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The Impossible Earl
by
Sarah Westleigh
MILLS BOON
Makes anytime special
 
Would nothing deter her?
He smiled on a sudden thought. "You have not yet seen the
accommodation, Miss Vincent," he reminded her.
"Nor have I inspected your gambling hell," she returned with patently
false affability. "At what hour do you close?"
"At three in the morning, Miss Vincent." His lips twitched with quite
irrepressible amusement. "You are determined to stay? It would be
highly improper in you to do so."
 
Sarah Westleigh has enjoyed a varied life. Working as a local
government officer in London, she qualified as a chartered quantity
surveyor. She assisted her husband in his chartered accountancy
practice, at the same time managing an employment agency. Moving to
Devon, she finally found time to write, publishing short stories and
articles, before discovering historical novels.
Recent titles by the same author:
JOUSTING WITH SHADOWS
A HIGHLY IRREGULAR FOOTMAN
SEAFIRE
THE OUTRAGEOUS DOWAGER
FELON'S FANCY
Sarah Westleigh
MILLS BOON'
 
DID YOU PURCHASE THIS BOOK WITHOUT A COVER?
If you did, you should be aware it is stolen property as it was
reported unsold and destroyed by a retailer. Neither the Author nor
the publisher has received any payment for this book. 411 the
characters' in this book have no existence outside the imagination of
the author. and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same
name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual
known or unknown to the author. and all the incidents are pure
invention. 411 Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in
whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement
with Harlequin Enterprises H B.V. The text of this publication or any
Part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means. electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording.
storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the
written permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of
trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated
without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or
cover' other than that in which it is published and without a similar
condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent
purchaser.
MILLS BOON and MILLS & BOON with the Rose Device are registered
trademarks of the publisher:
First published in Great Britain 1997
Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited,
Eton House. 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond. Surrey Tlg9 ISR
Sarah Westleigh 1997
ISBN 0 263 80505 0
Se in Times !0 on 12 pt. by
Rowland Photo.typesetting Limited Bur."v St. Edmunds, Suffolk
04-9802-71853 .
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Caledonian International Book
Manufacturing Limited, Glasgow
 
Chapter One
"A legacy?"
The faint frown which appeared between Leonora's well-defined brows
served only to emphasise her excellent complexion and its general
freedom from lines. Her eyes, grey liberally flecked with blue and
green within a dark outer rim, widened on the elderly solicitor, who
had written for an appointment and undertaken the long and tiring
journey from London to Buckinghamshire especially to see her.
Mr. Warwick wiped the lenses of his spectacles and put them back on
his bulbous, large-pored nose, winding the wires of the frame about his
ears.
"Did you not expect it, Miss Vincent?" he asked, his watery blue eyes,
set beneath white brows, surprised. "Mr. Charles Vincent did not
inform you of his intention to name you as his heir?"
"No," said Leonora. She made a quick gesture with her hands. "He was
kind to me as a child, but I have not seen or heard from my great-uncle
for many years. I had supposed that my uncle the Earl would have
benefited upon Uncle Vincent's death."
She sat on a sofa in the morning room of Thornestone Park, her feet
together, her hands folded neatly on the dove-grey muslin of her gown.
On no account must she show the excitement, the elation growing inside
her. Her Uncle Vincent, the Honourable Charles Vincent, younger
brother to her grandfather, who had been the Earl of Chelstoke, had not
been rich, but as far as he knew he had not been stricken by poverty
either.
There should be something to come--unless, of course, he had died
heavily in debt, like his nephew her father. That disaster had left
the Honourable Peregrine Vincent's wife and daughter homeless and
penniless. His wife had not possessed the strength of character to
survive and had speedily followed her husband to the grave.
Leonora, on the threshold of life, made of sterner stuff and valuing
above everything her independence, had come here, to Thornestone Park,
as governess to Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Farling's two daughters. She had
not thought to be trapped for seven long years but now, suddenly, when
she was almost at her last prayers and faced with the problem of
finding another, most probably uncongenial, position, the prospect of
freedom seemed something too precious to be hoped for.
"As I understood my client's mind, Miss Vincent," went on the lawyer in
his dry voice, 'he remembered you with great affection. Knowing that
you had not been offered a home with your uncle the Earl and had not
yet found a husband to provide for you, he sought to ease your
situation with this legacy."
"My uncle did offer me a home," said Leonora honestly.
"But you did not accept?"
"No. I would rather earn my living as a governess than live as a poor
relation at the beck and call of Lady Chelstoke and her brood."
A faint smile touched the whisk cry lips of the lawyer. "I see. I
 

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