Today, I’m delighted to be celebrating the upcoming release of A Governess To Redeem Him by Lotte R. James by sharing an extract from the novel with you. I am a huge fan of Lotte’s writing and I am sure you will be too after you’ve read the following extract. Enjoy!
Having had a disastrous first encounter with Artemis, who she’d hoped would be her theatre’s saviour, Ruth despairs of her situation to her best friend Thomas…
‘You’re dead,’ Juliana declared, those dark brown eyes of hers which had once hypnotised him, now as cold as he needed them to be, still focusing as she chased away the remnants of unconsciousness.
The placidity, the certainty, the regret contained in that comment, might’ve injured him, had they not bolstered him, reminding him of who he faced now.
Not the girl you loved; if indeed she ever was.
She may be the reason you’re here, but she isn’t the reason for your return.
With those reminders, the memories shut themselves away into nothingness, and he smiled most wickedly. Juliana studied him questioningly, slowly forcing herself back into the now as she pulled herself to sitting weakly.
He and his heart almost went out to her.
Almost.
‘You’re dead,’ she repeated, her voice a scratchy whisper, laced with less conviction. ‘I watched you die.’
‘I wasn’t the first to survive too short a drop, and I shan’t be the last. Though it was mercy which spared me any further attempts.’
‘How…?’
‘That isn’t a story to concern yourself with, nor which has any bearing on the matter at hand.’
‘Which is?’ Juliana asked flatly, that great, steely strength and mind he recalled in full view. There you are, my darling. ‘If it is my torturous punishment, rest assured there is nothing you could dream up which would rival what I’ve done to myself, though I’ll admit your recent hauntings were rather effective. Whyever it is you are here, tell me, and be done with it, for the house will be awake in a few hours, and I am tired.’
Sebastian sneered, shaking his head.
He’d never felt Juliana’s famed coldness, he’d always seen through it, to the strength, rationality, warmth, and vulnerability beneath it. Not even in those fateful days during his own trial when he’d felt her distance, her betrayal, her silence, had he felt it, but now…
All these years, he’d made excuses, telling himself so many things which now were moot, for he saw plainly how right they’d all been; whatever he’d thought he’d seen in her had either never existed, or was long gone.
She is the unfeeling wretch they said her to be, and that will make this all much easier.
‘You cannot think of another reason I might come after you?’ he taunted, determined to elicit some reaction, because…
Well, there was no because; there couldn’t be, as all he wanted—needed—was her cooperation.
Nothing else, including an emotional reaction, he reminded himself.
‘I may not know the man you are, but the man you were would never…’
Juliana trailed off, stopping herself from speaking a lie.
‘Hurt you? Kill?’ he finished mockingly, grinning. Juliana clenched her jaw, and looked away, staring unseeing at the perfect stripes of the wall-hangings. There was something about the gesture, what he’d glimpsed in her gaze before she turned away… Do not start imagining things. ‘Eighteen years…it’s been long enough. I thought I could live without the truth, live my second chance through, only as it happens, I cannot. So here I am, come to take you home, Juliana.’
Now, that elicited a reaction; Juliana’s wide eyes found him, fear and refusal painted within them.
‘No.’
‘No?’
‘Is that monosyllabic word somehow unclear, Sebastian?’
On a growl, Sebastian stepped forth, his arms uncrossing as his fists clenched, intent on…well, he wasn’t entirely sure, which was entirely distressing.
It wasn’t as if he would ever harm Juliana, yet as she was now, calm, biting, and unmoving, still tucked beneath those covers as though nothing extraordinary or in any way worthy of some interest was coming to pass, was unnerving, and infuriating. How dare she, how could she be so calm, so placid, when he—
Ah, now that was the problem. He wasn’t in control and for this, for all that would come to pass for he would make it so, he needed to be. Taking a deep breath, he settled, stalking forth until he was at the foot of her bed.
If he wasn’t approaching any further, it was because he didn’t need to, certainly not because he feared closer proximity with every ounce of his being.
‘My sincerest apologies if I in any manner implied you had a choice, Juliana.’
‘How precisely do you intend to bend me to your will? Will you kidnap me, shackle me, and drag me with you? Or perhaps will you threaten me with bodily harm or the revelation of secrets? I have no secrets great enough to compel me to do your bidding, and I know you would never hurt me, nor anyone I hold dear enough to place myself in jeopardy for,’ Juliana taunted, her temper flaring, taking Sebastian’s own with it, for it was naught but the truth.
He couldn’t compel her; he’d counted on surprise, and guilt being powerful enough allies, he’d counted on—
Nonsense. Fix it; there are other ways.
‘You would go to your grave, meet your maker, with this travesty of justice on your conscience?’ he asked, attempting to appeal to her rational mind, since her heart seemed now entirely frozen over. Ah yes, using theology to underline rationality; very effective on such a person as her. ‘You would live your life, content in having enabled lies to breathe and breed?’
‘Justice was served. You were tried, convicted, and sentenced, though you apparently survived that meted out to you, so call it a miracle from that God you always believed in, be grateful, and go live this new life of yours. You can die satisfied that in the next life, His judgement will prevail.’
‘I’ve tried!’ Sebastian screamed, rage, and pain taking hold as they hadn’t in a very long time. ‘Tried to have faith in the God I once believed in, and accept my fate, only I cannot. Eighteen years, Juliana, I’ve lived as a man not myself, yet with the sins of another on my soul, unable to live truly free! I deserve justice in this life, and I deserve to see the true beast punished for his own crimes! I did not kill them, and I will not die with that stain on my name! I will have the world see the truth at last: I did not kill them!’
Silence echoed around them, as they stared at each other, he willing her to see, to understand, to take pity, remember what they’d once shared, and…
That is the hope talking. The hope which cannot be slain, and forces me to want her to believe me.
For this to go any other way than even now I know it must.
I’m sure you are now desperate to read the rest of the book, I know I am! A Governess To Redeem Him will be released in ebook and paperback formats on 27 March and you can order your copy here.
Lotte James trained as an actor and theatre director, but spent most of her life working day jobs crunching numbers whilst dreaming up stories of love and adventure. She’s thrilled to finally be writing those stories, and when she’s not scribbling on tiny pieces of paper, she can usually be found wandering the countryside for inspiration, or nestling with coffee and a book.
