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inside, sootten

Truth be told, he needed her She made his world of chaos a bearable place Even the children behaved differently around her He’d known frolance she was special He’d felt drawn to her, to her smile, to the sound of her voice And her lips, heaven help hiht he knew passion But those fleeting dalliances were nothing compared to the powerful tremors that wracked his body when he ith her

And yet he could not shake the feeling that their tiether would soon be at an end Was he as pessiht? Had the Lord sent an angel to help theh troubled waters, to steer them to calmer, safer shores?

Did his son have a point?

Did everyone leave in the end?

Chapter Thirteen

Slivers of sunlight touched her cheek, war sun brought with it an overwhel sense of trepidation Whatdebutantes swooned

But so with shocking news Sleep had been the only way to banish thoughts of her father’s death Any hopes of repairing their fractured relationship were gone She would be forever the daughter of soh her father lied about her mother’s infidelity out of spite and jealousy And her father would always be the cold-hearted devil who’d imprisoned her in an old asylum as a means of control

But she could not dwell on that now Oliver had cohtful place as head of the family No doubt he’d dismissed Stokes and Mrs Gripes as soon as he’d heard about her mistreatment And by all accounts, he’d rescued Nicole, too

The cha She tottered over to the wash stand and filled the boith clean water

When the housekeeper turned to the bed, she gasped “Oh, bless us and save us I al You’re awake”

Rose stifled a yawn “Forgive ot up to help with the chores What time is it?”

“Almost nine”

“Nine!” Rose pulled back the bedcovers ready to jump out

Mrs Hibbet plonked the jug on the washstand, rushed to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder “Rest, dear His lordship isn’t expecting you in the nursery today The fall in the lake gave you a nasty chill Best give it another day before you return to work”