A Summons From Danby Castle

Author:Jerrica Knight-Catania & Samantha Grace & Olivia Kelly & Marie Higgins & Lily George [Knight-Catania, Jerrica & Grace, Samantha & Kelly, Olivia & Higgins, Marie & George, Lily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: christmas, regency romance, castle, love at first sight, duke, alpha male
Goodreads: 25840988
Publisher: Smashwords Edition
Published: 2015-07-06T16:00:00+00:00

Julian whirled on Pen as soon as Felicity pulled the door closed. Fury rippled through him, beginning someplace deep inside. His body quaked in the aftermath and he pointed a tremulous finger at his cousin. “You!”

Pen’s eyes rounded. “How have I angered you? I am allowing her to have the money. I thought you would be satisfied.”

“Well, I’m not.” Julian stormed to his trunk and threw open the lid before rifling inside for a clean shirt.

“I fail to understand the nature of your upset. After what she did for our family, I can’t very well deny her payment.”

Julian tossed the clean shirt on the bed and ripped the one he was wearing over his head. “How long do you think fifteen hundred pounds will last? Soon enough, she will be risking her safety again by stealing into brothels and sneaking down back alleys.”

Pulling the other shirt on, he turned back to Pen. “What if someone else had accosted her the night she left the theatre? Think how easy it was to pluck her off the streets.”

Pen fingered his nose, jiggling it back and forth. “You possess a horrible memory, Jul. There was nothing easy about it. I still can’t believe my nose was unbroken.”

Julian tucked the ends of his shirt into his waistband. “My point is Felicity is no match for two men wishing her harm.”

“Three. You forgot to count yourself.”

His anger flared. “I wish no harm to come to her.”

“Neither do I.” Pen rose from the seat with a frown. “I am not without sympathy for her, but I don’t know what more it is you want me to do.”

“Nothing more,” Julian snapped and returned to his trunk to retrieve his shaving kit.

“I suppose I could make certain she has a good meal before she leaves.” When Julian replied with a grunt, Pen sighed and moved toward the door. “Do you wish to see her off?”

“No.”

As the door to his chamber closed, the truth of his response hit him. He didn’t want to see Felicity off, because he didn’t want her to go. Returning her to the life she had been living the last three years was unthinkable, but even more troubling was the selfishness brewing inside him.

He didn’t want to let her go. He wished to run with her and keep her. Shaking his head, he moved to the washstand and poured water into the bowl. Felicity would never abandon her mother and sister nor would he ask her to do so.

Julian lathered his face and set the razor to his whiskered jaw. Although, there was nothing barring him from inviting her family along. After the fortune he’d made in India, two more ladies under his care would hardly be a hardship. He had planned to rent rooms in Town, but he could just as easily acquire lodgings in the country. Perhaps someplace warmer, given the ailment afflicting Felicity’s mother. In the carriage, she had mentioned a trip to Bath when she returned to her family to allow her mother to take treatments for her arthritic limbs.