In the Money With You: A Victorian Historical Romance (The Ladies Alpine Society Book 2) by Edie Cay

Author:Edie Cay [Cay, Edie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2024-11-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

One night in Thornridge was not enough.

Nor was two.

On the third morning, she awoke to what seemed like a dream. The cottage Leo had procured was small but lovely: one large room, with an enclosed stove and a ready supply of coal (which they did not need nor use), and east-west facing windows that let in beautiful amounts of long-summer light. There was a pasture nearby, not close enough for them to smell the sweet scent of manure or compost, but near enough to hear the light tinkling of bells around the animals’ necks. Whether they were on cows or sheep, Prudence didn’t know or care.

Hampers of food were delivered to a nearby tree stump, pre-arranged by Leo, which gave them utmost privacy.

While the bells were tinkling in the distance, the sun from the opened window heated her shoulder, and the cotton sheets slid soft and smooth across her naked skin. She slept on her stomach when Leo wasn’t in bed. And his side was cool and emptied. But she could see his shoulder from the window, sitting in one of the garden chairs.

There was not another house for miles. The thick trees of the forest made it impossible for anyone to see them unless they were explicitly spied upon. Prudence loved it. She felt free and unwatched and relaxed. The mattress was nowhere as nice as the one in her Strawbridge Hotel room, but she preferred this cottage, because it was next to the open fresh air, and it was a way to live unencumbered in the fantasy of Leo.

She wrapped herself in her white silk kimono—all the rage in London—and wandered outside in search of her lover. Her Leo. He was different here too. His shoulders weren’t tensed up to his ears, for one. He was better at making jokes, for two. And in a shocking turn of events, he kissed her freely, for no reason at all, for three. She’d never seen nor experienced that level of affection. It was strange. Welcome, but strange.

“Your tea, madame,” Leo said, holding up a slender thermos. It came in the morning hampers, and it was prepared just as Prudence preferred if she were drinking tea and not coffee: scalding hot with a strong brew and a touch of honey. She drank her coffee black, but she found here in England it was easier to drink tea. They still hadn’t gotten the whole coffee roasting quite right, and more often than not, she found herself with a burnt cup of lukewarm sludge. But switching to tea made her British friends more at ease, and Prudence didn’t mind.

Leo didn’t look up at her, his eyes on his sketchbook. Prudence peered over his shoulder to see a bird on his paper, matching the very bird sitting on the low stone wall surrounding the garden.

She sat in the chair next to his and sipped at her tea, still warm, thank goodness. The morning was almost gone, but Prudence didn’t care. The only thing she could think of was the sun on her face and the incredible contentment she felt.

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