Ashton Laytham was a happy little boy until, at the age of seven, he lost his parents. Sent to Fayerweather to be brought up by his uncle and his uncle’s wife, he was perceived to be an unhappy, unlovable child. Shunned by family and servants and permitted no friends to visit, he grows to adulthood alone and aloof, with only an occasional illicit rendezvous to lighten his days. When his uncle dies, leaving the estate virtually bankrupt, it’s left to Ashton to make good on his uncle’s gaming debts and save Fayerweather. But how? The family talisman, worth thousands of pounds, has been stolen and the suspects vanished in the night, leaving Ashton to face the loss of the home he’s come to love. Geo Stephenson, who works in His Majesty’s civil service, has ghosts of his own. The product of a marriage of convenience, Geo has known all his life his father never loved his mother, and he vows that will never happen to him. Marked by a physical scar earned in battle, none of his previous lovers could bear looking at it without shuddering; his mental scars are due to the many friends lost in useless battles. Geo arrives with a fistful of Sir Eustace Laytham’s IOUs and a solution: Ashton accommodating him in bed, thereby paying off the debt. Attracted to Geo in spite of himself and desperate for any human kindness, Ashton agrees ... never expecting to lose his heart to a man who has sworn he’ll never give his. Can these two men find a measure of happiness together?

Bless Us With Content

“You’ll stay to dine with us, won’t you, Miss Coulbourne?” Aunt Cecily asked.


“That is most kind of you, Lady Laytham, but I promised Papa—” She blushed and bit her lower lip. “Pray excuse me. I meant to say Father.”


“I always called my father Papa,” I murmured.


“What’s that to say about anything, Awful?” Arabella asked in a snide tone, and of course Aunt Cecily didn’t take her to task over it.


On the other hand, Miss Coulbourne sent me a grateful smile. “As I was about to say, I promised Father I would return home as soon as I’d paid my respects to you. I must really be on my way.”


“Perhaps another time, then. I’ll send for your carriage.” She tugged the bell-pull that would summon Colling, who was still the family’s butler even after all these years. “William, do you escort Miss Coulbourne home?”


“Yes, Aunt Cecy.” William smiled into the young lady’s eyes and brought her hand to his lips. Once again she blushed.


“Would you care to dine with Father and me, Mr Scarlett?”


Chapter 15