Where Hearts Meet by Maureen Driscoll

Author:Maureen Driscoll
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2017-03-22T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Christopher Aston, the Earl of Audsley, looked out at his estate from the large window of the red sitting room. He did not care much for the color of the room. It had been a decorating whim of his mother’s some ten years earlier. It was a grey day and his land was windswept. He could not help but think it was a reflection of his own life at the moment.

He had everything a man could want. He had a prosperous estate which provided well for both his family and his tenants. He was in good health and worked to keep his body fit. He had an obligation to his title to marry well and sire heirs, but did not think that would be a problem, judging from the sometimes alarming enthusiasm the matchmaking mamas showed when he stepped into a London ballroom. It would not be difficult to find a proper wife.

The problem was that he wanted an improper wife.

It was not as if Emma Moore’s lineage was inadequate. Her grandfather had been an earl, though scandal had followed him much of his life and even up to his death. Her cousin who now had the title was everything which was proper, though it appeared he had not fulfilled his duties as head of the family to provide for two impoverished cousins. Of course, for all Audsley knew, the earl had tried to give them money but they had refused out of pride.

He could understand pride, for it was a powerful motivating factor in his life. His mother and father had always reminded him of their position in Society and what was owed to both the earls who came before and those who would follow. But pride had also cost him a great deal, namely a chance for a life with Emma Moore.

Just as the grey day was in need of sunshine, his life was in need of the warmth of the woman who could never be his.

It was a most lowering thought.

* * *

“How much further are we to walk?” Lady Cora asked Jonathan with a pained expression.

He was not sure why she had insisted on going for a walk with the children. She had accepted their apology with more grace than he thought possible, given how angry she had been while chasing Sally. She had asked them what they would like to do and for a moment he was afraid one or both might say they would like to see her leave. But then Phillip had suggested a walk and Lady Cora had said she would like to accompany them, which seemed to have caught all four of them by surprise.

Now here they were, walking at a slow pace toward the rocks. He could not understand why she wished to walk so slowly and in a gown which looked French and expensive. It was about as far from Miss Warren’s practical gown as possible. Not to mention Lady Cora’s slippers were nothing like his governess’s sturdy half-boots.

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