Slowly Fell by Jayne Fresina

Author:Jayne Fresina
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, mystery, historical, victorian, historical romance
Publisher: Twisted E-Publishing

Autumn 1785

After the debacle at Lady Kilbourne's garden party and the shocking gift of a stuffed owl, Elizabeth did not set eyes on the man now known to her as "Bramley" for some weeks. She was left to fret over that house party at his estate— the invitation she'd turned down out of foolish pride— and wonder what went on there.

Her brother was off on his own social circuit by then, courting a selection of young ladies between whom he couldn't make up his mind, so Elizabeth found herself frequently alone and in a lamentable state of restiveness. She was quite off her food.

Her comfort, when it came at the end of summer, was bittersweet.

Felicia Rawlings returned from the country in a great snit. Having made up her mind to capture "Bramley" for herself, she had been greatly disappointed by her visit to his estate and the lack of interest he showed in her.

"The man is barely civilized," she complained to any who would listen. "He has no manners and knows nothing of how to treat a lady. He constantly walks about in a state of dishabille and could be mistaken for any common yokel. All he cares about is his blessed pig."

But just as Elizabeth was quietly celebrating Felicia's vanquished ardor and trying not to smile too widely, she heard that his interest did, after all, extend to beings other than those of the porcine variety. Sir Melchior Bramley, the gossips whispered, had a mistress. Nobody knew much about her, other than her name, Prunella.

Elizabeth told herself that it could hardly matter to her what he did, or where his fancy lay.

That autumn, she chanced to run into him again, with her brother at a tiresome shooting party in Kent. Although she had already sent the man a formal note of thanks, she planned to express her gratitude for the owl in person, but as Elizabeth came up behind him she heard the man proudly discussing a house he was having built for his mistress. He was utterly unashamed to speak of his love affair openly, but then, having experience of the fellow and his oddities already, what else could she expect?

For the remainder of the week, she did her best to avoid his company. Whenever she saw him coming toward her, she turned smartly and proceeded in the other direction in some haste. If she had seen any other young woman acting thus she would have been amused, but surely she was in the right to stay out of his way. No self-respecting woman would countenance the attentions of a man with a Prunella in his pocket.

He finally tracked her down while she sullenly observed a duck hunt with several young ladies in a row boat, all of them pretending to have an interest in the sport while shivering in their drawers, longing for a hot toddy, and wishing something exciting would happen. Bramley, having spied her there, took great pains to have his punt maneuvered all the

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