Lord Tresham's Tempting Rival by Bronwyn Scott

Author:Bronwyn Scott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-08-12T12:50:41+00:00

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He meant to court her, but courting was deuced difficult amid a whooping cough outbreak. After a week since their watershed moment at the physic garden, Ferris didn’t think it could be going any more slowly than this. He ducked out of the rain and stepped inside a small shop in Chelsea that sold children’s toys. He was on the way back from errands and a doll in the window had caught his eye. A very nice doll, the kind with a porcelain head, carefully painted eyes and a pretty dress trimmed in lace. A doll for Meggie. Perhaps it would lift her spirits. No doubt she’d never had one like it, and a little girl should have nice doll, at least once. If only once.

He pushed the thought away. He’d not wanted to leave her today, but the wagon had needed to go out. People were counting on him, and Anne was with her. The situation was quickly moving from desperate to futile. He was holding death off with steam and hyssop syrup, a paltry arsenal against what he feared was the inevitable.

‘I’ll take the doll,’ he told the shop assistant, casting his gaze over the shelves looking for something that would please Peter. A ship? Perhaps the boy was too old for a wooden ship. There was no place nearby to sail it. Jacks? A cup and ball? Those were good indoor games for winter. He took them both. He might have himself on a strict budget, but he could afford some small gifts where others were concerned. Was this what it would have been like to buy gifts for a family, for children of his own? For the first time since Cara died, the thought did not entirely fill him with loss. Sometimes families were made in unexpected places and in unexpected ways. Anne’s words regarding Peter had stayed with him. He might not have children biologically, but perhaps he might be a father figure in other ways.

‘For Christmas, sir?’ the assistant asked, handing him the brown-paper-wrapped packages, a reminder that Christmas was just eight days away. Eight days would seem like an eternity for Meggie. Ferris paid the assistant and headed back into the rain, determined to make another stop. Christmas might need to come early at Number Fourteen Cheyne Walk. Whenever it came, Christmas required sweets at the very least.

At the confectioner’s he selected some peppermints for Meggie, liquorice drops for Peter and searched for something for Anne. What would she like? Hard sweets? Soft sweets? Then he hit on it. Chocolate. Something that would remind her of their day at the physic garden and a reminder, too, that he’d not forgotten the flame that had sparked between them even if he hadn’t kissed her, hadn’t courted her, since that day. ‘Do you, by chance, have any chocolates from Cadbury’s of Birmingham?’

‘I do. They’re just in for Christmas.’ The shopkeeper smiled and hurried to get the bars. ‘How many would you like?’

‘Four, please.’ He hoped Anne would understand he did mean to court her.

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