The Seduction of a Duke by Donna MacMeans

Author:Donna MacMeans
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin USA, Inc.

EVEN THOUGH THEY TRAVELED RESERVED CLASS ON THE train, it was not the luxurious conditions they had experienced in the private car in America. William could see that the lengthy trip to Deerfeld was taking a toll on Franny. Guilt burrowed in his gut. They could have stayed over in Southampton. While there was an inherent urgency to return to Deerfeld Abbey, a day’s delay would not have mattered. The lure of a stable bed sat heavy with him, but that was part of the problem.

To maintain appearances of a newly married couple he would have had to reserve one room for both Franny and himself to share. After a week of fantasizing over striped corsets and ginger-coated breasts, he was likely to make that bed rock with a need fueled by her sensitive smile and engaging laughter. His resistance was wearing thin and in need of the discipline of separate bedrooms.

So they endured a hurried transition from ocean steamer to train, leaving much of their luggage behind for Mary and Hodgins to oversee and arrange delivery. Upon their arrival at Deerfeld’s train station, they found the village had turned out with flowers and speeches from local dignitaries. He was beginning to recognize the signs of Franny’s transition into her aloof public visage. He smiled, feeling privileged in his knowledge that the private woman was nothing like this cold, distant public apparition that smiled vacantly and nodded at the villagers.

He recalled her hesitation when she first saw the family crest on the carriage that was to deliver them to the abbey. Did it spring from a hesitancy to continue on in the tiring journey, or did it spark a memory and revulsion of his scar? Bedford mentally cursed his father once again for his drunken cruelty, but this curse, like the many that had gone before, would not change the past. He’d long ago resigned himself to the existence of the brand. In time, he hoped Franny would as well.

Franny had fallen asleep in the coach, her head nodding against his shoulder with the rhythmic gait of the horses. He was hesitant to wake her, but they were drawing near to the abbey.

“Franny, we’re almost there,” he said, gently prodding her awake. “I’d have liked for you to make your first sighting of the abbey in daylight, but it can be a welcoming sight in the light of a full moon.”

She blinked rapidly before pulling herself upright and away from his shoulder. His aching shoulder registered relief at the removed weight, but he would have gladly suffered additional hours of the strain. It was unlikely he’d have the pleasure of Franny’s sleeping head on his shoulder anytime in the near future.

“Where are we?” she asked with a yawn.

“Do you remember how I told you that Deerfeld Abbey was built atop the foundation of a twelfth-century Cistercian monastery?”

She nodded. “King Henry VIII confiscated the monastery after the abbot was found guilty of treason.”

“Very good.” He smiled his approval before pointing at the window.

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