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

It wasn’t like me to neglect my mount. Hopefully Mr Ruston wouldn’t rake me over the coals for leaving Blue Boy without seeing to his care.


Geo would no doubt see the gelding, and since he didn’t know me at all well, he’d most likely believe I knew no better than to leave my cattle standing in that condition.


If not for the fact I never wept, I could have done so then, and gladly. This would give him one more reason to hold me in contempt.


I straightened my shoulders. I had made enough of a fool of myself for one day. I turned and followed in Geo’s footsteps, praying he’d be gone by the time I got to the courtyard.


For once my prayers were answered. His curricle was just disappearing down the drive at a clipping pace. Blue Boy, however, was nowhere to be seen.


“Hell and the devil!” I groaned under my breath. It wasn’t like the gelding to go off like this. I made my way to the stables to get another horse so I could go in search of him.


Chapter 49