullying him into an unexpected recovery when he may have been reconciled to death. How should I know? You’re the one who has been holed up with him— alone— for days on end.”
    “I have not bullied the man.” Hannah focused on a common complaint, ignoring her sister’s more outlandish suggestions. “Well, no more than was required.” To change the subject, she inquired how the staffing of the estate was fairing and received a thorough, if colourful, report.
       
    “Locked in a tower and never allowed to leave,” Hannah muttered to herself as she climbed the stairs to the master suite.
    “Pardon, miss? Did you say something?” a newly appointed young maid asked with a wobbly curtsy. Her hands were piled high with linens for making up another of the guest rooms in case her new master desired to entertain visitors, a possibility Hannah thought premature.
    “Just thinking aloud, Bess,” she said. “It is Bess, isn’t it?”
    The girl nodded, her cheeks firing with colour.
    “You may carry on.”
    The girl hesitated, and Hannah tilted her head in query.
    “I just wanted to thank ye, Miss Foster. Me gettin’ work ’ere will make all the difference back ’ome.”
    “You’re welcome.” Hannah was aware of her family’s plight. Bess’ father had been seriously injured in a carting accident, and the eldest son would not be returning from the battlefields of France. With the mother busy caring for her husband while earning a paltry income from taking in mending, it left the second son, not yet fourteen and the family’s sole breadwinner, working long hours in the mines. The money Bess earned at the manor would, indeed, make all the difference.
    Bess still didn’t depart, and Hannah sensed she had more to say.
    “Is something the matter?”
    After a furtive glance towards the landing, the young maid leaned in close. “Excuse me for askin’, miss, but the master . . . is he a good man? Me auntie