Authors: K. R. Richards
Before he departed England for Italy
,
Owen
took
Grace
on a picnic
.
They were completely alone in the wood near Roseland
.
He proposed to her
.
He made love to her
on the blanket
.
T
he next day they returned
again
to the same spot
.
They made love for hours
.
That was two days before he left for Italy
.
He remembered hearing she married
four
weeks
before he returned
.
Owen
cursed under his breath
.
He f
elt the blood drain from his face
.
“Grace
!
It could be Grace
!”
Owen stood
.
Grace, now
Lady Marston,
now
the widow of Lord Marston
.
He heard she had a child
many
weeks shy of
nine months to the day of her wedding
to Marston
.
T
here
were
rumors
.
The words whispered
throughout the Hartland Peninsula
killed Owen
when he
concluded
that
while he was in Italy dreaming of marrying Grace, she shar
ed
her body with another man
.
He burned with anger and jealousy
upon
hearing
the whispers
.
The gossip only f
anned the hatred he felt at being betrayed by Grace
.
He still loved her when he heard about her child
.
He still loved her when he heard about her husband’s death
eight months ago
.
And he still loved her now
.
But he also hated her
during the
past four years
, f
or playing him a fool
;
f
or
betraying
him
.
M
aybe,
just maybe,
there was a reason for it
?
If she
were w
ith child
, c
arried his child
, yes
,
he reasoned this girl child could be his if it were Grace’s daughter
.
Owen’s upset was evident.
Charlie briefly explained
the circumstances regarding Owen’s return from Italy to find Grace married
Lord Marston
.
“I didn’t know
.
I still don’t know
for certain
.
How could someone else know if Grace never told me
?”
“Can you contact her tomorrow to see if her child is missing?” Harry asked.
Owen nodded numbly.
Harry paced as he spoke
.
“We need to be in London by
Thursday
eve
ning
.
That will give us four days to study the
layout of the
Jasmine Star and formulate a plan of attack
, a
nd four days to try and locate this child and hopefully get her before Tuesday next
.
I would prefer we take the upper hand and gain control of the situation rather than leaving it in their hands
.”
He sighed heavily then added, “
We need to alert the ladies and let them know they are in danger, but I don’t want them to know why we are going to London
.
They will worry incessantly
.
We have to let Trevan know
.
He is expected to attend the meeting at the Jasmine Star
.
I’ll write a letter tonight and send it first thing tomorrow morning.
We need a place
to stay in London
that doesn’t
directly
belong to one of us
.
They will be watching our London homes already, I am certain
.
We need a
place big enough for all of us
and
Trevan’s
group
too
.
I
will write to my brother,
George
,
to have him meet us in London with mine and Lyon’s
families
.
Sir John and Rowena’s Aunt Frances are already in London
.
The rest of you need to send your families to
another safe place
.”
“Infiltrated!
”
Lyon spoke aloud.
Everyone
turned their attention
to him
.
“Infiltrated
.
The Grand Knight said
all of the safe places were
infiltrated
.
Servants
.
They’re getting to the servants
.
That’s how they got in here to get Libby
.
That’s how they knew where Libby and Sophia would be on the days they were taken
.
No doubt that is how they stole this child
.”
Harry rose
.
“We need foolscap and quills
.
Everyone write to your families
at once
.
They need to move to a safe place without bringing a single solitary servant with them
.
And their household staff where they are currently must be given a false destination
.
We’ll post the letters tomorrow morning
.
As of this moment, Micah, your servants are under suspicion.”
Micah nodded somberly.
“We can stay with Chilcompton in London, Harry.”
“Your Grandfather won’t mind?”
“No
.
My Grandfather will welcome the company
.
Wychcombe House is huge
, as you well know
.
It’s c
ompletely fenced
making it easy to defend
.
He
rarely has visitors
.
He’s in an older,
less fashi
o
nable and
quiet part of Town
.
We can sneak in and remain there without being noticed
.
There’s not a member of his staff that hasn
’
t been with him for over twenty years, with the exception of a few
parlour
maids.”
Harry nodded
.
“Good
.
Send him a letter
.
We
will
go to Wychcombe House
.”
The clock in the hall chimed
three
when the men of the house made their way back to their posts or bedchambers
.
Lyon entered Micah’s room
, having been told his wife slept there
.
It was dark
.
He wanted to make certain his wife was in the
room
.
“Sophia?”
He heard nothing
.
“Sophia?”
he said a little louder.
“Lyon
?”
Sophia sat up
.
She tossed her copper hair over her shoulder
.
It took him all of two minutes to divest
himself of his clothing
.
He slid himself into the bed and his wife, Sophia,
was in his arms. “Let’s get rid of this,” Lyon lifted her nightgown over her head
.
He let it float to the floor
.
His hands slowly moved over her body while his lips covered hers
.
He wanted to feel every inch of her
.
Kiss every inch of her.
“I received your letter
.
Thank you
.”
Sophia’s hands moved over his body
.
They stopped
roaming when she found
what she most wanted
.
When Sophia’s hand moved up and down his hard length, he gr
oaned
.
“I missed you, Sophia, s
o much
.
I want you now
, darling
.”
“
Yes,
Lyon
.
I want you too.
”
His
fingers
moved
down to
ready
her
.
He grinned when he found her
already
wet
.
H
e came over her and filled her
.
Lyon sighed loudly
with the intense pleasure he felt as her wet heat closed around him
.
He was home
.
Home was Sophia
.
He showed her
ju
st how much he missed her, and just how much she meant to him
.
Sophia did the same
.
As Lyon drove into Sophia time and again, as they crested, explod
ing
in
their euphoric bliss as one;
Lyon realized he was deeply in love with his wife
.
They loved
one another
again
then
slept
.
When dawn came,
they
moved to their own chamber
and made it as far as the tub
.
There they
brought
one another
to the heights of ecstasy yet
again
.
“Ah! He lives,” Lyon grinned as he entered Micah’s and Libby’s chamber
the next morning
.
“I do
.
However, I didn’t sleep well
.
It was no
i
sier than
usual in your wife’s room last night
,
”
the corners of Micah’s mouth turned up as he pretended to complain.
Lyon grinned broadly
.
“Noise
?
I didn’t take notice.”
“I didn’t hear any noise last night
.”
Libby offered as she gave
her husband a questioning look.
“That’s because you slept very
soundly
last night, sweetheart.”
“Libby, I’m happy to see you
.
I’m v
ery glad you are back
among us
,” Lyon winked at her
.
“I heard
all
here
grew tired of sitting on your husband’s chest to keep him down
.
I see he is behaving now.”
Libby smiled at Micah, “You must be the worst patient ever
.
Everyone has commented on it.”
Micah shrugged
.
“Oh
,
I do not recall being disagreeable.
”
Lyon laughed at Micah’s words.
“
It was more like stubborn, Micah
.
How are you feeling, Libby?” Lyon
turned his attention to Micah’s wife
.
Micah saw
the genuine concern in Lyon’
s
eyes
when he noticed
Libby’s scar.
“I’m feeling much better, thank you
.
I think I will try to go downstairs
briefly
today.”
“Let me know when you are ready to go down, Libby
.
I’d be happy to escort you.”
“Thank you, Lyon.”
“I can escort
my wife
!” Micah argued.
“No
, y
ou can’t
, Wincanton
.
Your nursemaids have not given y
ou permission to leave your sick bed
yet
.
You only have permission to walk above stairs three times a day
.
You’re still weak and p
a
le from your blood loss
.
I heard you tore your stitches more than once and haven’t healed properly
.”
Lyon sat down
in the chair on Micah’s side of the bed
.
“I am on watch in your room
for half the day
, I’m told
.”
He rose when his lovely wife entered the room
.
She was all s
miles
.
He
treasured
Sophia’s smile.
He
noted
her blush when she
caught the wink he gave her
.
He grinned
wolfishly
at
his hell-cat
.
No doubt she
was
recall
ing
their enthusiastic interlude in the bath before they dressed
,
just
as he was
.