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Chapter 53
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My Mother’s Choice Chapter 54
Everything had been going so well; the evening was not going to end like this. There had to be a way to stop it. She wouldfind Authur and beg him to take her home. She doubted that Archie would bother to ruin her if her husband was not thereto hear the story.She searched the ballroom, the card room, and other surrounding rooms, but Authur was nowhere to be found. Time was running out. She must come up with another plan. You could meet him, suggested a small voice in her mind, and let him do his worst and be done. No one might be the wiser. It was what Lady Danbury would have done.‘No.’ She said it aloud. She would not meet him, not to preserve any more secrets from her husband. She would die first.If someone must die, why must it be you? said the matter- of-fact voice in her head. You are only a foolish girl, trapped in circumstances. But Lord Archie—he is the one who trapped you. He is evil. And while he lives, he will be a danger to,you, and to your husband, the man he longs to
My Mother’s Choice Chapter 55
They rode home in silence. He stared ahead into the darkness, and she was afraid to disturb him. She made a few tentative attempts at apology and he stared down at her, as though he was unsure where the noise was coming from.When he pulled the carriage into the drive, he dropped the reins for the groom and strode into the house with her following in his wake.He tossed his greatcoat on the bench in the hall, not waiting for the servant to take it, and turned back to her. ‘Madam, attend to me.’Then he turned way again and strode to the stairs and up them.There would be a scene. It was better, when it came, that they were alone. There was no point in the servants knowing what a disaster the night had been.It would be a miracle if it were just words he was bottling up. The line of his back as it advanced up the stairs in front of her was as rigid as an iron bar.What if she had provoked Authur to violence? It was too late to claim that it was no fault of hers. That she had been tricke
My Mother’s Choice Chapter 56
He was in trouble. He knew it in his bones. It wasn’t the misery that ate at him, or the loneliness. He’d grown used to it.It was the feeling that a change was coming. The sense that something wonderful lay just around the corner, only to see his hopes dashed and to find he’d given his heart to a woman who did not want him.‘Good morning.’ She’d come into the breakfast room so quietly that he hadn’t heard. And her voice was hoarse, as though she’d cried herself to sleep after creeping back to her room in the night. Unable to rest, he had gone to the library in search of the brandy bottle and when he returned she was gone from his bed.‘Good morning,’ he responded. What else could he say to her? What apology could he offer? What explanation could he give that would take the bitterness out of this morning?She’d come into his life, unwilling. He’d laughed to himself that his mother had chosen the perfect bride, a woman just as unhappy as he was. It would be a case of like drawing to li
My Mother’s Choice Chapter 57
He kept good his promise and stayed away all day and into the evening, leaving her to dine alone. Perhaps he meant toforget by avoiding anything that reminded him of her. Perhaps he intended to stay away for months at a time, visiting occasionally to try to get her with child.She gritted her teeth. Lady Danbury was right. The only way her position would be secure in the house was with a baby in arms. And if he intended to come home at all, she would be ready for him. She summoned Parton and requested a bath and her best nightrail. Then she sat at the edge of her bed and waited, listening for the telltale sounds from next door.The clock crept forward, hour by hour, and it was almost midnight when she was ready to give up. Perhaps, if she crept into his room through the adjoining door, he could find her in his own bed, if he came home.If.She would have to do something, she realised, or she would go mad wondering. She tested the doorknob and, as it had the first night, it gave in he
My Mother’s Choice Chapter 58
His tone was dry. ‘Very well. You do not prefer my brother to the workhouse. And where do I stand? My brother thinks I’ve spent ten years in the fleshpots of Europe without learning to appreciate a beautiful woman when I find one under my own roof.’‘Beautiful?’ The word echoed in her mind.‘Gwen.’ He smiled and touched her lip. ‘There is a statue in a Paris museum, of a Greek goddess. I visited her often, since the sight of her made me want to climb the plinth and lick the marble.And when you stand in the doorway with the light illuminating your body, I detect a startling resemblance.’‘Oh.’ She squirmed under his weight.‘Am I making you uncomfortable?’‘No,’ she murmured.He released her wrists and slid off her body to lie beside her, his hand resting on her hip so that she could feel the warmth of it through the fabric.‘Of course, you have many other qualities that I find admirable.’‘Really?’ She suspected that he was teasing, but was at a loss as to why.‘You have a quick wit a
My Mother’s Choice Chapter 59
Gwen stared up into her husband’s face as he sat before the fire, sipping his port. Evenings were her favourite time of day, when the house was putting itself to bed and the day’s duties were done. She thought back to how worried she’d been, when the silences between them had seemed so oppressive.As time passed, and they’d found happiness, the silence had grown richer than words. He could sit for hours staring into the fire, but now he smiled instead of scowled, and closed his eyes, at peace with her and with himself. And she sat beside him, dozing with her head on his shoulder or in his lap, while he stroked her hair.She hated to break the silence tonight, but it was time, she thought, to ask the things she wanted to know. And it would be better now, when he was relaxed and happy, than waiting until he might be less receptive to her. ‘Authur?’‘Yes, my love.’‘There is something I would ask of you.’‘Anything, My Lady. Anything for you.’She sighed. ‘I am not so sure if you know wh
My Mother’s Choice Chapter 60
‘What are you doing here?’ She tried to keep the quaver out of her voice.‘Waiting for you.’‘How—?’‘—Did I come here? How did I get in?’ He smiled, and it was the same cheerful grin he’d used to woo her. His tone,was light, but the glint in his eyes was deadly serious.‘It is not so hard, once you have the keys. Mrs Martha still hates you, you know. But she was always quite fond of me. She’s working at an inn on the main road. When you let her go, you should have thought to ask for the second set of keys. She was most forthcoming with them when I wanted them.’‘And what—?’‘Do I want from you? Why don’t you stop asking questions and let me finish, Gwen. For that is what I want. To finish the business between us.’‘There is nothing between us. We are finished, Archie.’Her voice gave lie to the words.His held the same annoying confidence. ‘I beg to differ.We are finished when I say we are finished.’She turned to grab for the door handle and saw, out of the corner of her eye, the p
My Mother’s Choice Chapter 61
And suddenly the connecting door burst open and Authur strode into the room. There was a look of murder in his eyes.‘I can explain,’ she began.‘You don’t have to explain. I can guess what happened,’ he growled. ‘Stand aside.’ His eye on the pistol, he stepped in front of her. ‘Keep out of the way, My Lady. Go into my room and wait for me there. This will be over soon enough.Archie, get down off the bed and let us settle this once and for all.’‘Authur, no.’ She tried to step in front of him, but he pushed her back. ‘I will not leave you.’ Not while St John still held his pistol and her husband stood before him unarmed.‘Brother, I didn’t expect you so soon.’ Archie arms opened wide and he smiled as he swung his feet off the bed.Authur’s eyes followed the pistol as it veered off target.‘You invade my house and force yourself into my wife’s bedchamber and do not expect that I will find you? The servants have been warned. If they value their jobs, they will tell me of your presence.
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