Free A Bride for Lord Esher by P J Perryman Page A

as rough as any other boy, but underneath the Lord of the Manor bravado he’s quite an old softy really. He would chase me relentlessly around the estate, but the moment I fell or hurt myself, he would be so kind and considerate. A girl could not have asked for a better brother.”
    Lady Sudbrooke frowned. This tale of happy childhood made her sick to the core. Her own upbringing had been harsh, duty and obedience had been whipped into her by a cold and unfeeling mother.
    “I think I’ve seen enough of the house, can we go back down?” she said, abruptly interrupting the moment.
    “Of course,” said Chastity. The young woman graciously swept from the room and led her companions back down the stairs to the dining room. They talked of minor things, waiting for the men to return.
     
     
FICKLE FATE
     
    Once all the guests had left for the evening, Chastity undressed, removed her wig and had her hair combed till it shone. The moment her servant left she rose from the dressing table and returned to the same window they had looked out earlier. It was still light outside, and she imagined her husband as a young boy at play in the gardens. She smiled, for despite their strange beginning she felt a deep affection for the man she had been bought for. How strange, she thought, if she could turn the clock back to the morning of that day, she would never have been able to predict her change in both circumstances and feelings. Yet the gods had smiled on her, and here she was, Lady Esher, in a beautiful home, married to a man she was beginning to adore.
    Her thoughts were disturbed by a knock on her chamber door. Lord Robert opened it. He had stripped out of his jacket and now stood there in plain breeches and a shirt that draped loosely down. He carried an ornate wooden box in his hands. She could see the outline of his body through the flimsy material, and a small flame of desire was kindled in her belly. He had come for her, and she was thankful for it.
    “Good evening, Lord Robert. I hope you enjoyed this evening.”
    “Oh yes, though Lord Ashworth is a bit of a bore, and these days I treat everything Tom says with suspicion. I wonder at him proposing to Lady Sudbrooke, though. She has neither wealth nor features to recommend her.”
    “Perhaps it’s their mutual disdain for everything he finds attractive.”
    “Perhaps.” He poured himself a glass of wine from a decanter on a small table. “My sister likes you very much. We were just talking of you before she left.”
    “I like her too. What did she say?”
    “That you were a sweet, pretty little thing, and that you were as good for me as I am for you.”
    “She really said that?”
    “That, and she chastised me for not giving you any jewelry. I’m sorry, it just never occurred to me.” Lord Robert lay the box down upon the bed and patted the spot beside him. Chastity sat down, she wondered what jewels would be in the box and she held her breath in excitement.
    “These are for me?”
    “In your lifetime, yes. Do you want to look inside?”
    “Very much.”
    “Then open it.”
    Chastity’s fingers curled in anticipation, and to delay the delicious moment for as long as possible, she opened the lid slowly.
    “Oh Robert!” she gasped. Inside the box was an assembly of jewels including strings of natural pearls, and rings with gems that were deeply colored and transparent. Chastity picked up an emerald ring that caught her eye, and slipped it onto her finger. She also extracted a string of perfect pearls, which she unraveled and opened to admire them better.
    “Are these the pearls from the portrait?”
    “They are indeed,” said Robert. “They are exquisite and extremely valuable. I shall lock these away to keep them safe, but when you wish to wear them let me know and I shall have them brought to you.”
    “You are very generous, my lord. May I wear the ring?”
    “You may, and we shall travel to London shortly to buy another.”
    He took her left hand