Echoes of Pemberley by Cynthia Ingram Hensley

Author:Cynthia Ingram Hensley [Hensley, Cynthia Ingram]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9781936009190
Publisher: Meryton Press
Published: 2011-11-30T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Ben felt restless and headed off to the stables for a ride. He had much on his mind and wanted more than anything to push Geronimo and himself, to ride hard and fast until they both were sweating and spent. Since he was old enough to take off alone on horseback, Ben Darcy had found solace in his saddle, galloping over land first settled by his ancestors in the seventeenth century. It humbled him, yet at the same time gave him a sense of power. The land engulfed him with a sense of purpose in a world that so often made no sense.

It was on horseback that he first cried for his mother. He was only fourteen years old and had tried to be a man, to be brave. But once the cold November wind hit him and the repetitive sound of the galloping hooves blocked out all other sound, he crumbled; he wailed and screamed and pushed the horse until neither of them could go on. But he had gone on. What was started so long ago would continue through Geoffrey and George and the child Sarah carried.

This was what troubled him about Mary Howell or Aunt Mary as he had known her when he was a boy. How could she have given away her grandson, her flesh and blood, Thomas’s child? Penniless or not, how could she have signed over her grandson’s inheritance and relinquished his claim on Pemberley? And why had she kept the child’s existence from his grandfather? How could he make this right again for both himself and his children . . . and for Wesley Howell?

When Ben reached the stable yard, he saw Sean Kelly at work in the paddock with Thunder. And, to his surprise, Catie sat watching from the top of the post and rail fence. Curious, Ben glanced down at his watch and stepped back in the shadow of the stable door, out of sight.

Now secure in his surroundings, Thunder was frisky and nibbled at Sean’s ear. “We’re friends and all, mate, but I don’t fancy you like that,” Sean admonished the horse who whinnied with great satisfaction, and Catie laughed. Not the girlish sisterly giggle Ben was used to but rather a soft, purposeful laugh that flowed slow and smooth like honey. It suddenly trickled into Bennet Darcy’s brain that his little sister wasn’t the awkward girl he had thought.

Playfully swinging her legs, she waited until she had Sean’s attention and artfully gathered a few windblown tresses and tucked them behind her ear. Her dimples and smiling, half-moon eyes twinkled like gold in water. Ben stood stock-still, shocked to say the least. Surely his sister must know better.

He felt his jaw tighten as he moved toward the two and rested his arms over the fence. Out of the corner of his eye, Ben noticed Catie’s teasing expression fade and the playful feet settle firmly on the rail.

She did know better.

“How is Thunder doing, Sean?”

“Feeling his oats today, Mr. Darcy.” Sean rubbed the animal’s nose.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.