Earl of Carlyle (The Rogue Gentlemen Series Book 2) by Angela Conrad

Author:Angela Conrad [Conrad, Angela]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2020-06-03T16:00:00+00:00

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Everything went along as planned until the fourth evening of the Winston sister’s visit when Earl of Carlyle found himself alone in a room with Audrey.

“Lord Carlyle, you caught me admiring the little blooms on the Sweet William. How wonderful everything is here at Riverside, how you must love it here,” Audrey said moving from the north window and smiling at the earl.

“I never noticed them,” the earl said glancing out the window and seeing small bright purple blooms. “My mother would trade seeds with other manor houses. She’d visit their grounds and ask for cuttings while also sharing her own. She was always trying new plants in different soil.”

Audrey noticed the tone the earl used when he spoke of his mother and she moved closer to him.

“I miss my mother still though she died long ago. She too was a great gardener. She took Sara and me around all the fields and parklands, stopped at every patch and plot, and had us learn the name of every flower,” Audrey said. “It’s a terrible thing to lose one’s mother and worse still when your father is taken from you.”

Surprising herself with her raw emotion on display, Audrey turned and wiped a tear from her eye.

Carlyle poured two glasses of wine and handed Audrey one, “Here, take this.”

She smiled and as she turned, Audrey caught the charming green eyes of the earl fixed on her lips.

“Thank you,” Audrey said and saw the earl’s gaze move upwards to her eyes. “Sara and I are lucky to have our uncle, father’s younger brother, now Viscount Winston. He has raised us by himself, given us free control of Summer Garden and its land, and given us security. He is our only family and we both worry about him on this new voyage.”

Earl of Carlyle flinched slightly remembering it was his father who sent the viscount off on a dangerous sea voyage just to rid himself of the responsibility of Bristol and Darlington. Suddenly, that scheme seemed sinister and underhanded.

“You need not worry, Viscount Winston is a seasoned sailor I understand and sailing on a sound ship. Father considers him a valued friend. And don’t fret about your future for father has also promised to see you and your sister safely wed,” Carlyle said.

“Safely wed,” Audrey repeated. “I suppose marriage is a woman’s only safety net. I wish it were otherwise.”

“Do you?” Carlyle asked waiting for the lady to sit down before he rested in a gold-painted armchair. “You don’t want to be married? Whatever else would you do?”

Audrey laughed and sipped her wine. “Lots of things.”

“Like?” The earl asked studying her posture, the way her slippers lined up perfectly beside each other, the soft slope of her neckline.

“I would do several occupations if I was not just above them by being a viscount’s daughter and below being anything too fine. Train horses, mend animals, breed the finest racing stock in the country, become a famous jockey, smoke cheroots,” Audrey laughed. “I could name more but I see you are too stunned to hear them.

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