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"You’re referring to the danger of getting her with child? But Win doesn’t agree with Dr Harrow’s opinion, and she says that even he can’t say of a certainty what hed and settled her ainst him "Did Merripen ever tell you that he was asharibe?"
"No, what does that mean?"
"It’s a word used to describe a Ro as five or six are trained in bare-knuckle fighting There are no rules or tie as quickly as possible until so crowds I’ve seen asharibe ere badly hurt, blinded, even killed during the ht with fractured wrists and broken ribs if necessary" Absently Cam smoothed Amelia’s hair as he added, "There were none in our tribe Our leader decided it was too cruel We learned to fight, of course, but it was never a way of life for us"
"Merripen…" Amelia whispered
"From what I can tell, it was even worse than that for him The man who raised hio on
"His uncle?" Amelia prompted
"Our uncle" Cam had already told her that he and Merripen were brothers But he hadn’t yet confided the rest of what Shuri had said "Apparently he raised Merripen as if he were a ga"
Aht up to be as vicious as a pit animal He was starved and ht anyone, under any circuht to take any abuse that was ainst his opponent"
"Poor boy," Amelia murmured "That explains much about the way he hen he first ca tio His life has been very different since then And having once suffered so terribly, doesn’t he want to be loved now? Doesn’t he want to be happy?"
"It doesn’t work that way, sweetheart" Cam smiled into her puzzled face It was no surprise that Ae and affectionate family, should find it difficult to understand a man who feared his own needs as if they were his worst ene your childhood that the only reason for your existence was to inflict pain on others? That violence was all you were good for? How do you unlearn such a thing? You can’t So you cover it as best you can, always aware of what lies beneath the veneer"
"But… obviously Merripen has changed He’s a ree"
"Well, Win has ardless"
"It doesn’t matter that she would have him He’s deter confronted with problems that had no definite solution "Then what can we do?"
Cam lowered his head to kiss the tip of her nose "I kno you hate to hear this, love… but not ruainst his shoulder
"What did you say?" he asked, a s to the effect that I hate having to leave Merripen and Win’s future in their hands"
The last time Win and Leo had seen Rarounds barren except for weeds and rubble And unlike the rest of the faress as it was being rebuilt
The affluent southern county of Hampshire encompassed coastal land, heathland, and ancient forests filled with abundant wildlife Hampshire had a land, owing to the stabilizing effect of its location Although Win had not lived in Haone to Dr Harrow’s clinic, she had the feeling of co, friendly place, with the livelydistance of the Ramsay estate
It seemed the Hampshire weather had decided to present the estate to its best effect, with profuse sunshine and a few picturesque clouds in the distance
The carriage passed the gatekeeper’s lodge, constructed of grayish blue bricks with crea "They refer to that as the Blue House," Miss Marks said, "for obvious reasons"
"How lovely!" Win exclaimed "I’ve never seen bricks that color in Hampshire before"
" ’Staffordshire blue’ brick," Leo said, craning his neck to see the other side of the house "Now that they’re able to bring brick from other places on the railway, there’s no need for the builder to thy drive toward the house, which was surrounded by velvety green lawn and white-graveled walking paths, and young hedges and rosebushes "My God," Leo abled cream stone structure with cheerful dormers The blue slate roof featured hps and bays outlined with contrasting terra-cotta ridge tiles Although the place was similar to the old house, it had been inal structure had been so lovingly restored that one could hardly tell the old sections froaze off the place "Merripen said they’d kept some of the odd-shaped rooms and nooks I see "
People orking everywhere, carters, stockes, stable boys and footes The estate had not only co her brother’s intent profile, Win felt a surge of gratitude toward Merripen, who had ood for Leo to co to a new life
"The household staff is in need of expansion," Miss Marks said, "but the ones Mr Merripen has hired are quite efficient Mr Merripen is an exactingto please hie with a footman’s help, and allowed him to escort her to the front doors A marvelous set of double doors, with lower panels of solid tilass panes set within the upper panels As soon as Win reached the top step, the doors opened to reveal a er hair and a fair freckled coh-necked black dress "Welcome, Miss Hathaway," she said warlad we all are to have you back in Ha her into the entrance hall
Win’s eyes widened at the interior of the place, so light and sparkling, the two-story-high hall lined with paneling painted a crearay stone staircase was set in the back of the hall, its iron balustrades glea black and spotless Everywhere, it smelled of soap and fresh wax
"Remarkable," Win breathed "It’s not the same place at all"
Leo calib remark to make, nor did he bother to hide his admiration "It’s a bloody miracle," he said "I’m astonished" He turned to the housekeeper "Where is Merripen, Mrs Barnstable?"
"Out at the estate tis are quite heavy, and the workers sometimes need Mr Merripen’s help with a difficult load"
"We have a timber yard?" Leo asked
Miss Marks replied, "Mr Merripen is planning to construct houses for the new tenant farmers"
"This is the first I’ve heard of it Why are we providing houses for the, merely interested But Miss Marks’s lips thinned, as if she had interpreted his question as a complaint
"The most recent tenants to join the estate were lured by the promise of new houses They are already successful far, and Mr Merripen believes their presence will add to the estate’s prosperity Other local estates, such as Stony Cross Park, are also building homes for their tenants and laborers-"