Cheryl Holt by Complete Abandon

Author:Complete Abandon [Abandon, Complete]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

JOHN trotted his horse to the break in the trees and reined in, stretching his legs in the stirrups as he surveyed the pitiful scene before him. The estate agent had been explicit in his directions, so there was no doubt that he had the correct location.

His fascinating, amazing Emma lived here? How could it be?

While he’d known that her home was within walking distance of the manor, in his usual detached fashion, he hadn’t paid attention to her domestic arrangements. As he didn’t spend much time with commoners, particularly poverty-stricken ones, it hadn’t occurred to him that someone with whom he’d formed such an intimate bond could exist in such squalor.

Chagrin had delivered him to her door, though not the fiasco with Caroline. His abashment was due to the disconcerting fact that he’d finally noted she was on his original list of evictions.

Why hadn’t she said anything? Why hadn’t he noticed sooner?

He’d been sitting at his desk in the library, too distracted to accomplish any work. The ledgers had been strewn about, but he’d kept gazing at the fainting couch, daydreaming about how Emma had lain with him there.

In between his erotic ramblings, he’d pondered Caro, her resolution to come, her refusal to go. She was so habitually tractable that he couldn’t comprehend what had happened to make her so adamant about remaining. She was so sweet-tempered that he’d never been able to put his foot down with her and mean it. If he knew how to be stern, she wouldn’t still be tagging after him, confident they would wed.

In the midst of his scattered musings, he’d glanced down at the names of those scheduled for removal, and the surname Fitzgerald had leapt out at him. After a few quick questions to his agent, he’d ascertained the devastating truth: Emma, her mother, and her sister were some of the purported reprobates he’d intended to render homeless.

During the extensive, agreeable hours they’d passed, she hadn’t said a word! Had never hinted at her plight or pleaded her case. How typical of her. Tending to everyone else’s needs first, declining to fret over her own miserable condition.

If he wasn’t so worried about her, he’d be furious. Didn’t she realize that, with the stroke of his pen, her troubles could have been solved? From the moment they’d met, she’d been pressuring him to perform some of her accursed good deeds, but could she let him toss a bit of his largesse her way? No, she could not!

Who was more deserving? Emma made him smile, brought him joy, provided him with copious reasons to be a better person. She pushed him to find a viable purpose for the detested responsibilities his title and heritage had placed upon him.

Gad, but she furnished him with an incentive to stay sober! No small feat!

Most of all, she was his friend. Outside of Ian, who could claim the dubious distinction? She liked him, relishing the good and fussing over the bad. She was constantly optimistic, and when he shared her pleasant company, she made his adversities seem petty and negligible.

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