The Companion

by Deborah Simmons

Genres: Historical Romance; Regency Romance; Romance

Synopsis

Chloe Gibbons is relieved to secure a position as a companion even if her employer is the cantankerous Dowager Countess of Hawthorne. But she soon learns that the dowager isn’t the one who needs her the most.

Kit Armstrong hasn’t been interested in anything since he was wounded at Waterloo, not the earldom or the ton beauties his grandmother parades in front of him. But something about the dowager countess’s new companion makes him wonder if life might be worth living again.

♥ A wounded war hero

♥ A reluctant companion

♥ A meddling old lady

♥ Feel-good Regency novella

From USA Today bestselling author and two-time RITA Finalist Deborah Simmons: a standalone Regency novella.

Release date: August 12, 2026

Publisher: Bennett Street Books

Print pages: 94

Sample

Chloe Gibbons took one look at the elegant country house before her and nearly turned around. Hawthorne Park was a vast estate, as she had seen from the coach, with great green lawns rolling into the distance toward tall trees, beautiful grottos, and picturesque ponds. Neat gravel walks, mown turf, and an endless variety of plants and shrubs were all artfully arranged. That had been intimidating enough, but the house itself was a huge structure in the French style boasting rows upon rows of windows set in burnished stone. How was she ever to get on here? Longing for her old, cozy cottage, Chloe swallowed hard. But the cottage was not hers, and its occupants had no place for her. Nor could she afford her own household. Long accustomed to occupying that middle ground between the lower gentry and the noblemen beyond her reach, Chloe had always felt out of place. But now she was well and truly adrift, with nowhere to go until the message from the dowager had arrived. To Chloe's lesser relatives, the Dowager Countess of Hawthorne was spoken of in awe as a well-bred woman of no great family who had married above herself into wealth and privilege. Chloe, who had met the countess only once, held a more jaundiced view. She remembered a haughty old woman who ordered everyone about, made outrageous demands, and possessed the manners of a goat. Naturally, she had been less than thrilled at the chance to serve as a paid companion to the lady. But what choice did she have? Her relations had proclaimed the offer a godsend, and so here she was, determined to make the best of what surely could only be a miserable position. Taking a deep breath, Chloe tried to put a good face on it. The place could not be as big as it looked, and even if it was, that meant that she could put some distance between herself and her employer. Hopefully. She released a sigh, still unsure exactly why the dowager would be interested in her company. She had servants aplenty to order about and wait upon her. What did she need with Chloe? Great-Aunt Theodosia had claimed that Chloe's reputation for aiding the infirm had gone before her, but she found it hard to believe that the dowager was in any way ailing, despite her cane. And although Chloe had often been proclaimed a saint for her care of her father, it had been no great task. Papa had been undemanding and grateful for her help, especially after his gout became so painful he could not move from his chair. And Chloe had not resented giving what had been second nature to her. Some said she should have had a Season in London, but there had never been much money, and who would have taken care of Papa? Besides, she was not one for fancy dresses and entertainment, preferring the quiet of home and hearth and garden.  With a sigh, Chloe noted the irony of that, for nothing could be farther from the small world she had cherished than the historic seat of the Hawthorne earldom. Its splendor represented a heritage of wealth and power and privilege far beyond her imagining. And although the surrounding lands gave an impression of bucolic beauty and quiet, Chloe was not so naive as to expect any peace with the dowager countess as her employer.