A True Lady by Edith Layton

Author:Edith Layton [Layton, Edith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Romance
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Published: 2017-06-22T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

“We have a house in Kent,” Magnus was saying, “not too far from the sea. I think you’ll like it. It’s our principal seat and my favorite house. I hope to take you there soon as the weather’s warm enough to make the trip comfortable.”

He had an estate in Kent with more rooms than a blowfish had eggs, Cristabel thought glumly, or so Sophia had said. She paced along at his side as they strolled through Green Park.

“Of course, we’ve also got a snug little place up-country, in a land of lakes and stone circles. It’s wild and magical there. Deep summer’s the best time to go, but it has its enchantments in winter too; if it weren’t such a tedious trip, I’d take you there to see it now. But the inns are as unreliable as the roads are,” Magnus said pensively. “Travel’s no easy thing in this land, especially in winter.”

He owned a mansion on a lake there, as well as half the adjoining town. And his own dairy, greenhouse, and blacksmiths, two coaches, and more horses than she’d seen together in her life. Or so Sophia said.

“Then there’s the place in Wales, beautiful and wild, with a waterfall nearby. But that’s really remote. That’s definitely for another time,” he said, grinning just thinking about himself and Cristabel on their honeymoon, alone together in the warm old house set deep in the forest.

“The finest house my father has is a seagoing one,” Cristabel told him. “It’s the size of a mountain, made from trees from the mountains of the North and fitted out with the best woods from the East besides. His cabin has mahogany floors and a window high as two men and so wide, a child can stretch out to sleep on the ledge in front of it without her feet touching either end. It shows the sea better than the eye of a whale does, far and wide and to the horizon, The sunlight sparkling off the water shows off his beautiful carpets and bed dressings—all silk and damask from every land that touches the sea. He has fine compasses and maps, spyglasses and sextants, globes, and a desk made of solid oak besides there. He won it. It used to be a Spanish ship—it’s truly a place fit for a pirate king,” she said, her voice growing soft as she traveled back to that magical place in her memory.

“But a ship’s no place for children, except for a visit,” she went on. “The finest house I ever lived in was in old Port Royale, before the quake. It had five rooms and glass at all the windows. But the best place I ever lived was the house I was in when I met Martin. It had two rooms, little green lizards running on the walls, a tin roof, and no glass for anything but holding rum and water. It was surrounded by flowers. It was by the sea, and you could hear it

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