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

“Things you must do, sir?” I prodded gently, hoping to get the conversation on track once more.


“Quite. Among which are the dinner parties Aberdeen is requiring of me. The Earl is the Secretary of State” He peered at me over the rim of his glass and frowned at my apparent confusion. I had no notion as to how affairs of State were run. “However, I’m a widower.” Obviously he expected me to understand his drift.


“Erm…yes?” I was at something of a loss. This was not the direction in which I’d expected the conversation to go.


“Laytham.” He sounded exasperated. “Since the wives of important men will also be attending, I obviously need a lady to hostess these dinner parties. I should like that lady to be your aunt, Lady Cecily.”


“I see. May I ask exactly how many dinner parties?”


“Oh…” He waved his hand vaguely. “Any number of them at this point, and probably a good deal more once the Season begins.”


Chapter 67