63
" Chase!” she cried. At last, he surfaced. Not in the center of the lake, but close to the bank, taking her unawares. He emerged from the water with a spray of fanfare, his translucent shirt pasted to his torso and his hair slicked back. Like Poseidon rising from the sea—hoisting a waterlogged doll in place of a trident. Chase Reynaud, god of the Serpentine. And oh, he looked ready to enjoy a bit of worship. He grinned at her, the horrid man. As if he hadn’t just given her the fright of her life, and the past ten minutes were an expected element of any outing in Hyde Park. He presented the doll to Daisy. “She took in some water, but I think she’ll pull through.” Instead of hugging the doll, Daisy attached herself to Chase’s leg, clinging to him with all four limbs. Alex rather wished she could do the same. Chase shook his leg, and Daisy held tight. He looked to Alex. “You’re the sailor. How does one remove a barnacle? "
― Tessa Dare , The Governess Game (Girl Meets Duke, #2)
64
" If you hurt her, in even the slightest way, I will eviscerate you.” “Understood.” “I mean it, Reynaud. In fact, gutting would be too good for you. I will subject you to my cat.” “Your cat?” Chase laughed. “To mewl at me, I suppose.” “Trust me. We’re not speaking of the average cat.” Alexandra spoke up. “I can attest to this.” “I’ll strip you bare, tie your hands behind your back, smear salmon on your manly bits, and lock the two of you in a wardrobe. Once he’s clawed your ballocks to shreds, I’ll crush whatever remains of you to a bloody, formless pulp. "
― Tessa Dare , The Governess Game (Girl Meets Duke, #2)
66
" Nebulae are clouds of stardust floating in space. Star clusters are just as they sound. Stars appear so close together in the sky, they’re sometimes mistaken for one object. My favorite smudge, however, isn’t a nebula or cluster. It’s Messier’s number 40. A double star. Perhaps even a binary star.” “Oh, truly.” And with that, he was back to the earlobe. She bent to peer through the eyepiece. “A binary star is created when two stars are drawn together. Once they come near enough, neither one can resist the other’s pull. They’re stuck together forever, destined to spend eternity revolving about each other, like . . . like dancers in a waltz, I suppose.” She scribbled a note in her notebook. “The fascinating thing is, a binary star’s center of gravity isn’t in one star or the other. It’s in the empty space between them. "
― Tessa Dare , The Governess Game (Girl Meets Duke, #2)
68
" We’re going to tea at Lady Penny’s house,” Daisy said. “We’ve been two weeks in a row now. She’s Miss Mountbatten’s friend, and she has a hedgehog. And an otter named Hubert, and a goat named Marigold, and a two-legged dog named Bixby, and a heap of other animals.” “Literally,” Rosamund interjected. “Literally a heap.” “Today, I’m allowed to pet the hedgehog if I remember my manners. Also, Miss Teague bakes the scrummiest biscuits. "
― Tessa Dare , The Governess Game (Girl Meets Duke, #2)