My Lady Coward: An Episodic Regency Romance by Grant Jaimey

Author:Grant, Jaimey [Grant, Jaimey]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: TreasureLine Publishing
Published: 2012-11-27T22:00:00+00:00

Richard bent over his desk, brow furrowed as he scratched a quill across the foolscap before him, an open accounts book beside it. Eyes darting between the book and paper, he bit his lip, scratched out a few more things on the sheet, and paused to study the book again. Maria stood by the door, admiring the way his brown curls refused to lay in any semblance of order and the way he bit his lip when perplexed. His dark frown detracted not a whit from his strong, handsome features.

“My lord?”

He didn't acknowledge her soft query, muttering something under his breath that she didn't catch and slamming his open palm on the desktop. Her brows lifted. She'd never seen him so upset. Whatever happened to cause it?

She raised her voice just a touch, no more. She didn't need their servants telling other servants that the duchess behaved like a common fishwife. “Richard?”

He jumped, slamming the accounts book closed and surging to his feet. “My dear?”

Her brows rose higher as he yanked his pinched finger from the book's grasp. “I have something I must tell you.” She paused, sending a pointed look at the book beneath his outspread hands. “What ever are you doing?”

Richard scowled down at the book. “Dratted accounts don't add up,” he admitted. With an extra frown, he shoved it all aside, nearly upsetting the inkpot. “Bah! Never did have a head for figures.”

“Would you like me to have a look?” she dared to offer, knowing ladies did nothing more than keep the household accounts. What Richard had was for all his holdings.

“I couldn't ask that of you. You shouldn't have to worry about this. Not in your condition.”

Meaning she should if she wasn't pregnant? What a strange thing for him to say.

“Why do you not put it before Bennington? Is he not the one you pay to do this very thing?”

“It's a devil of a situation.” He shoved a hand though his unruly curls. “He's the one cheating me, I think. I just can't determine how or why.”

“It will all work out,” Maria soothed. “I'm sure it will.”

She saw evidence of his deep upset and frustration. His hands moved without pause, clenching, fiddling with the quill, brushing over the leatherbound book, clenching again. But deeper than what she saw, she sensed it. Tension coiled through him and around him, filling the room. If she said or did the wrong thing, that tension would erupt. Would her confession push him over the edge?

Richard had never struck her but Maria heard whispers of other wives who were not so fortunate. She trusted him now to hold his temper.

He glanced up, golden eyes meeting hers. She wanted to fidget under his steady gaze. Though his body coiled hard with tension, his gaze bore straight through her, as if divining her every thought. His eyes were clear, unwavering.

Maria opened her mouth but Richard spoke first. “There is no child, is there?”

A tear gathered, begging for freedom. Maria refused to grant it, refused to open the floodgates.

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.