A Country Scandal: a sexy, scandalous page-turner
Page 26
Walking back down the aisle, arm in arm with his bride, Tobias bent his head and whispered, ‘Love you, Lady Cavendish-Blake.’ Megan looked into his handsome face and smiled. Never had she been so happy.
Finally relaxing, everyone made their way for champagne on the lawn. The very last of the summer’s rays decided to shine and the air was filled with the clinking of glasses, laughter and a string quartet playing quietly in the background. Dylan and Flora, both relieved the horses had behaved themselves without dumping manure anywhere, glugged back the champagne thankfully.
‘Have I told you how pretty you look today, Flora?’ he asked, lazily looking her up and down. He could pick her up and roger her senseless in the stables right now, given the chance.
‘You scrub up well yourself, Dylan,’ she chipped back with a wink.
‘Celia, isn’t that the famous jockey?’ murmured Wilfrid, who was totally starstruck with the whole affair. As soon as he had stepped foot inside Treweham Hall he couldn’t take it all in. The place was splendid, all had made him welcome and Celia was as formidable as he remembered.
‘Yes. Dylan Delany. An insufferable rogue,’ answered Celia directly.
Finula was chatting to Gary and Tracy. ‘Love that dress, Tracy,’ she complimented. Gary gave a snort. Tracy nudged him hard.
‘Thanks, Fin,’ she quickly smoothed over.
‘I had something very similar once.’ Finula cocked her head to one side, sizing it up.
Ted was there, in his best suit, sitting with Megan’s mum and brother. They were all deep in conversation. Megan looked on and smiled. She was going to invite Chris to stay in Bluebell Cottage, and really give him chance to get to know Ted. Plus she’d missed having her brother around. Kate seemed to be getting along with him nicely, she noticed.
‘They’ve a lot of catching up to do,’ Tobias remarked, handing her a glass of champagne. ‘To us,’ he toasted, raising his glass.
‘To us,’ she replied and kissed his lips.
Kate sidled up and congratulated them. ‘You didn’t tell me what a dish your brother is,’ she whispered, making Tobias laugh.
‘Is he?’ Megan replied in surprise.
‘Er… yeah,’ Kate replied, rolling her eyes.
Wilfrid tentatively approached them and Tobias immediately made him feel comfortable.
‘Wilfrid, meet my wife, Megan.’ It felt so good calling her that. Wilfrid shook hands with Megan.
‘Congratulations to you both. May I say what an absolute pleasure it is to be here.’
‘Not at all, Wilfrid, thank you for coming,’ replied Megan. What an enchanting couple, Wilfrid thought, in fact, what an enchanting place. He was still taking it all in.
‘There you are,’ interrupted Celia, making him jump. Then, turning to the small group, she announced that dinner was shortly to be served. Sure enough a gong was sounded and Henry was politely ushering everyone to the Great Hall for the wedding breakfast.
Once everyone was seated, Tobias rose at the top table, and a hush descended.
‘Ladies, gentlemen and munchkins,’ he winked towards Seamus’ little girls, who giggled in delight, ‘may I take this opportunity in thanking you all for sharing my and Megan’s special day. I won’t be making a further speech—’
‘Thank God,’ interrupted Sebastian, making everyone chuckle. Tobias smiled.
‘– but will leave that job in the capable hands of my best man and best friend, Seamus.’ All clapped and cheered. Seamus pushed his copper fringe back, hoping he’d meet their expectations. Tatum rested her hand on his lap for comfort. ‘In the meantime, let’s enjoy!’ The Great Hall was filled with applause.
After a wonderful meal of watercress soup, beef wellington and summerfruit pudding, and whilst the guests sipped coffee and nibbled minted chocolate, Seamus stood up and spoke. His speech was peppered with humour, telling tales from his and Tobias’ childhood and early teens, to later describing how their friendship had grown and strengthened with the trials of life. He was witty, tactful and gracious, giving testament to a good, lifelong friend. Megan’s eyes filled with emotion. ‘So, may I end my speech with a toast. To my best mate, Tobias, and his beautiful bride. To Tobias and Megan,’ he raised his glass.
‘To Tobias and Megan!’ they all cheered.
As the sun shone down and the music played, as the laughter continued and the champagne flowed, as friendships formed and love grew, outside the gates of Treweham Hall, in the churchyard nearby, a spirit finally found solace. Only now could she rest in peace.
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Sasha Morgan’s next book is coming in 2019
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Acknowledgements
Researching for this book meant spending days wandering round old halls and ancestral homes, visiting quintessential villages and sipping wine in quaint, country inns, all the things I love doing!
I’d like to thanks my husband, Alex, for introducing me to the wonderful world of racing and patiently explaining all the goings-on at the exciting race meetings I tagged along to.
I honour and pay respect to all those soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the World Wars. Their heartfelt messages of love I read on various websites gave me inspiration for ‘E’s’ letters.
Finally, I give huge thanks to Caroline Ridding, Publisher of Aria Fiction, for spotting me, and to Sarah Ritherdon and Yvonne Holland for their wise words and guidance in editing my book.
Sasha x
About Sasha Morgan
SASHA MORGAN lives in a rural, coastal village in Lancashire with her husband and Labrador dog. She has always written stories from a very young age and finds her fictional world so much more exciting than the real one.
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Addictive Fiction
First published in the United Kingdom in 2018 by Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © Sasha Morgan, 2018
The moral right of Sasha Morgan to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (E) 9781786699022
Aria
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