Harlequin Historical July 2020 - Box Set 1 of 2 by Virginia Heath

Author:Virginia Heath
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Adam gazed around with interest as he drove his curricle along the tree-lined carriageway to Fenton Hall. Not much had changed in the fifteen years since his last visit. The lime trees flanking the carriageway were taller. More mature.

As am I.

Mature enough, surely, to persuade Kitty to confide in him without ruffling her feathers with his poor attempts to tease her as he had done the last time they met. He needed to understand if her marriage to Fenton was because she had been desperate to leave her father’s house or was it as he’d initially thought—a young girl craving the adventure of being a wife, too naive to realise the implications of tying herself to a man so far beneath her own station in life? But if she had been in trouble, why had she not told him? She must have known he would never abandon her had she been in danger.

But I did stop her from confiding in me on that last day.

That guilt had been added to the other guilt that had tormented him for so long—the guilt of denying his love for her. But the past could not be changed, only the future, and here was his chance to uncover the truth as well as to untangle his feelings for present-day Kitty. Discovering the truth about what had driven his mother to take him from his father—and realising he had leapt to conclusions about her motives—had made him doubt what he initially thought about Kitty’s hasty marriage. The Kitty he remembered had been spirited and bright and loving, not a girl who would cynically manipulate a man or lie about her feelings. He now believed he could have been wrong and he would listen to what she had to say.

Then, they would see. Could there possibly be a future for them, or was there too much hurt and suspicion between them now?

This was the perfect opportunity to discover what they both wanted while, at the same time, helping Robert with his plans. If nothing else, it would be good to feel useful once again, practising those skills he had learned and honed over many years.

The carriageway passed through the pair of familiar stone pillars that flanked the entrance to the forecourt and he steered his pair around the area, drawing them to a halt level with the front entrance. The front door opened and Robert bounded down the steps, reminding Adam of the young lad he had known.

‘Adam! Welcome!’ Robert leapt into the curricle. ‘I’ll ride with you round to the stables.’

‘Thank you. It is good to be back… I shall look forward to getting reacquainted with the old place.’

‘You’ll find not much has changed. Hi! Gresham! Come and see to His Lordship’s cattle, will you?’

The Fenton Hall head man emerged from the dim interior of the barn.

‘Yes, milord.’

Gresham eyed Adam with the same mix of curiosity and caution Adam had recognised in his own staff at Kelridge Place. He did not begrudge Gresham his

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