A Scandalous Plan by Donna Lea Simpson

Author:Donna Lea Simpson [Simpson, Donna Lea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance
ISBN: 9781937349738
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 17997798
Publisher: Beyond The Page
Published: 2012-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

• • •

Theresa sat at the table in the breakfast parlor and gazed off out the window in the curved west turret wall. She should be planning the children’s evening. She had received a message from Meadowlark Mansion that James Martindale would bring the children over himself later in the afternoon. Her plan was about to take flight, and she was pleased.

And yet another night of dreams—even without that cursed vervain under her pillow—had left her uneasy. This was not the product of any herb; her own mind had conjured these dreams.

At first in her dream James Martindale, handsome and self-assured as he always was, was behind her, holding her against him and whispering words she could not quite hear. She turned in his arms and he kissed her, gently, and then the dream drifted into hazy imaginings she could not now remember. But then later they sat on the stream bank near her cress bed, and he was holding her hand and telling her that as much as he liked her and appreciated her kind offer of marriage, he could not see attaching himself to a woman of her age.

She was no fool; she knew from whence the dream had come. Sometime during the week or so she had known him, she had become attracted to him. He was handsome but she wasn’t a child, her head turned by a pretty face and smooth manner. This was not like Paolo. She had been so lonely after her mother’s death, and Paolo’s gentle attentions had been a balm to her wounded heart. She had been grasping for happiness, but looking back, she could see how bad a match they would have made.

This was different. Every time she saw James she noted something new to admire. He was gentle, and she admired that trait in a man. As far as she could tell he was rigidly moral, following his own strict beliefs about how a man should act; she could never respect any man who did less.

If he was occasionally hasty in temper, it was no more than her own outbursts of frustration or pique.

But it was what his behavior said about his heart that attracted her. He would sacrifice anything for his children’s benefit, no matter how misguided some might think him. Many would criticize him and believe he was harming his daughter by keeping his son in the household. It was even possible that that was the truth. Many worthy suitors might be repelled by the odd, silent younger brother. But James Martindale was doing his utmost to balance the needs and rights of both his children. Angelica might feel herself ignored, but Theresa had seen the love in James’s eyes when he looked at his daughter. It was there, naked and exposed, for anyone with the will to see it. He loved her with all his heart and would do whatever he could that was consistent with his other child’s good, to benefit her. Theresa had never met,

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