Rory by Julia Templeton

Author:Julia Templeton [Templeton Julia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-758-26823-5
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2011-03-03T16:00:00+00:00

16

Shannon grit her teeth and counted to ten twice. She could not stand that woman! Lady Kinkade was going out of her way to make Shannon feel uneasy and separate her from Rory.

It was agonizing to have to watch him court another woman right under her nose.

Zachary looked up from where he placed a tablecloth on the table he and Johnny had brought down to the river. The Scot grinned at her and brushed a hand through his unruly curls. “Good afternoon, Shannon.”

“Good afternoon, Johnny.”

“Might I say, you’re looking beautiful today.”

Zachary made a disgusted sound, but Johnny just laughed. “She is the loveliest lady I have ever seen.”

“You are too kind, Johnny,” she said with a smile.

“Will you go get the bottle of wine I left on the kitchen counter?” Zachary asked Johnny, and he nodded.

“Aye, but you owe me.”

“Of course.”

Zach waited until the other man was out of hearing range to turn to her. “Some of the servants are talking about ye.”

Her stomach tightened. “What are they saying?”

“That you are having an affair with Lord Ambrose. Do not deny it, Shannon. Do not forget I saw ye with him.”

“It is no one else’s business what I do.”

“What if you become pregnant with his child?”

A blush rushed up her neck to stain her cheeks. “It will not happen.”

“Do not be stupid, sister. What would you do with a child? A bastard child? He or she would be one more mouth to feed. We barely have any money now.”

He was right. She knew he was, and yet she knew it would be impossible to stay away from Rory.

“He will marry Lady Kinkade. She was sent here for that very reason. To continue is to put your heart in danger, and your own well-being.”

Her heart was already in danger. She was falling in love with the notorious rakehell, and the longer she stayed here, the more under his spell she would become.

“I have feelings for him.”

He brushed a hand down his face. “This is madness, Shannon. You know that it is. You are playing a dangerous game. One that you will not win. He is an aristocrat and you a servant. You know what the outcome will be. His brothers have both married within the space of weeks, and Lord Ambrose is next. We have all heard the ultimatum Lord and Lady Rochester gave all three of their sons.”

She ignored this last and said, “But we really aren’t servants, Zach. Our father built a dynasty, one that we should be heirs to.”

“Should be is right, but we are not, Shannon.” His voice was clipped and curt. “Do not think for a second that I don’t wish the outcome were different. I hate that I must work my fingers to the bone for people that look down their noses at me.”

“Lord and Lady Graston are good to us.”

“Aye, they are, but I do not speak of them. These past months have been increasingly sobering, and I hate that I yearn for a future that will never be mine.

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