Harlequin Historical: March 2022, Box Set 2 of 2 by Virginia Heath

Author:Virginia Heath
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

It had been two days since James Murray had gone back to London and Elizabeth still could not wrap her emotions around the man...or rather his attitude towards her.

Walking beside William towards the village to attend the meeting against the rail spur, she watched their long afternoon shadows stretching away. If this was all there was to them, shadows on the ground, they would be equal. Shadow was shadow, one not grander than the other...although William’s was much larger than hers was. But shadows were an illusion and did not change the fact that William was superior to her socially.

Her first meeting with James Murray had made it pointedly clear. Murray had dismissed her as beneath him, a woman of no consequence, until he’d discovered she was wed to William. As soon as he knew she was married to the second son of a viscount, his manner towards her had changed.

He had been as sorry as he could be over the mistake, but the fact remained she was the same person after the revelation as before. Nothing about her had changed except that her last name was now Grant.

There was no reason to believe that anyone of her husband’s acquaintance would see her as anything but a servant. Which she was not, but to them she would never be more than that. Not that there was anything wrong with being in service. No one was more treasured than Penny was, or anyone else in her, and now William’s, employ.

Her mind whirled in confusion, and she had no idea what to do about it. It could only have been confusion which had led her to wear her fancy yellow hat to the meeting. She had put it on, admired it even, in front of the mirror, knowing full well it would cause a stir among her acquaintances.

Still, it was William who would cause the biggest stir, being dressed head to toe in London finery.

‘Where are you, Elizabeth?’ William asked while they walked. ‘Are you worried about what that Samuel fellow might have to say about me snatching you away?’

‘What? Samuel?’ She had not given him much thought, really. ‘He will know by now and I suspect he might be surprised. Not heartbroken, though.’

‘I will not have to fight for you, then?’

The arch of his brows, the playful smile on his face chased away the shadows within her, leaving only those bobbing on the path. How could she not laugh? Her husband had a way about him which made her want to be with him all the time.

‘Are you the fighting kind, William? Samuel is not.’

‘I might not have had occasion to use fisticuffs in the past, but I believe I would fight if the need arose.’

‘In regard to Samuel, I do not believe it will arise. But fighting for what is right... I would do that, too.’ As the coming meeting would attest to.

‘May I hold your hand, sweet wife?’ he asked. His smile, as always, turned her warm from the inside out.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.