Flirting with His Forbidden Lady--A Regency Family is Reunited by Laura Martin (good novels to read txt) 📕

‘It was nothing, Beth, a silly mistake.’

Beth nodded, giving her sister a squeeze. ‘I was so worried when I heard you scream.’

‘It is nice to meet you, Lady Annabelle,’ Josh said.

Beth hesitated for a second and then must have realised she couldn’t just hurry her sister away in that protective way of hers. ‘Annabelle, this is Mr Joshua Ashburton and Mr Leonard Ashburton, gentlemen, this is my dear sister, Lady Annabelle.’

Annabelle dipped into a formal little curtsy, her hand dancing from her waist to her collarbone and back again. Josh could see all she wanted to do was hide her scars behind her fingers but was conscious of drawing even more attention to them if she did so.

‘Lady Annabelle.’ Leonard Ashburton inclined his head, and then gestured for the ladies to step inside ahead of him.

In the library Josh could see Beth and her sister were torn between being polite and rushing off upstairs to their private sanctuary.

‘Brandy?’ he offered, crossing to the decanter and reaching for two more glasses from the tray.

‘We shouldn’t...’ Beth began, but Annabelle nodded, holding her hand out for a glass.

Beth shrugged and took a glass of her own, sinking down into the armchair Josh had been sitting in moments before.

‘Do you often take a walk so late at night, Lady Annabelle?’ Leonard Ashburton was regarding her seriously. Josh saw his brother’s eyes were not focussed on the scars, but Lady Annabelle looked self-conscious all the same.

‘No. Yes. I enjoy the garden by moonlight—it is peaceful.’ She was softly spoken, her words directed more at her shoes than the rest of the room.

‘We didn’t see you today on the lawn.’

Josh glanced sharply at his brother. He could see Beth looking uncomfortable and wanted to tell Leo not to push the fragile young woman, but it would seem he needn’t have worried.

‘I don’t socialise much,’ she said, lifting her head and looking Leo in the eye.

‘Ah.’

There was a silence as everyone took a mouthful of brandy, and then at exactly the same time Leo and Lady Annabelle both spoke.

‘I think it is time for me to retire,’ Leo said.

‘Please excuse me, it is late and I find myself suddenly weary,’ Lady Annabelle murmured.

They both looked at one another for a few seconds and then Lady Annabelle inclined her head and glided from the room. Leo waited for a few seconds and then placed his glass on the tray before bidding Josh and Beth goodnight.

‘I should go too,’ Beth said as Leo disappeared through the door.

‘Sit with me for a moment.’

‘I can’t.’

‘Of course you can. Just a minute. If you sit there and I sit over here by the fireplace we have a good eight feet of space between us, even your mother couldn’t object to that.’

‘You don’t know my mother,’ Beth murmured, but she sat all the same.

‘You appeared very quickly on the veranda.’

Beth sighed. ‘I woke and found Annabelle gone. I was worried where she might be so thought I would have a look around for her.’

‘Is she allowed...?’ Josh began, but found he couldn’t find the right words to complete the question. He didn’t want to sound as if he was questioning Beth’s love for her sister—that was apparent by the way they interacted—but he did wonder if the younger woman’s exclusion from society was her own choice or her mother’s.

‘I’m not her keeper,’ Beth said sharply. ‘I would love nothing more than for Annabelle to attend the balls and dinner parties with me.’ She laughed but it was mirthless and bitter. ‘You don’t know how many times I’ve begged her to.’

‘It’s her choice to keep hidden away.’

‘Hers and Mother’s.’

Josh fell silent, waiting for Beth to elaborate, but instead she stared morosely into the glass in her hand. With a sigh she placed it on the little table beside her and stood.

‘I’m restless. Would you join me for a stroll in the gardens? I promise we’ll keep well away from the cliff edge.’

‘Is that wise?’ It felt as though their roles had been reversed. Until this point it had been him pushing Beth to be reckless on occasion and her cautious but willing to be persuaded.

‘If we go out of the side door from the dining room, none of the bedrooms look out that way. I doubt anyone will be awake still anyway.’

‘Very well.’

They moved silently through the house, Beth taking a key from inside a cabinet in the dining room to unlock the door before stepping out into the darkness beyond.

For the first few minutes they walked without talking, both conscious they were still close to the house even if none of the bedroom windows faced in this direction. Only once they were a good distance from the house did Beth speak.

‘It’s my fault, you know.’

‘What is?’

‘Annabelle, her scars. They’re my fault.’

Josh opened his mouth to protest, to tell her she must be mistaken, but quickly clamped it shut again. What did he know? They might very well be her fault, not that he could see the gentle woman beside him doing anything with malice.

‘What happened?’ he asked instead.

‘It was when we were children. When I was five and Annabelle was four. Our nursemaid was sick and Mother was looking after us for the morning.’

Josh couldn’t imagine Lady Hummingford as the most maternal towards two little girls, but he listened on intently.

‘She needed to speak to Cook about the dinners for the week and Annabelle and I were being loud and playful. So she sent us to play in the drawing room whilst she finished with Cook. She told me to keep an eye on Annabelle, to look after her.’ Beth paused, a smile on her face for a moment. ‘Annabelle used to be so mischievous and loved to climb. We bickered all the way to the drawing room, I can’t remember what about, and when we got there I was in a huff.’

Josh felt the tension in Beth’s body as she told the story, heard the building stress in her voice. He