Mishap Marriage
Page 23
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As the lowering sun was beginning to stain the sky with swirls of pink and blue, with sunset hues that lit the trees and turned the glittering river to gleaming gold, it touched upon Harcourt Hall’s ancient stones with a honey-toned hue and gave the mullioned windows a fiery glow.
Zack and Shona stood on the terrace, watching Victoria indulgently as she scampered about the lawn surrounded by lovingly cared-for gardens. They could see that she was responding to the love that was being wrapped around her. Zack had presented her with a puppy that very day and the two were noisily getting to know each other.
‘Which of them will tire first, do you think?’ Shona asked as her husband’s arms snaked about her waist and he hugged her to him.
‘There’s a question,’ he murmured, nuzzling her neck. ‘Would you care to place wager?’
Shona laughed on being reminded of the time she had bid five hundred guineas for his pleasure. ‘I don’t think so. I did that once before and look where my recklessness got me.’
Brushing her hair aside, Zack chuckled softly as his lips caressed her nape. ‘Into my bed, as I recall.’
‘I remember it well.’ Sliding her hands along his arms, she sighed with contentment as Victoria ran and skipped and attempted a cartwheel before tumbling harmlessly on to the puppy. ‘Thank you for bringing me to this. There is so much peace in this world of ours.’
‘It was my pleasure. What did your brother have to say?’ he asked, curious as to the contents of her brother’s letter which had arrived earlier.
‘Not much—you know Antony—except that Carmelita has been delivered of her baby, a boy. He’s to be called Colin—after our father. Naturally Antony’s very happy—an heir for Melrose Hill. I also had a letter from Aunt Augusta—she’s to visit very soon. She also told me that Thomas has taken ship for Virginia. At last he has what he always wanted.’
‘And you, Shona—do you miss the island?’
‘Sometimes, but then I look around me—at this beautiful place—and when I think of you and Victoria, I know this is where I want to be.’
‘I love you,’ he whispered, kissing her cheek with boyish sweetness, knowing he would wake in the morning as he had done every morning for the weeks they had been together at Harcourt, in a state of luxurious bliss. His body would be heavy and sated from loving her and he would stretch, knowing her womanly body was next to him.
A burst of joy would explode inside him when he remembered the night past and he would know that all was well with the world.
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ISBN: 978 1 472 04364 1
MISHAP MARRIAGE
© 2014 Helen Dickson
Published in Great Britain 2014
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited
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