The Mammoth Book of Regency Romance by Anthology

Author:Anthology [Anthology]
Language: fra
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Historical
Publisher: Constable and Robinson
Published: 2011-01-15T23:00:00+00:00

Two

Heyworth was up early, but he didn’t enter the breakfast room until Angelique and her aunt had gone in and begun their meal. He wanted to give Angelique no possible avenue for avoidance. Of him.

“Good morning, ladies,” he said, drinking in the sight of her.

“Your Grace,” said the elder Miss Drummond, “I had no idea you were still here. Why, I . . .”

“There is a horse race tomorrow down at Maidstone. Which means, of course, there are no rooms to be had within twenty miles.” He took a seat across from Angelique, who would not look at him. Still, he took satisfaction in the blush that rose on her cheeks, for she was obviously recalling the intensely sensuous interlude they’d shared the night before.

“I hadn’t heard,” said Minerva. She turned to Angelique. “Did you know of it?”

“No, Aunt.”

“Well, it has naught to do with us,” the older woman remarked.

Heyworth did not take his eyes from Angelique as he stirred his tea and half listened to her aunt discourse on the subject of escaping to the country only to find the crowds of London encroaching on their little corner of Berkshire. He’d never spent a morning with Angelique before, their courtship always taking the conventional course: afternoon rides in the park, balls and soirées in the evenings.

In the time before their aborted wedding day, Heyworth had imagined vividly the mornings they would soon spend together in bed – making love before the servants brought their breakfast, feeding each other tender morsels between heated kisses, then making love again before they arose to face the day.

She wanted him. Heyworth had no doubt whatsoever of that. If only he’d kept his silence last night, she would never have recalled the reason for her precipitous abandonment of their nuptials. He’d have driven her as mad with desire as she made him, and they’d have consummated their bond. Then Angelique would have had no choice but to make use of the special licence Heyworth had had the foresight to procure before coming to Berkshire.

But, dash it, he wanted Angelique to trust him. It had been far too easy for Rathby to convince her of Heyworth’s alleged misstep. He did not understand how she had so easily believed Rathby’s lies rather than his honest declaration of love.

For he did love her. He’d buried himself in his work – and his grief – and tried to forget her two years before, but it had been impossible. He was determined not to err this time. For he knew how much he had to lose.

Angelique was never happier to have an interruption than when Squire Stillwater arrived. She had slept badly the night before, and felt exhausted – from the funeral, the travel, the late night nearly succumbing to Heyworth’s seductions.

She rose quickly from her seat when Thornberry announced him, intending to go into the drawing room to receive their old family friend. Her grandmother and Mrs Stillwater had been close in years past, and she had always been more than kind to Angelique.

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