The Pariah by Catherine Gayle

Author:Catherine Gayle
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Night Shift Publishing
Published: 2012-03-28T07:00:00+00:00

In the week since he’d taken up a room at the cottage, Roman was astounded at the amount of work he’d accomplished. Not only had he installed locks on the door to his chamber, ensuring that he couldn’t escape and accidentally hurt one of the women under his care during one of his nightmares (or, heaven forbid, the boy), but he’d also created an ordered list of other tasks to tackle, checking them off as he completed them.

While initially, Milner had vehemently argued against Roman moving from the Hassop dower house to the cottage, citing the staff’s previous insubordination, he now agreed that the stewardship of Hassop House had not been neglected in the slightest.

The daily meetings, taking place each afternoon at Round Hill, had proven to be an ingenious installation. Indeed, were he still living at the dower house and not at the cottage, Roman had the sense that such meetings would still be incredibly useful. They were working together quite well, formulating plans for renovations and the hiring of new staff, amongst countless other projects.

He should have thought of it when he’d first arrived. After all, Roman had met with his fellow officers on a regular basis for over seventeen years in the Dragoons, sometimes hourly, depending on the situation. Meetings like that allowed for the free flow of information.

Best of all, since he was only as far as at the Cottage at Round Hill, should any new problems arise at Hassop House, he was only a brief ride away.

All in all, Roman was quite pleased with the turn of events. Well, apart from the fact that Miss Shelton still scurried away as soon as Milner arrived each day. For that matter, she seemed entirely more unsettled in his presence than she had been before, blast it all. He had the sinking sensation that his near-kiss in the gardens was the cause for her discomfort. Even more reason he should resist such improper impulses in the future.

Perhaps the best result of him taking up residence in the cottage was the lack of nightmares taking control of him. Not once in the entire week had he awoken in a cold sweat while imagining himself in the throes of battle. It could still happen at any time, so he was sure to maintain his vigilance in taking precautionary measures to protect the household, but he couldn’t help be pleased with the path such things had taken.

Lady Rosaline, Finn, and the three servants, Roman had duly noted, had not taken up a similar inclination as Miss Shelton and instead seemed often to search out his company.

In the early afternoons, after he’d arisen from his sleep, Mrs. Wyatt and Finn frequently joined him in the parlor or the music room, wherever he’d gone that day to sort through a cost analysis on certain crops or a report on rents due from the tenants on Herringdon lands in the area. Finn would often ask Roman to play with him, despite his nurse’s admonishment to “Leave his lordship to his work.

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