A Proper Governess Should Never. . .

Assist a handsome stranger, alone on an unfamiliar road . . . unless the rake happens to be her new employer. Take a position in a crumbling manor . . . especially if the household staff has been replaced by unruly former soldiers.

Allow her young charge entree to her heart . . . for once done, it will be impossible to maintain proper distance. Permit her charge's uncle a breathtaking kiss under a star- lit sky . . . henceforth she will most certainly lose composure whenever he is near.

And above all, she should never, ever fall completely, irreversibly in love with her employer . . . for nothing good can possibly come of it.