A Kiss Away from Scandal--A Regency Historical Romance by Christine Merrill

Author:Christine Merrill
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-03-12T19:22:06+00:00

Chapter Eleven

The house was both more and less than Gregory expected it to be. In the bones, it was the sort of grand English manor one could not help but stand in awe of. A conglomeration of styles, from Gothic to modern, it had been built and rebuilt until it stretched to forty rooms and was set on acres of park land with trout streams, rose gardens and herb knots.

But on closer examination, it was clearly in need of care. The slates on the roof were cracked, as were the paving stones at his feet. The gardens were not yet choked with weeds, but it was clear that the gardeners fought a losing battle in them.

Inside was no better. The staff was smaller than he would have expected for such a large house and many of the rooms they passed through were cold and dark, the furniture swathed in holland cloth. When he pulled the covers back, he was relieved to see that the appointments were in better condition than the things they had been retrieving.

But that raised the question that had been tickling at the back of his mind since they had located the candlesticks on the first day together. If she was short on funds, there were dozens of things that would have fetched more money than she had probably got. What had made the Dowager choose the items she had?

Hope Strickland walked him through the house, taking care to point out the bedchamber that would be allotted to him, should he stay the night, as well as the chambers that belonged to her and her sister. Was this intended as encouragement to act on his desires? Was she truly offering herself to him, should he be brave enough to accept her? Or was she a naïve girl who did not understand the consequences of her actions?

There was also the matter of the mysterious problem she would not explain. He wanted to help her. He wanted other things as well. To hear Hope Strickland call him by his name in a moment of passion, for instance.

There was a way to have that and his honour as well. He should settle the problem of Miss Charity, then catch the next mail coach back to London. Once there, he could wait for the return of the Dowager, or Leggett, or even the new Comstock so he might ask permission to offer for Miss Hope.

But in the time that took, she might change her mind about him. Literature was crowded with metaphors about striking hot irons and seeking forgiveness rather than permission. If he went to her room tonight and declared himself, by morning there would be only one course of action.

Had his father thought that, before bedding his mother, or had it always been his intention to leave her? And after the pain and isolation of his own childhood, what would possess him to risk the future of his wife and child by repeating his parents’ mistake?

Now, Hope was looking at him with a smile that was both seductive and expectant.

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