GEORGIANA (Pride & Prejudice continued... Book 3) by Sue Barr

Author:Sue Barr [Barr, Sue]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Susan L Barr
Published: 2020-01-30T16:00:00+00:00

Madam,

Your seclusion at Adborough Hall can come as no surprise. I have given instruction that you are not to leave the grounds of Adborough alone. You may attend the nearby village of Dorset for purchase of personal needs as well as attend church with no less than your maid and two footmen, and if accompanied by my trusted steward, Mr. Mason, you may visit my tenants.

Upon my return I will determine how we proceed.

Yours, etc.,

Adborough

The letter fluttered out of her fingers. Her whole body grew numb and began to shake. What had she done? What did he mean her seclusion came at no surprise? She sank to the floor, her skirts puddling around her legs in a mass of wrinkles.

~~~~~

Pericles thundered down the graveled drive, matching the dull fury that flowed through Max. How blind he’d been. If he hadn’t overheard a conversation between Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam, he’d have blindly entered into his marriage bed and been none the wiser. After attending to some personal needs, he’d stopped to adjust a buckle outside the library door at Matlock House and heard the words that broke his heart in two.

“Surely you’re happy for Georgie.”

“I am. Adborough is an admirable man. My only regret is that this marriage was such a rushed affair.”

“Must needs, Richard. We had no guarantee rumors would not spread and I couldn’t make this one go away.”

“Aye, not like Ramsgate. For some reason he never spoke a word of it to anyone.”

“I suppose, in his own way, he cared for her. That may have been the only time he showed discretion in anything.”

Max remembered how everything around him faded until all he was aware of was his breathing and the sound of his heartbeat. Nothing else existed. What had Darcy meant by; I couldn’t make this one go away?

At the time he’d entered the first room he came upon and sat in a dazed stupor. By all accounts, his bride had been compromised before and her family had no intention of telling him. Maybe that had been the plan all along. If he’d found out prior to their nuptials, he could have bowed out gracefully, or extended their courtship until he found out more information. By keeping him in the dark, they assured themselves of Georgiana being safely married and he had no recourse but to stay the course. Divorce was out of the question.

Some of his tension must have transferred itself to Pericles because he broke stride and stomped down with his front hoof. It took a few minutes, but Max soothed the beast, who tossed his head with disdain.

“Easy boy. Forgive my ill humor, we’ll stop at the next inn.”

Placated, the horse moved on at his urging and they continued down the road, his four outriders keeping pace. It didn’t take long before his thoughts went down a dark tunnel and the conversation between Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam.

This was not her first compromise. What of her other folly? Could she have a borne a child from that illicit union? He refused to be cuckolded into accepting another man’s bastard.

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