He strikes her as a man trying to get her story so as to spread the gossip amongst the servants and she is having none of it. Serena is aware of the existence of the Wolf of Clermont but does not recognize that that is Hugo. The Duke tells Hugo a story about Serena, that it’s a misunderstanding over employment, but Hugo decides to investigate for himself. She seats herself on a bench outside the Duke’s home with the aim of forcing the man to do what is right and just by her. Serena Barton is a young woman who had been employed as a governess. Hugo is trying to get the Duke to apologize to his wife and get back in her good graces when another problem lands, almost literally, on their doorstep. Indeed, the Duke’s new wife is quite wealthy, but she has left the Duke after learning of his infidelity. Hugo had hoped that an advantageous marriage would be the answer to their prayers. In addition to a gambling problem, the Duke is a womanizer. Hugo also tries to get the Duke to change his profligate ways. Hugo is known for his ruthlessness instead of threatening physical harm, he learns the secrets of the men who own the Duke’s debts and threatens to reveal them and ruin the men unless they agree to more favorable terms. Rather than work for a salary, Hugo promises to help the Duke out of his financial predicament in return for a cut of whatever profit there is at the end of his service. Hugo, aka The Wolf of Clermont, does not get paid for his services, at least not yet. He isn’t “security” for the Duke, but rather a financial manager trying to help the Duke get out of debt and increase his own wealth. Hugo had success as a pugilist and now serves as the right hand man to the Duke of Clermont. Hugo Marshall is the son of a coal miner.

The story takes place in 1835 London and features two characters who live along the edges of the upper class. This novella contains a lot of interesting period detail and characters who find themselves in the unique position to take risks and forge their own paths. My fellow Cannonballers did not steer me wrong. It is the first story Milan published, it is the start of a series that contains several well loved novels, and apparently Milan herself recommends it as a starting point. I received immediate responses from quite a few people, and the novella The Governess Affair was the winner. It occurred to me that I have been following Courtney Milan on Twitter even though I’d never read any of her books, so I put out a call on the CBR Facebook page for suggestions on where to begin with Milan’s work. It’s a genre that I feel like I have overlooked, even though I did start CBR15 with a delightful collection of Georgette Heyer stories. I knew when I saw the “genre” category on the CBR15Passport that I wanted to have romance in there.

The governess affair by courtney milan