Never Too Late: An addictive Regency romance (Historical Regency Romances Book 4) by Christina Courtenay

Author:Christina Courtenay [Courtenay, Christina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Choc Lit Historical Romance: A Joffe Books Company
Published: 2024-03-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

With Eliza’s help, Maude had a picnic organised in hours. Life in the country was nowhere near as exciting as the social whirl of fashionable places like London or Bath where the ton gathered to enjoy themselves and, as she had guessed, all their neighbours were as bored as they were and jumped at the chance of some socialising. They were also curious about the new Lord Hexham, and not a single one turned down the invitation to join their little cavalcade. It helped that it was a glorious autumn day, almost as warm as late summer.

‘What a good idea, my lord,’ Maude heard the squire’s wife saying to Luke. ‘Haven’t been to Hope Spring for ages. Now, have you met my daughter Catherine? She’s been hoping to make your acquaintance ever since you returned.’

‘Mama!’ Catherine was just about to have her first season and blushed a lot, Maude noticed. The girl was pretty enough, with big brown eyes and chestnut curls, but next to Luke she looked impossibly young. Although perhaps that was what he’d be wanting in a wife, someone young and malleable? The thought made her heart contract painfully. She felt jealousy cut through her like a vicious knife, but she had no right to feel that way. What he did was his business.

She really didn’t want him to get married yet though, she admitted to herself. There was no way she’d be able to stand watching Luke and his new wife making doe-eyes at each other. Besides, she’d find it hard to relinquish the reins of running the household to some chit barely out of the school room. Or what if he fell for Eliza’s charms? The woman had been flirting outrageously since she arrived and it was obvious to Maude at least that she’d be very happy to become the new Lady Hexham. A sudden wave of agony washed over her as an image of Luke and Eliza together entered her mind, but she banished it immediately. Either way, if she stayed on as Luke’s housekeeper she’d have to take orders from his future wife, which would be impossible. No, she’d have to leave.

He had to marry in order to beget an heir. She knew that. If only Joseph had lived or they’d had another son. But Edward’s brutish behaviour had seen to it that she’d suffered two miscarriages in a row and later, with Edward away all the time, there had been no chance of another child. He’d become obsessed with some woman in London and left Maude alone, for which she’d been supremely thankful . . . But she wouldn’t think about that now. Edward was gone, he couldn’t hurt her any longer, and nor could she change the past. She had to accept the present, however difficult that might be.

They set off in open carriages, with everyone chatting and laughing. Even Cousin Thomas joined in and was seen to smile occasionally. Hope Spring was only an hour away and the servants soon had rugs spread out and a meal organised.

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