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

Finally the last cover was removed, and the ladies left us to our port.


“I must say your return to Fayerweather comes as something of a surprise to me, Arthur.” I took a walnut from the dish at the centre of the table and cracked it neatly between my fingers


I caught Geo watching my fingers. When his eyes raised to mine, they were hungry, and I lost track of the conversation.


He swallowed a smile and nudged my ankle under the table.


“I beg your pardon, Arthur. You were saying?”


“Mr. Stephenson gave me no choice.”


“Eh?” Geo’s father looked startled. “What had I—oh, you mean George.”


Geo observed them ironically. “I thought Laytham was due an explanation.”


“Of course.” There was reluctant acceptance in Arthur’s voice. “You must understand. Will did what he did for Aunt Cecily. At first neither John nor I could fathom his reasoning—”


“And yet you were both willing to shoulder the responsibility.”


“But of course. He was our brother.”


Chapter 100