Lord Greyton's Fall From Grace (Lords of Avalon Novella Series) (9 page)

“What do you suggest, Jenny, you sinful girl
?
I wish Marston to receive damaged goods
.
It will be a blow to his pride
.
H
e’ll take my daughter nonetheless, for he has long been obsessed with her.
Still the knowledge will grate at him.
”

“
Tomorrow she will be at Roseland
.
But
in
the following day
s
when he calls
,
I
thought I
could
tell her I have a man, and I wish to see him, b
ut I must be gone for two hours. She is very kind-hearted, and I full
y
expect her to oblige me.
I think
two hours alone
in private
will be m
ore than either of them can bear
.
I feel certain Lord Greyton will make her his
.
There is the Darrington Summer House off the Woodland path you know.”

“
Ah, I
did
forg
et
about the Summer House.
Good girl
, Jenny
.
I daresay
Greyton will not
be
able to keep his h
ands from my daughter if he is
completely alone with her for two hours
privately.
That is a v
ery good plan, Jenny
.
In the meantime, they need time together.
Now get on your knees
and work your sinful magic
, gel
.
Marston will no doubt be seeking your company when next he returns
.
You must find something for me to use against him
.
I do not like that he feels he has control over me
.”
The Squire
grinned
as Jenny kne
lt
before him and did as he bid.

He put his hand on top of her head
forcing her
to take him deeper into her mouth
.
“
On the day
of my daughter’s two hour
tryst
with Greyton
,
Jenny;
you will come to me here in the study
.
I could do with your
sinful
services
for two hours.”
The Squire groaned in pleasure.

Grace smiled happily as she sat in the drawing room at Roseland
.
The Inwoods and Lord St. Erth were in attendance, as were Lord and Lady Burrow, along with Mrs. Bell and Meg
.

Grace was enjoying the conversation with the ladies
.

“Lord St. Erth is so handsome!” Charlie’s youngest sibling,
light-brown haired
Wednesday Inwood
, gushed dreamily as she leaned close to Libby.

“I think him to be a very good sort of man,
” Libby offered sweetly.

“I think he’s mean.
H
e’s quite rude and alw
ays has a sour look on his face,
” Meg sniffed
disdainfully
.

“Meg!” Catherine, Lady Burrow, spoke up, “Lord St. Erth has been nothing but kind
.
He is always polite.”

Meg grimaced
.
“Perhaps
he is polite
to you, Lady Burrow
.
He all but snubbed me.”

Grace coul
d have pointed out that Meg
shamelessly flirt
ed
with the man, and he dismissed her curtly, but she did not
mention it
. “Meg, I agree with Catherine, Lord St. Erth has been nothing but kind to me.”

“He’s been kind to us as well,
” Tuesday Inwood spoke
up
.
“He reminds me of Lord
Wincanton, he’s very polite and kind, but he doesn’t have a whole lot to say
.
That does not make him rude
.
I think Lord Wincanton and Lord St. Erth are both rather mysterious
.
I like
mysterious me
n!” She grinned.

The young ladies laughed, with the exception of Meg.

“I don’t find Lord Wincanton mysterious at all
.
When he visits here at Roseland, he always has a great deal to say
.
We have talked on many su
bjects often,” Libby provided with a smile.

“You’ve always been sweet on Lord Wincanton, Libby!” Tuesday teased her friend
.

Libby blushed.
She immediately replied,
“I am not sweet on him
.
There would be no point in it for they say Lord Wincanton will never marry again
.
He is very kind, and I merely mentioned that I have spoken to him at length, and I do not see him as mysterious.”

“Why will Lord Wincanton never marry again, I take it he was married before?” Catherine asked curiously.

“
It’s very sad
tale, Catherine
.
Lord Wincanton lost both his wife and child as the result of a difficult birth
.
I’ve heard Charlie say he loved his wife so much, he has sworn to never marry again
,
”
Tuesday nodded her head emphatically as she set down her tea cup. “Charlie said Lady Wincanton was quite a beauty.”

“That’s so romantic!” Wednesday sighed dreamily
.
“That is
true
love
.
It reminds me of Romeo and Juliet.
”

“I think it is rather
tragic,
” Catherine commented in a melancholy tone
.
When her friends looked to her, she
quickly
explained, “To have lost someone you love so dearly would be very difficult, I would think
.”

“It would indeed, Catherine
.”
Grace laid a hand on Catherine’s arm and smiled at her.

“Lord Wincanton, Lord Amesbury, and Lord Elveston
shall arrive early next week
. T
hey are going
to Italy with Charlie and Owen,
”
Libby informed her friends.

“Lord Elveston
!
Now I find him very
handsome!” Tuesday
giggled
.

“You always have, Tuesday
!”
Wednesday grinned at her
elder
sister.
“Lord Amesbury ha
s the most pleasant smile,” Wedn
esday offered.

“He’s a thorough rake
, as is
Lord Elveston
. I heard all sorts of tales about
both of them
w
hen I was in London last season,
” Meg piped up with a
mischievous
smile.

“That may be, Meg, but
I find Lord Elveston
to be
a very handsome
rake
,
” Tuesday said pointedly.

The ladies erupted into giggles.

Charlie approached the ladies
.
“You ladies seem to be
enjoying your conversation
.”

“Don’t we always, Charlie?” Wednesday grinned at her brother.

“I daresay you do, Wednesday
.
And when you are
truly enjoying yourselves
, i
t
often accompanies s
ome sort of trouble.” Charlie
winked and
grinned at his youngest sibling
.

Owen came to stand beside Charlie
.
“Would you ladies care to take a turn about the gardens?” His eyes rested
up
on Grace.

“
Yes, that’s a lovely idea, Owen,
” Libby said as she
stood
.
Tuesday and Wednesday
hastened to
join her
.
The trio
left the drawing room
with their arms linked
.
They
walked down the hallway toward the back of the house
, chattering the whole time
.

“Allow me, Miss Brackenridge,” Owen smiled as he offered his arm to Grace
.

Grace smiled as she took his arm.

Charlie
’s
gaze rested
tenderly
on
Catherine
.
H
e looked
to
Meg
somewhat warily
.
He then directed his attention across the room.
“Mother, shall I escort you and Mrs. Bell for a walk
in the gardens
?”
he asked as he approached the pair.

“
Yes, son
, i
t
is very kind of you to
escort
us older ladies,
”
Lady
Stanbridge
beamed at her son
.

Meg turned to glare at Catherine
.
She
stalked
out of the drawing room, trying
to catch up with Libby, Tuesday and Wednesday
.

“Please join us, Catherine,
” Grace offered
.

“You may walk with me, Lady Burrow.” Reginald Darrington, the Earl of Fitzlewis, offered his arm to Catherine.

After receiving a nod of approval from her husband, Catherine accepted the Earl’s arm with a
smile
.

Marrek Penaluna, the Earl of St. Erth, looked to the Marquess of Burrow
.
“It seems we are left alone, Burrow.”

“It does
.
I, for one, am happy to be rid of the giggling female company
.
I’ve a head-ache.”

Marrek
rose from his chair and walked to stand before
the Marquess
. “Lord Burrow, it has come to my attention that you have recently been involved in some
treasonous
schemes
against
the Crown
.
Rather, I should
say you have been caught doing such
.
”

Lord Burrow’s head jerked upward
.
He
looked
at the tall, imposing man before
him in shock
.
“How dare you slander me so? You speak lies
, St. Erth!”

“Unfortunately, Burrow, I have proof
.
We have been
collecting it for some time now.
W
e can implicate you along with your partners
.
We
truly
want your partners
,
Lord Grenville and Lord Somerton.”

“I don’t believe you
.
What proof do you have?
H
u
mph
.
I’ve never heard such nonsense.
”
The Marquess shifted uneasily in his chair.

“
I have
quite
an array of damning d
ocuments with all of your names on it, taken from each of your homes.” A chillin
g smile spread across Marrek’s
face
as Lord Burrow
frowned deeply
.
The Marquess just
realized he was
indeed
caught
.
“Ah, I see you recall hav
ing misplaced some
documents
.
We have them.”

Lord Burrow paled
.
He swallowed hard
.
“What do you want from me?”

“I
t has also been brought to my attention by a friend concerned about your wife
’s welfare
that you harm her
, purposely and for your own perverse pleasure
.”

“What is between me and my wife is no concern of yours
.”