Read Online Sacrifice (Fashionably Impure Book 3) by Natasha Blackthorne - Free Book Online
Authors: Natasha Blackthorne
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don’t
like to play.”
“I think we both need the distraction—”
He glanced up at the ceiling. “At least take pity on me and give me some
friendly distraction until my girl’s pride wears thin and she calls for me.”
They decided upon vingt-et-un and he
dealt the cards but they both played listlessly.
“Danvers will return from America a
wealthy man.”
“You are kind and beyond generous to have
done this for him,” she said.
“The favor is all on his part. I need
someone close to me. Someone I can trust.” He looked up at the ceiling. “I have
a wife and young children now. I have my duties in the House of Lords. I cannot
simply pack my valise and travel to manage these matters.”
“ These matters?” she asked.
“I hope that Adrian develops a taste for
the variety and excitement of travel. A taste for the kind of life that wealth
and its resultant power can bestow upon him.”
“Indeed?”
“The scandal of your marriage will haunt
the two of you. The incident with Brentwood is but a taste.”
“Yes, I know,” she said, sadly.
“I need someone in the Orient, to be my
eyes, my ears. I need someone who can make instant judgments and decisions that
I can trust.”
Hearing Lord Ruel talk of this job made
it seem all the more real.
“Yes, Adrian mentioned this.”
“Aye, he did?” Ruel raised his light
brown brows. “And may I pry into a wife’s confidence and ask what he thought of
the whole matter?”
“Adrian is an Englishman.”
Ruel chuckled. “That’s what he said to me
too. But once he has a taste of his own real wealth, that’s going to be a
temptation that will prove hard for him to resist.”
Miranda’s heart began to beat hard. Not
because she wished Adrian to take this job. No, she feared this job.
Yes, Adrian would likely become
accustomed to the wealth. But at what price?
He was a grown man and if he accepted a
longer-term job from this protective older cousin, it would be like being owned
by another man.
She didn’t think that would be a good
thing.
But who was she to say? Adrian was a man
and an earl. He was used to making his own decisions, and any wife had to
accommodate herself to a husband’s decisions.
Especially a countess.
More so for an unsuitable countess.
The sound of running feet made her turn
her head.
Two young housemaids came bursting into
the hall.
“My lord,” the taller, older appearing
one said breathlessly. “Lady Ruel is calling for you.”
Chapter
Five
Miranda took George Jonathon Lawrence
Lloyd, or Laurie as he was called, from his mother’s arms, being careful to
place her hand under his bottom and to refold the blanket over his tiny chest.
He stared up at her with his mother’s
dark blue eyes and he already sported a thick thatch of coal black hair. She
studied his light-olive hued face. The tiny slashes of black brows and
surprisingly long and lush eyelashes for a boy.
The sight of the baby, the feel of him in
her arms, always brought such her longing to hold her own child in her arms.
Adrian’s child.
She would likely already be pregnant if
he had not left her.
Anne sat back in her chair and sighed.
“All these months and not even a sniffle. He is as healthy as his sisters.”
She glanced down at the floor near her
feet, where the Ruel heir, Midhurst, sat on a blanket, stacking colorful wooden
blocks. Her gaze was full of love but also a fierce protectiveness.
As Miranda understood it, Midhurst had
suffered several life-threatening lung fevers in his infancy.
Miranda and Davey no longer lived with
Lord and Lady Ruel. She was only here for a visit to their Mayfair townhouse
and she had left Davey behind in the care of his nurse.
There had been some difficulty and
awkwardness in her leaving.
Miranda remembered that night that Lord
Ruel had come to the hall, drunk and anxious about his countess. It had been a
long one for the entire household that had stretched into morning.
A few moments after the grand
like to play.”
“I think we both need the distraction—”
He glanced up at the ceiling. “At least take pity on me and give me some
friendly distraction until my girl’s pride wears thin and she calls for me.”
They decided upon vingt-et-un and he
dealt the cards but they both played listlessly.
“Danvers will return from America a
wealthy man.”
“You are kind and beyond generous to have
done this for him,” she said.
“The favor is all on his part. I need
someone close to me. Someone I can trust.” He looked up at the ceiling. “I have
a wife and young children now. I have my duties in the House of Lords. I cannot
simply pack my valise and travel to manage these matters.”
“ These matters?” she asked.
“I hope that Adrian develops a taste for
the variety and excitement of travel. A taste for the kind of life that wealth
and its resultant power can bestow upon him.”
“Indeed?”
“The scandal of your marriage will haunt
the two of you. The incident with Brentwood is but a taste.”
“Yes, I know,” she said, sadly.
“I need someone in the Orient, to be my
eyes, my ears. I need someone who can make instant judgments and decisions that
I can trust.”
Hearing Lord Ruel talk of this job made
it seem all the more real.
“Yes, Adrian mentioned this.”
“Aye, he did?” Ruel raised his light
brown brows. “And may I pry into a wife’s confidence and ask what he thought of
the whole matter?”
“Adrian is an Englishman.”
Ruel chuckled. “That’s what he said to me
too. But once he has a taste of his own real wealth, that’s going to be a
temptation that will prove hard for him to resist.”
Miranda’s heart began to beat hard. Not
because she wished Adrian to take this job. No, she feared this job.
Yes, Adrian would likely become
accustomed to the wealth. But at what price?
He was a grown man and if he accepted a
longer-term job from this protective older cousin, it would be like being owned
by another man.
She didn’t think that would be a good
thing.
But who was she to say? Adrian was a man
and an earl. He was used to making his own decisions, and any wife had to
accommodate herself to a husband’s decisions.
Especially a countess.
More so for an unsuitable countess.
The sound of running feet made her turn
her head.
Two young housemaids came bursting into
the hall.
“My lord,” the taller, older appearing
one said breathlessly. “Lady Ruel is calling for you.”
Chapter
Five
Miranda took George Jonathon Lawrence
Lloyd, or Laurie as he was called, from his mother’s arms, being careful to
place her hand under his bottom and to refold the blanket over his tiny chest.
He stared up at her with his mother’s
dark blue eyes and he already sported a thick thatch of coal black hair. She
studied his light-olive hued face. The tiny slashes of black brows and
surprisingly long and lush eyelashes for a boy.
The sight of the baby, the feel of him in
her arms, always brought such her longing to hold her own child in her arms.
Adrian’s child.
She would likely already be pregnant if
he had not left her.
Anne sat back in her chair and sighed.
“All these months and not even a sniffle. He is as healthy as his sisters.”
She glanced down at the floor near her
feet, where the Ruel heir, Midhurst, sat on a blanket, stacking colorful wooden
blocks. Her gaze was full of love but also a fierce protectiveness.
As Miranda understood it, Midhurst had
suffered several life-threatening lung fevers in his infancy.
Miranda and Davey no longer lived with
Lord and Lady Ruel. She was only here for a visit to their Mayfair townhouse
and she had left Davey behind in the care of his nurse.
There had been some difficulty and
awkwardness in her leaving.
Miranda remembered that night that Lord
Ruel had come to the hall, drunk and anxious about his countess. It had been a
long one for the entire household that had stretched into morning.
A few moments after the grand
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