Fallen by Celeste Bradley

Author:Celeste Bradley [Bradley, Celeste]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical, Regency
ISBN: 9781466807389
Google: _j-IUcAHzqwC
Amazon: 1250017254
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2012-11-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

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When Izzy entered her room, Betty looked up from where she sat mending a lace hem. Both gown and needle slid unnoticed to the floor as the little maid flew to her side.

Izzy put one palm up sharply, forestalling any questions. Gulping, Betty nodded and silently helped her out of. the destroyed gown. The little maid caught her breath at the evidence of grass and garden in the folds of the fabric, and placed the dress in the bottom of the wardrobe.

"Perhaps a nice warm bath, miss?"

Izzy closed her eyes in grief. Yes, a bath was definitely called for. While she waited for heated water to be brought, Betty brushed out her hair, discreetly removing more vegetation from the tangled strands.

The two were silent, the crackling of the fire the only sound. Betty's brush moved slowly through Izzy's hair, finding tender spots where Julian had inadvertently pulled it.

A sense of unreality swept Izzy, a feeling that this was a strange dream, and in the morning she would awaken, relieved. Did she wish it had not happened?

It had been glorious, and it had been a disaster. It occurred to her that she was good and truly ruined, now. That bothered her not.

No, she could honestly say she regretted nothing she had done. A lifetime of probable solitude stretched before her. If this had been her only opportunity to know passion, then she was glad, fiercely glad, that she had not turned it away.

She had given herself in love and found that she could accept that. She only wished that she had been loved in return. But, wishes carried no beggars, and Julian would never love her.

It was unfair to expect it, really, she scolded herself. She had never asked him to love her. In fact, she had made it quite obvious that she enjoyed the freedom of being considered a woman of low virtue. She couldn't fault Julian for that misconception. She had only herself to blame.

Goodness, he had caught her in an embrace with Eric! Why shouldn't he think her a lightskirt? For a moment she allowed herself the fantasy that he had been jealous because he truly loved her, then she squelched it, firmly. There would be no more building of cloud castles here. That was what put her in this position to begin with.

When the bath arrived, she slid deep into its water. One advantage of her small stature had always been the relative luxury of tub size. Submerging to her ears, she let the soft lapping of the water soothe her.

She ached, was a little bruised and tender between her legs and on her breasts. And while the heat of the bath stole into her throbbing muscles, relaxing them, nothing could relax her aching heart.

Tonight was an end. Ends were the past, and the past had never been something she allowed herself to dwell on. One made mistakes, and one learned from them. Tomorrow, she would begin anew.

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