Intimate Deception by Laura Landon

Author:Laura Landon [Landon, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Romance, General
ISBN: 9781612184791
Google: tHNmLwEACAAJ
Amazon: 1612184790
Barnesnoble: 1612184790
Goodreads: 15990866
Publisher: AmazonEncore
Published: 2012-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Grace would rather have taken a beating than return to London and face Caroline. And by now all of her other sisters knew too.

She turned her head and focused on the scenery out the carriage window. Watching the green hills and verdant meadows was better than thinking about the scene to come when they arrived. Much better than watching the grim expression on Raeborn’s face darken.

She’d been ill again this morning, just as they were preparing to leave. She could almost cut the worry emanating from him with a knife. She took a deep breath and prayed she’d make it to London without having to stop.

“Are you feeling all right?”

Grace swallowed hard in an effort to calm her queasy stomach. “I’m sorry I delayed our leaving.”

“It doesn’t matter. Sickness is part of a pregnancy. It will probably last at least a few more weeks.”

Grace smiled. “My sister Josie was ill the whole term with her first. She’s married to Viscount Carmody, and we all thought by the time the babe was born we’d hear she’d been charged with murder.”

Raeborn looked at her from beneath furrowed brows, and Grace thought how endearingly handsome he was this morning. How such a simple gesture made her heart race. “She made her poor husband suffer unmercifully. He even threatened to move in with Caroline and Wedgewood until it was over. Thank heaven her next two babes were much kinder to their mother. With the last, she wasn’t ill in the least.”

He frowned. “How many children does she have?”

“Three. Although I anticipate news of a fourth soon. It’s just a feeling I have.”

“Are they all daughters, then?”

“No. They’re all sons.”

Raeborn’s frown deepened. “If the viscount already has three sons, why would she consent to risking her life to give him a fourth?”

Grace wanted to laugh, but one look at the expression on his face told her he was deadly serious. For a heartbeat her blood ran cold. “Most women don’t look at bearing children as a risk, Your Grace. They consider children a blessing. Don’t you?”

His gaze turned hard, his expression haunted. “No. Perhaps I did once. Before I knew what was at stake.”

The air left her body. She knew she should let the matter drop, but she couldn’t. “Not every woman dies in childbirth, Your Grace.”

His face paled in the warm England sunshine and he gave a start as if she’d spoken sacrilege. “No, not all. But even one is too many.” He hesitated as if he wanted to say more on the subject, but decided against it, then added, “When we reach London I’ll send for my physician.”

“That’s not necessary. I’m fine. Besides, my sisters will all be there tomorrow. I’ll get more mothering than either you or I want.”

“Nevertheless, I think—”

“Vincent, please,” she said, more forcefully than she’d intended. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists, willing her stomach to calm. “At least wait until after we are married. Please. There’s no need to let someone outside the family know before we’ve even spoken our vows.

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.