Kissed by Frank M.C

Author:Frank, M.C.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-06-12T16:00:00+00:00

~~~

Amalby was a palace.

There was no other word to describe it. Its grounds were endless, covered in gardens, lakes and fields, and the manor itself was so grand one could barely glance at the whole thing at once. Adelina’s heart lurched as they neared the estate, and she felt that tug of longing again. Longing for long, free horse rides and exploring, although of course one could hardly expect to explore Amalby within the span of a few weeks. It was practically a county in and of itself.

They were welcomed inside, and Adelina at once took a liking to Lady Ingram, the Dowager Marchioness. She was recently widowed, but was dressed in pale blue, her gray hair fashionably styled, and there were barely any wrinkles on her smooth, tanned face. She had an easy manner, exuding kindness and simplicity rather than the conceit of such wealth as she possessed, and was almost as tall as Adelina, and elegantly slender. Still, she moved with the ease of someone who takes regular exercise, and how could she not: she was trailed everywhere by at least three of Amalby’s many dogs, and seemed to dote on them quite disgustingly.

The lord of the house, the Marquis of Ingram, came down as well to welcome his guests, looking pale and frail and nothing like the beautiful rake who had taken London’s ballrooms by storm not a year ago. He had ruined enough girls’ reputations and crushed enough scheming mamas’ dreams so as to be considered the man to be avoided at all costs. Which, naturally, meant that he was pursued by every single female in England.

That was before his accident, of course.

“I remember you, don’t I?” the marquis told Adelina once she was introduced, dropping his voice to a private whisper. “You tried to get yourself ruined by me, did you not?”

Oh good, she thought. More humiliation.

Once upon a time, she had attempted to throw herself at the Marquis of Ingram. Well, excuses must be made: the man was a walking painting. It was not her fault. Besides, she had not thought of marriage then, just a bit of flirtation and attention, a bit of stimulation…

Ashton had put a stop to that. Ingram had been the rakiest of all the rakes.

Now, of course, he was a broken man. Utterly ruined.

Like me, Adelina thought. Except you can see it on his face.

He was scarred and seriously unwell.

He had been severely injured in a fire some months prior to Adelina’s almost wedding, and apparently had yet to recover fully. By the way Ashton’s jaw tightened every time he looked at his friend, it seemed improbable he ever would. Adelina had hoped that their arrival to Amalby would coincide with parties of other young people, perhaps including unattached girls like her, and especially eligible gentlemen of a similar caliber to the marquis.

However, it soon became obvious that the nature of their visit was the entire opposite of a party.

There were no rakish gentlemen come to visit the marquis, to help him out of his depression and weakness, to liven him out of his foul moods.

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