Grasp the Thorn by Jude Knight

Author:Jude Knight [Knight, Jude]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Titchfield Press

What did the old witch say?

Bear asked no questions. Rosa needed time to compose herself, and would not, in any case, want to air her family’s long-standing scandals in Jeffrey’s hearing.

Rosa remained silent during the short drive, but colour had returned to her cheeks by the time Bear handed her down at Rose Cottage.

Rosa went up to check on her father, then joined Bear in the parlour, where the servants had laid out cold meats, pastries, pickled vegetables and fruits. She was calm and contained, as if the incident with Lady Threxton had not happened, but the strain showed around her eyes.

One of the Hesketh girls bustled in and out of the room with tea makings, and coffee for Bear, so private conversation would have to wait.

Instead, Bear described the work on Thorne Hall, and the new workers he planned to hire on Monday. “As you know, we’ve started the demolition, but it will go much faster with the extra hands.” His challenge—or Caleb’s rather—would be to forge teams with both skilled men and laborers, when skilled men were on foreign soil and the laborers all from Kettlesworth.

Rosa was surely just humouring him. Women didn’t care where the money came from, just that it came. Or so he had always believed, but Rose listened carefully, and asked a few pertinent questions.

“Some sort of competition seems to inspire men,” she said. “Could you have a weekly challenge, with a prize for the team that completes their task first? Something they would have to work together to achieve.”

That could do the trick. “I like that idea, Rosa.” He’d discuss it with Caleb, and they’d figure something out.

The meal finished, he invited her to take a walk to the Hall. “You haven’t seen it since we started.” The walk would give them time to chat, and the shrubbery between the Hall and the cottage offered plenty of cover, should he be able to persuade his shy lady that they were unobserved.

His male parts stirred at the thought, somewhat prematurely. He was determined to show proper respect by waiting for their wedding night, difficult though it was when she looked up at him with a demure smile, her face framed by her hat and its ribbon.

Arm in arm, they strolled through the gate that gave quick access to the Hall, along one of the bridle paths of the estate. First, the path from the cottage wound through a thicket of hazel, which looked as if it had been coppiced regularly for generations, and untouched for years. Another task for his list of all that was needed to make the property marketable, but currently an ideal spot for dalliance.

He looked back to check, and sure enough, he could see nothing but hazels. The same ahead and to both sides. Rosa had stopped when he did. She watched him, eyes wide, a light flush colouring her cheeks. She curled her lower lip into her mouth and ran the top teeth over it, and the salacious images that action prompted had him groaning.

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