Courting Constance (Fountain of Love)

Courting Constance

Sequel to Loving Lily

By Kirsten Osbourne

Copyright 2014 Kirsten Osbourne

Kindle Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Connect with Kirsten on
Facebook
. 

Watch for new books from fountain of love on the
Facebook Page
.

This is the long-awaited sequel to Loving Lily!

Constance hated her life as a lady's companion to old Lady Graves, but she had nowhere else to go.  When Lady Graves died unexpectedly, Constance had to begin a job in a seamstress's shop, where she was happy for the first time in her life.  The only ripple in her calm world was Lord Charles, the local Earl, who swept into her life and tried to sweep her off her feet.  She refused to be his mistress, though, so they found themselves at an impasse, for he didn't feel that he should marry so far beneath him. 

When Constance goes to work as a nurse for Lady Lily, she worries about being in constant contact with Lord Charles, because the two are siblings.  Will she be able to get past her feelings for him to work happily?  Or will she spend the rest of her life pining for a man who is well out of her reach?

To sign up for Kirsten
Osbourne’s mailing list and receive notice of new titles as they are available, click
here.

Chapter One

January 1816

Constance closed the Bible and tiptoed toward the door.  Ever since Lady Graves had fallen ill, she’d been cooped up inside, with the older woman refusing to allow her to leave the house at all.  She didn’t mind reading to the old woman while she was awake, but when she fell asleep?  Why did anyone need to have the book of Proverbs read to them while they were sleeping?  And why the book of Proverbs?  Constance had once skipped over to the Song of Solomon while the elderly lady slept, and she’d read from it instead.  Of course, Lady Graves had woken up in the middle of the passage and had been scandalized.

Constance peeked back over her shoulder before opening the door. 
Good, she’s still sleeping. 

She went down the backstairs and hurried out onto the grounds.  If her employer was true to form, she would sleep for precisely two hours and sixteen minutes.  Constance didn’t know how she did it, but her naps were always the exact same length. 

She hurried across the grounds to the small stream that separated Lady Graves’s property from a small orphanage in amongst the trees.  When she finally reached it, she sat down on the bank of the stream and hugged her knees to her chest. 

She knew it wasn’t the right way for a lady to act, but she really didn’t care.  Her father had been a country squire, and she missed the freedom she’d had to run around doing as she wanted when she was a child.  Both of her parents had died of influenza when she was sixteen, and she’d taken a post working for Lady Graves.  She’d worked for the woman for seven years, and she didn’t know what she would do if something were to happen to her employer. 

The physician had come out several times and her health was failing.  Constance knew she had to do something, but having always lived in the country, she didn’t know where to go or what to do.  She supposed she could always get a post in the small town near them, but she didn’t know what skills she possessed.  She’d been little more than a schoolgirl when she’d begun working for Lady Graves.

She sighed, staring at the water and waiting for it to calm her.  She saw a lone rider across the stream.  She’d noticed him before, but had never spoken to him.  She leaned back on her hands and watched, knowing he would
never spot her.  He was always so focused on his ride that little things like women watching him were not noticed.

He looked as if he were one with his horse, riding along the edge of the stream.  He was a superb horseman, and she dreamed of what it would be like if he offered her a hand up, and she rode along with him.  Many nights, instead of sleeping, she would lie in bed and imagine a life with the mystery man.

Constance thought about everything she knew about him.  He must have a great deal of wealth to be able to afford such a beautiful animal.  Obviously he didn’t have a demanding job, because he was out quite often in the afternoon riding the same path.  He didn’t ever look around him as he rode, just concentrated on what was in front of him.  He would often jump over a fallen limb instead of going around it, laughing as he landed soundly.

For a few months, he’d been morose in his expressions as he rode, but for the past few weeks, he seemed happy again.  She liked him better when he was happy, of course.  He was so much more fun to watch.

Constance sighed, forcing herself to think about her situation again.  She had to find something else to do.  Whether or not Lady Graves died, she was miserable in her position.  She was not made to be a lady’s companion.  She would make a good governess, walking with children through the woods and talking about nature.  She could see herself surrounded by children as she made her daily sojourns.  Being with a crotchety old harridan?  So much less enjoyable.

She stood and brushed off her skirt.  She had only forty-five minutes left of her employer’s nap, and she needed some food.  Ever since Lady Graves had fallen ill and lost her appetite, she’d forgotten that Constance needed to eat.  When she would ask if she could go to the kitchens to procure food, the answer was always the same.  “I’m not hungry!  Why are you?”

She hurried to the kitchen, forgetting about the mystery man on the horse for the time being.  The cook had left a warm stew on the stove for her, knowing she would be hungry.  Lady Graves had no children, so no one checked up on her.  It was just Constance, Lady Graves, and a few servants living in the large house in the country. 

She sat at the table and ate her stew quickly, thanking the cook when she was done.  “If you don’t mind, I’d love it if you’d keep something set aside for me this evening.  I’m certain she won’t let me eat again.  She’s happy with chicken broth.  Why am I not happy with chicken broth?”

Cook smiled at Constance.  “You run on back to her, Connie.  You know I’ll save you some supper.  I always do.”

Constance smiled sweetly and ran from the room, up the stairs, and carefully opened the door to Lady Graves’s room.  She sat down in her chair, checking to see that her charge was still sleeping soundly.  She picked up the Bible, and skipping over three Proverbs, began reading in a soft modulated voice, knowing when Lady Graves woke, she would expect to hear her reading from further along than where she’d left off.

She found herself constantly checking the time as she read.  Two hours later, her throat hoarse, she stood and checked on her employer.  Placing her hand against her forehead, she realized it was ice cold.  Constance tried to stifle the panic as she picked up the woman’s wrist and checked her pulse.  When she didn’t find one, she ran down the stairs and asked the maid to send for the physician, even though she knew it was too late.

Constance returned to her employer’s room, buried her face in her h
ands and cried.  She didn’t know if she was crying for her employer or for herself, but her life was about to change, and she didn’t know where she’d be sleeping in a week.  She knew nothing of the older woman’s will, but she was certain whoever inherited would not put up with the former owner’s companion living there.

What was she going to do?

*****

Charles once again felt eyes on him as he rode, but as usual, he assumed some of the orphans had wandered off and onto Lady Graves’s property.  He’d speak to Lily about it, because Lady Graves was the type to chase orphans off her property with a blunt instrument if she could find one. 

He rode at breakneck speed back across the meadow toward Marsgate Manor.  He’d been away from London for a while, and he found he was thinking about going back.  He missed Lily, and their brother, James, was still in Scotland.  What he was doing there, Charles didn’t know, but he rarely knew what James was up to.

He gave his rei
ns to the groom in the stable before walking toward the house.  He’d been feeling restless for weeks, ever since Lily had married Kit.  He needed to check on her, but he didn’t want it to be obvious he was worried about her.  He didn’t want her new husband to think he didn’t trust him.

He frowned.  How could he trust Kit when he’d impregnated his sister without being married to her?  Yes, he’d done the right thing when she’d turned up pregnant, and had promised him he’d be good to her, but he still worried.  Lily
hadn’t wanted to marry him, but she’d known it was the best thing for her unborn child.

He sighed. 
I’ll just ride over there at dinner time.  She won’t refuse me a meal, and I can see them together and make certain she’s okay.

*****

Lily was glowing.  She looked positively radiant and happy when she joined him in the parlor before dinner.  She rushed to him and hugged him close.  “It’s so good to see you, Charles.”

Charles pulled away and looked down at his younger sister, his brown eyes carefully studying her pretty face.  “I thought you weren’t speaking to me.”
 

Lily laughed.  “I wasn’t speaking to you because you forced me to marry a beast when I didn’t want to marry.  Now I’m thanking you for
encouraging me to marry my wonderful husband whom I love with all my heart.”

Charles threw back his head and laughed.  “I guess I don’t have to ask if you’re happy.”

“I’m very happy.”  She patted her round belly.  “Ready for this baby to be born, but very happy.”

“It’s not time to have him yet.  You keep my nephew in there for just as long as he wants to stay.  We don’t need a tiny scrawny baby.”

Lily rolled her eyes.  “What if it’s a girl?”

Charles shrugged.  “If it’s a girl, you need to force her to wear shoes every day from the day she’s born so she won’t end up like her mother with a shoe aversion.”

Lily blushed, looking down quickly and then back up with a smile.

“You were checking to make certain your feet were hidden under your gown, weren’t you?  Lily, you are going to be the death of us all!”

She smiled as Kit came into the room and slipped his arm around her waist.  He held his hand out to Charles.  “What brings you this way?”

Charles raised an eyebrow.  “The last time I saw my sister, she told me she’d never speak to me again because I forced her to marry you.  I felt the need to check on her and make sure she was all right.”

Kit smiled, his face having healed nicely from the black eye Charles had given him a few weeks before.  “My wife and I are doing very well, thank you.”

“Then I’m here for dinner.”  Charles followed the couple to the dining room and carefully observed them as they ate.  He could see the love shining on both of their faces, so he was content.  If Lily was happy, then that was all that mattered.  He needed his sister to be happy.

“So, Charles, when are you going to marry?”  Lily asked the question just as Charles was taking a sip of his wine, and he choked on it.

“I’m not in any hurry,” Charles told her.  “I haven’t met the woman of my dreams yet.”

Lily shrugged.  “How are you going to meet her when you hide yourself away in the country all the time?  And when you do go to London all you do is attend parliamentary meetings.  Don’t you think you should go to some balls?  Check out the new crop of marriage minded misses?”

Charles wiped his mouth with his napkin.  “The new crop of marriage minded misses?  Is that a phrase you came up with on your own?”

“Oh yes, but I suppose I should have said, ‘the new mass of marriage minded misses.’  That suits them better and mass starts with an m!  I’m all for good alliteration.”

Charles shook his head at his sister.  “When I’m ready to marry, I’ll check out the ballrooms.  For now, I’m content.”

Lily smiled at him.  “You never know when love will come along and force you to change your stance on that.”

“As you said, I hide in the country when I’m not at parliament.  How will love find me here?”

“You never know…”

He took the long way home that evening, riding to the edge of the lake that was right near the orphanage.  He spotted a fountain by the light of the full moon that he hadn’t seen before.  He stopped and got down, looking at it with a smile.  He had no idea who had put it there, but the craftsmanship was superb.  He would have liked to have one built for his garden at home.