Of course she wished it! But how had he recalled she didn’t want it refurbished? She’d avoided talking about it during their courtship, not wanting to tarnish their joy. He had mentioned the project but rarely, preferring to spend their time together in pure, delicious, mutual exploration.
Perhaps this was the secret of their love—that ability to communicate without words.
This was the best wedding gift she could ever have hoped for.
He stood quietly beside her, watching her expression with that tender look in his eyes she loved so well. But there was a vulnerability there, too. He needed to know he’d done the right thing.
She needed to show him that he had.
“Oh, James!” She threw herself at him, showering his face with kisses, and he picked her up and swung her around and around until she collapsed, laughing and dizzy, into his arms.
He held her away from him, and when she looked up into his beloved face, he winked at her and said, “Perhaps you’d like to see the main bedchamber? It’s been improved and redecorated, but I’m sure you’ll like it.”
Her insides melted yet again, and she nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes, I’d love to see it.”
“I doubt there’s a fire in there,” he said, kissing the top of her head, “so we might not want to stay for long.”
“Don’t worry, my love,” she replied, shooting him a coquettish look. “I have great faith in my ability to keep you warm.”
He laughed and returned her look with a hungry, feral grin. Then he scooped her up and carried her into their bedchamber.
And locked the door behind them.
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Acknowledgments
I am extremely grateful to Nina Bruhns, my editor, and the whole team at Entangled Publishing, for making my dream of becoming a published author a reality.
I’m also eternally grateful to my long-suffering partner, Tim Robey, and the two very special author friends I met early on in my writing journey, Anna Albo, and Shelley Iñón. Thank you so much for having faith in me!
I’d like to make special mention of Harmony Williams and Ingrid Hahn, two awesome authors who gave me such a warm welcome into the Entangled fold. Dear Reader, if you haven’t yet bought any of their books, I’d strongly encourage you to do so.
About the Author
Elizabeth Keysian is an English archaeologist, teacher, and museum curator. She first started writing “long stories” when her headmaster father needed something to keep her quiet during school summer holidays. In her teenage years she produced angst-ridden poetry, slightly disturbing sketches for an amateur dramatics group and even her own magazine, to the mixed delight and consternation of her friends.
After completing her History degree, Elizabeth joined an English Civil War re-enactment group, messed about with the Middle Ages, and finally settled to an enjoyable reconstruction of Tudor Daily Life at Kentwell Hall in Suffolk.
Her imagination was further inspired by living for seven years on a Knights Templar estate, with a garage full of skeletons, a resident ghost, and a moat teeming with newts. She now lives near Bath with her partner and cats.
Elizabeth likes to keep her historical novels atmospheric and authentic, with both tears and laughter along the way. She loves to hear from readers via Twitter at https://twitter.com/EKeysian, and Facebook at https://facebook.com/LizKeysian. You can sign up to her newsletter here http://eepurl.com/cxe369.
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Vanquishing the Viscount Page 21
