She swept through the front door just as Callum came down the stairs, suavely elegant in evening dress, his golden skin and dark hair the perfect foil for white linen and deep blue cloth. ‘My dear, I was about to send out a search party.’‘Oh, Callum, I am late, I am so sorry—and after I was so cr...
Aunt Izzy remained, her face creased with puzzlement. ‘What an unpleasant man. I couldn’t hear all of what he was saying, but he seemed almost aggressive.’ ‘Merely a jack-in-office,’ Cris said. ‘Newly appointed and officious. Nothing for you to worry about.’ He turned and looked at Tamsyn. ‘If he...
At least he is alive. Only then could she admit to herself the depth of her sudden irrational fear. With the thought her paralysis ended. It was Giles and he was injured. His head was swathed in bandages, his legs dragged as the men held him. ‘Giles.’ She brushed past Anne, uncaring about the oth...
That was easier, she did not have to look at him. She tried not to flinch as his fingers, busy on the buttons, brushed the bare skin of her neck, then her shoulders, then were kept from her naked skin by her chemise. The gown sagged and she caught it, stepping out and standing there, his warmth a...
‘Are all card games this simple?’ she enquired disingenuously, as Nicholas put away the pack. ‘I am learning a little about you, Cassie. Under that country girl exterior beats the heart of a gamester.’ Nicholas regarded her wryly, wondering whether she had been lying about...
They would wear better. Ten shillings and eight pence, she wrote against that item on her list. ‘This poplin would be very suitable for the linings, Lady Hadleigh,’ the assistant said, placing a large roll on the counter before her. ‘Yes, I—’ There was a muffled exclamation beside her and Bella t...
When she opened her eyes she found Patrick sponging her body carefully with a linen towel, his face intent, his hands gentle. ‘You’re awake.’ He dropped the cloth back into the basin and she saw he was draped, Romanlike in a sheet. ‘Yes.’ What was he thinking behind those warm hazel eyes? Regret?...
‘What we will be doing. Or not doing. I mean, we are marrying in the expectation that the baby is a boy, your heir. So we would not need to…to share a bed afterwards. If it was. A boy, I mean. If it is a girl, I can see you would want an heir, so…’ But that was a long time away, she did not need ...
‘Oh dear, I fear I am never going to get the hang of this game, even with Mr Carlow’s assistance. Congratulations, my lord.’ ‘He’s never beaten me yet,’ the earl said smugly. ‘So you learn from me, Miss Latham, not Hal.’ Still chuckling at Hal’s snort of affronted pride, Nell glanced round for Ma...
Dear Mrs Halgate, I regret that I have been unable to find any clues as to the whereabouts of your sisters. I can be clear on only three points: the facts that I communicated to you in my last letter, the fact that nothing is recorded under their names in any parish register for ten miles around ...
Avery summoned up every inch of control he possessed, thanked his hostess for a charming evening and strode out into the lobby. He looked down at his hands and willed them to stillness. He did not know what it was: fury at Laura Campion’s deceit and defiance, the urge to shake the breath out of h...
‘Hellish down there, isn’t it? Come on back to our roost and be thankful it isn’t raining.’ Alex sounded quite unconcerned about the effect of salt spray on his expensive greatcoat or the disorder of his wind-ruffled hair now he had abandoned the fight to keep his hat on his head. &nb...
Lord, but he had to get her dressed again—that blanket was driving him insane. Last night he had been too tired and too distracted to take much notice, although his body had been sending him frantic signals. Now, with it sliding off one shoulder and her hair clean and dry and waving from its tigh...
The pain had been every bit as bad as she had feared, and so sudden, but it was gone now and Hal was part of her, filling her. Although she could hardly breathe and she sensed, rather than felt, a deep soreness, that did not matter: the intimacy of their joining was breathtaking, overwhelming. Wa...
The stewards had brought a load of greenery on board from Madras and the Great Cabin and cuddy were lavishly decorated with palm fronds and creepers. The ladies cut both red and gold paper into strips to weave amongst it and there were garlands of marigolds that had been kept in the cool of the b...
‘I am sure he is not a heathen,’ Lina soothed. ‘Gregor sounds like an Eastern European name to me. Perhaps he is of the Orthodox faith, but a Christian nevertheless.’ Mrs Bishop had perforce been acting as housekeeper for eighteen months, ever since the last one had been driven out by the late Lo...
‘You look ravishing, you’ll bring Gabriel to his knees, every man in the place, including the vicar, will want to run off with you and all the ladies will be green with envy over your gown.’ If the laugh that escaped her was shaky it did release some of the tension, which was presumably why Alex ...
One minute he had been fathoms down, the next, awake, alert, conscious of an empty stomach and silence. Gradually the soft sounds of the household began to penetrate. The subdued crackle of the fire, someone trudging past in the snow, the distant sound of light, racing feet and the heavier tread ...