One Snowy Night with Lord Hauxton by Laura Martin

Author:Laura Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-08-12T18:03:55+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Henrietta felt a violent shaking deep inside her and wasn’t sure if she should blame it on the exchange she’d just had with Milton or her impending confrontation with her mother. After her resolve at lunchtime to stop thinking about Milton, to push away any desire she felt, she was disappointed in herself with how long she’d held out. A few minutes in his company and she had completely forgotten she was meant to be focusing her thoughts on anything but the man beside her.

The kiss had made her feel as if she were floating up into the air and she knew Milton felt the same. The physical aspect of their attraction couldn’t be denied.

She felt her cheeks flush at what had come next, her offering herself to him only to be completely and utterly rejected. Remembering his words, his insistence that he would not marry again when she had overheard him speaking to Heydon, she had offered him the alternative, a dalliance, an affair. And even that he had rejected.

Shaking her head, she took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. She probably should be thanking him—young women from good families did not enter dalliances before marriage.

‘She shouldn’t have come here,’ Henrietta murmured, watching the approaching carriage with dread. She’d thought she was safe from her mother in Kent, especially with the snow. It was too soon to see her again. Even if she came with a sincere apology Henrietta didn’t know if she would be able to forgive her just yet. But she knew her mother—the reason for the visit wouldn’t be to apologise.

Henrietta glanced at the man standing beside her and straightened her back slightly. She would try to be as magnanimous as he was, try to emulate his behaviour when he tried to perform a good deed every day. If her mother had come to apologise, she would hear her out, if she had come to reconcile, she would consider her proposition.

‘Shall I show her in here, miss?’ Anna asked quietly. ‘Or put her somewhere else?’

Henrietta shook her head. ‘Not here. She mustn’t see the paints.’

‘Show Mrs Harvey into the morning room,’ Milton said, taking charge of the situation. ‘Neutral ground,’ he murmured to her as Anna left the room.

‘I can’t see her.’

‘I am not sure your mother is going to give up until she has spoken to you. She’s travelled a long way.’ He spoke calmly, rationally, and next to him Henrietta felt like a petulant child.

‘I might say something I can’t take back.’

‘Would you like me to accompany you, calm the situation if things are becoming too heated?’

It would be unusual to allow a virtual stranger into the middle of their family quarrel, but Henrietta realised Milton would bring much-needed calm and perspective when she was likely to be anything but rational.

Before she could decide, the carriage had pulled up outside, rolling to a stop on the thin layer of remaining snow. It really had started to melt quickly now. Probably by tomorrow there would be hardly anything left.

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.