Lord of Dishonor by Edith Layton

Author:Edith Layton [Layton, Edith]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Regency Romance
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Published: 2015-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

IX

The study had a large bow window which presented a fine view of the lake and the mountains in the distance. Since the lady seated at the rosewood desk paused, pen in hand, while she gazed out at the few birds that wheeled and spun in the distance, a viewer could be forgiven if he guessed her a poetess waiting patiently for inspiration to strike from the blue. As the young woman also wore an abstracted air, while her petal-pink gown bore spatters of ink and almost a sheaf of papers lay crumpled about her, one might also have concluded that her muse was not in a cooperative mood.

Amanda at last turned her head resolutely from the bright winter prospect and set her pen to paper again. For all her morning’s labors, the letter to Giles had only progressed to a total of two pages and there was more, so much more she wanted to include. But she could not write the simple two lines that would have said it all and had instead to couch those plain phrases in so much roundabout that she was only half done with her chore. She found herself wishing that she had the sort of bond of communion with Giles that could have enabled her to merely write: “I have made a dreadful mistake. Please come and fetch me home immediately. All my love, Amanda.”

She sighed so heavily the piece of paper she was writing upon stirred beneath her hand. It was so much simpler for her to simply say a thing directly rather than to attempt all this subterfuge. That night at the Fox and Grapes, Lord North had written an excellent letter with ease. But then, she thought, frowning at the very idea of her mock fiancé, hidden meanings and deceptive wordings seemed to come to him as naturally as breathing. So it was that the words that intruded upon the silence exactly matched her unspoken complaints.

“Wouldn’t it be simpler and less time-consuming to simply scrawl ‘Help!’ in huge letters, sign the thing in tears, and post it to Giles immediately?” Lord North said, as he strolled into the room and over to her desk. “But that, alas, would most likely cause the poor fellow to run for cover thinking you’d lost your wits entirely. It’s clear you need my assistance, for you haven’t the least knack for deception. You’ve been mewed up in here for hours and all you’ve done is to create enough kindling to keep the fire blazing merrily for the rest of the afternoon. I waited patiently for your summons. And when you didn’t emerge, I began to entertain the nervous notion that you’d hung yourself from a convenient rafter. So pleased to see that you’re not in that much distress,” he added, smiling down at her as he picked up one completed sheet of paper.

“I scratched upon the door, and rapped it soundly when you didn’t answer,” he explained. “But I see now that you were simply too deep in the throes of creation, not self-destruction, to attend to me.

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