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

“How very fortunate to have such a skilled woman.”


“Indeed, yes. She knows all our favourites, and for his last birthday made Arthur a—” She gasped, flushed, and bit back the rest of her words.


“Arthur? I don’t believe you ever mentioned that name. Are you keeping secrets from me? Is he your beau?” Miss Munro asked archly.


Arabella looked as if she were about to weep, and Aunt Cecily stepped in. “Merely an old childhood friend. Juliet, Arabella has told me you’ve offered to demonstrate the latest dance steps.”


Arabella smiled at Aunt Cecily, grateful for the change of topic. “And to teach them to me as well. Oh, dearest Aunt Cecy, please say we may have a musical evening!”


“I don’t see why not, since we will be en famille. Do you have any objections, Ashton?”


Arabella’s eyes widened, much as they always did when it was brought to her attention that as head of the household, my permission was needed for the least thing.


Chapter 77