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

But she was the sweetest-tempered animal in the stables, and the colts and fillies she produced had some of the fastest times clocked on a racecourse.


“Nicely done, Jem.” Mr Ruston took his pipe from his mouth and patted Jem’s shoulder.


Jem grinned broadly at the praise. “Thank you, sir.”


“I’ll leave you to it, now. Morning will be here before we know it. Mayhap we’ll try that young colt on Beauty. The cow’s milk we’ve been feeding him hasn’t seemed to do much good. Be a shame if I had to put him down.” He sighed and nodded to me. “Goodnight, sir.”


“Goodnight, Mr Ruston, and thank you for making sure I got here in time.”


“I knew you wouldn’t want to miss it. You’re a good master, and why those up at the house can’t see it…” He shook his head and said gruffly, “Beg pardon, sir.” He clamped the pipe between his teeth, nodded again, and left us there.


Chapter 37