THE GAME AND THE GOVERNESS - Kate Noble
Pocket Books
ISBN-10: 1-4767-4938-8
ISBN-13: 978-1-4767-4938-9
August 2014
Historical Romance

England - 1822

Lord Edward Granville, Early of Ashby, earned the name 'Lucky Ned' during the war and the Battle of Waterloo, mostly for his luck at cards but also for his part in saving his captain, John Turner. John is now his secretary, but disgruntled as he is trying against bad luck to keep his family's mill going. They make a bet to trade places and see if Edward can earn a lady's love without his title. If he cannot, John wins five thousand pounds, which he needs to restore his mill, and John will do whatever it takes to win and still follow the rules of their game. Then Edward learns where their ruse will take place: Hollyhock, the village where the previous earl, his great-uncle, found him at age twelve and removed him from his mother's care to raise as the next earl. John's excuse for the visit is to evaluate an offer made for the cottage and the adjacent land left Edward by his mother. Their mutual friend Dr. Rhys Gray, also known since the war, will determine the winner. Edward bribes his valet to serve John and not Edward, so he is the fourth to take part in this game. Surprisingly, at Puffington Abbey, the largest manor in the county, some knew Edward as a boy, yet none recognize him, so the wager is on.

Phoebe Baker, the governess to the Widcoate's two children at Puffington Abbey, hates the Earl of Ashby. His actions led to her father's financial ruin and his death, and led just as certainly to Phoebe's reduced circumstances. She has a plan to escape, though, by saving money for a trip to America to join her cousins in Connecticut. Imagine her upset at learning the earl will be staying at Puffington Abbey!

It is hard to envision two men who survived Waterloo together, sinking into such a juvenile prank. This might initially alienate the reader, because every reader will imagine what can go wrong; and it does. Edward acts inappropriately, but he is not the only one in the household who behaves inexcusably. He learns while the 'ladies'—as part of their hostess's stratagem, there are many eligible women staying in the manor—want no part of the earl's secretary, but the governess fits the rules of the game allowing him to start his seduction. Too late he realizes how much trouble he has caused. John, now acting as the Earl of Ashby, is a quiet and reticent man and remains disguised to the reader, but both he and Edward have to face the consequences of what they have done with so little thought. The one person with integrity and ethics and determined to make it on her own is Phoebe. The story highlights the plight of women in this age of indulgence, but certainly part of the charm of this story lays in the characters facing their pasts, realizing their mistakes, and learning what amends will cost. Whether events and relationships will work out the way the two men desire, and how readers feel about the results, is revealed in the reading.

Robin Lee