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

“Did Mr Stephenson…did he not say anything?”


“No, sir, just that there was no response.”


“Sir Ash? Is there anything I can do?”


Did I look as put out—I refused to see myself as devastated—as I felt? I shook my head. “Get into some dry clothes, then go to the kitchen and tell Cook she’s to feed you and give you something hot to drink.”


“Yes, sir. Thankee, sir.” He looked around for a place to set down the glass, and sneezed


Colling took the glass from him, raised a hand, and David appeared as if out of nowhere. “See to Hammel.”


“Yes, Mr Colling.” David didn’t seem in the least fazed by the dripping young man, and the odd thought strayed through my mind: he was going to make the ideal butler.


“Sir Ashton, shall I have Cook prepare a cold collation for you? Some meats and cheeses, perhaps?”


Chapter 73