Read Online Why Earls Fall in Love by Manda Collins - Free Book Online Page B

she thought there might be something more to it. But soon enough she’d realized she was mistaken. And whatever she’d been expecting was not going to happen, as if she’d started on the road to some fantastic destination, but had been forced to stop halfway there. But since Robert seemed to enjoy it, and it was one of the few times that he really seemed pleased with her, she submitted to it when the mood came over him. For the first few years, at least.
    She never explained her puzzlement to her husband. He already found fault with her every decision and action. She could only imagine how he’d have reacted to hearing she found his lovemaking to be less than satisfactory. And after a while, he stopped coming to her bed at all, so it became a moot point.
    Putting Robert from her mind, Georgie hurried into her bedchamber to prepare for her outing.
    Her reticule was tucked away in a drawer of the desk she used for a dressing table, and Georgie sat down at the table for a moment to remove her purse as well so that she could count out the money she’d need.
    She was dropping the coins into the drawstring bag on her wrist when a flash of light caught her eye from the window. Curious, she rose and looked out into the garden below where she saw Con kneeling in the spot where she’d seen the apparition of Robert the night before last. In his hand, he held some sort of shiny object that she presumed had caused the flash that caught her eye.
    Throwing up the sash, she saw him look up and shield his eyes against the sun. Recognition dawned on his face and he gestured for her to come down.
    Curious, Georgie locked her dressing table and headed downstairs to meet Con in the garden.
    *   *   *
    While Georgie was upstairs having her horizons expanded by the Callow sisters, Con had retrieved his spyglass and a small notebook from his bedchamber and set out to investigate the spot where Georgie had seen her late husband two evenings before.
    The garden was well tended, if small. It was laid out in quadrants. The first two, closest to the house, were taken up by a kitchen garden, near the kitchen door, and a pretty little flower bed near the French doors off the drawing room. The left side was bisected from the right by a pretty stone pathway that curved through the greenery like a country path. The far border nearest the alleyway was marked by a curved row of shrubbery that shielded the view of the yard itself from the path running behind the row of houses. There was, however, a gate in the corner, and it was here that Georgie had seen her husband.
    Fortunately, the ground on either side of the stone walk that led to the gate was bereft of any grasses or vegetation of any kind. And at some point, the man Georgina saw must have felt it necessary to step off the stone path, for it was here that Con found the clear, strong impression of a man’s boot. Curious as to what sort of view a man might have from this vantage point, Con retrieved his spyglass from inside his coat and put it to his eye, scanning the back of his aunt’s house until he saw Georgie’s room, which was the second from the left. He could even see her there now, her head bent over some task. He’d best warn her to move whatever bit of furniture she was using away from the window.
    His glass must have caught her attention, however, for she looked up and her eyes narrowed as she saw him. Realizing it would be easier to explain himself in person instead of from his current position three stories below her, he gestured for her to come down.
    While he waited for Georgie to appear, Con reflected on the various reasons why someone might wish to make Georgie think that her husband was still alive. When she’d admitted to him what she’d seen he’d been inclined to suspect her of exaggerating. After all, Robert Mowbray was rumored to have been a bit of a brute, so it was reasonable to assume that she would fear that somehow he’d manage to come back. Or worse, that