The Rough Lord by Emma Brady

Author:Emma Brady
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: victorian, mistaken identity, class, secret, kidnapped, romance, lovestory
Publisher: Emma Brady
Published: 2019-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

CLAYTON WORKED THE rest of the day in a distracted daze. He just kept thinking back to Rory and those two men, and the look of fear in her eyes as that one tried to take the diary from her. She knew better than he did what they might be capable of, but something told him that they could be driven to violence.

She didn’t think he knew Lord Bittleby, but he did. He remembered the sniveling brat had grown up around Thomas but had never be one of the more popular gentlemen. The man was a liar, a cheat, and worst of all, a cad when it came to women. It was no surprise he would stoop to these measures to find a wife.

The next day, Clayton still hadn’t been able to shake it from his mind. The way she had cried into his shirt made his chest clench. She had been genuinely scared, and he worried that she still might be. He might not be able to protect her forever, but she would be safe as long he was around. He needed to reassure her of that.

He found Rory sitting in the garden with her legs tucked up under her skirt and the diary in her hand. This part must better than the last time he found her reading it because she was so engrossed, she didn’t hear him approaching her. With her head bent, the light caught her face and it glowed. Her dusty lashes fluttered across her cheeks as she blinked, and those soft lips moved as she read. Her hair was pulled back into a simple braid, but some of it had come loose and fallen around her shoulders. He stopped for a moment and admired the beauty in front of him.

“What part of her life are you at now?”

Rory looked up and blinked at him. It took her a second to shake her head and come back to the moment at hand.

“She’s my age now,” Rory said. “She has given up on London and moved into this house for good. Her family doesn’t understand her choice, but she has her reasons.”

“Does she give those reasons?”

“Yes.” Rory gave him a smile. “She had a lover.”

Clayton liked the way her tone changed when she said that. She didn’t think badly of her aunt for it but sounded amused.

“She doesn’t give the details of who he is, especially not his name, but they met in London during her last season there.”

“Why didn’t she marry him?”

“He was Spanish, probably a displaced aristocrat. Her family never would have approved, so they kept their love a secret. That’s why she never had another season.”

Rory appeared swept away by the idea, and Clayton couldn’t help feeling a little of that too. It sounded like a very exciting story. He only hoped it didn’t have a tragic ending.

“Did you have something to talk to me about?” Rory asked. “I saw that Rex has started painting the murals on the ceiling of the ballroom.

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.