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

“If I promise not to make a repeat of it?”


“I? Wary?” I choked out a laugh. I’d given him my heart…


The realisation of what had happened—somehow, when I was least expecting it, Geo had effortlessly taken up residence in that foolish organ—left me with no thought except to flee until I had myself under better control.


“Pray excuse me, sir. I have tasks that require my presence.”


I looked him over, keeping all expression from my face, from my eyes. Then I bowed slightly and, very deliberately, said, “Mr Stephenson.”


Was it a trick of the light, or had he actually turned pale? No matter. Before he could stop me, I was gone from the room.


I avoided Laytham Hall the rest of the day, but when I returned home that evening, I learned it hadn’t been necessary.


“Has Mr Stephenson already dined?” I asked Colling as I sat down to a light repast.


“He’s been out all day and has yet to return.”


Chapter 86