“Could it have been avoided?” I was concerned for Richard’s welfare more than anything else.

“No. I could have got someone else to do it, but this one was mine.”

I didn’t ask any more.

I was in my room getting dressed for dinner when Lizzie hurtled in with the news. “You’ll never guess.”

“What?” I knew from the look on her face, excitement suppressed by concern, what the news was.

“It’s Norrice Terry. He’s been found dead in his study.”

“Good God.” I kept my eyes on the mirror, marvelling at the calm expression on my face while my stomach churned.

Lizzie noticed nothing amiss. She continued to talk, telling me all about it, and all I could see was that comfortable study, and the thing on the desk. “They found him in his study at about twelve o’clock with his gun next to him on the desk. He’d killed himself, they said. At least he won’t come to trial. Or perhaps one of his lowlife friends murdered him. What do you think?”

“I’m not going to think about it. It’s a shock, but not that much of a shock.” I rummaged around on the dressing table in the pretence of searching for something there. “I’m not even going to speculate.” I met her eyes in the mirror. “But I’m glad he’s dead,” I added, with no particular emphasis, deliberately taking the heat out of my voice.

“He was a wicked man,” Lizzie agreed, serious for once. “When I saw what he’d done to you—” She broke off. I sighed when I remembered the conversation I’d had with Martha about my bruises. More perceptive than Lizzie, she’d seen where the marks were clustered and it took some time before I could convince her that he had done nothing else. “Rose, you’re getting married on Thursday and Strang has seen the marks., so it’s as well he killed himself or whatever happened, because I can’t see your husband-to-be leaving that one alone.” She turned to me in shock. “Rose. Do you think…?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I snapped, picking up my nail buffer. “What time has he had? He was with me all day today, and we met Tom when we were out riding.”

“Do you think Tom might have done something?” Lizzie asked, balked of her original prey.

“Even less of a chance than Richard, I’d say. And in any case, he wouldn’t do anything in cold blood like that. Did you say he was found at twelve o’clock?”

“Yes.”

“How long had he been there?”

“I don’t know,” she confessed.

I smiled in satisfaction. “Well then, if the servants heard the noise and came immediately, Tom couldn’t have done it, because we met him at least half an hour earlier than that.”

“Oh.” She was more relieved than disappointed, and I hadn’t actually lied to her. I knew now I could live with what we had done, and I felt easier Terry wasn’t going to torment me or anyone else any more.

If I could live with this, I could live with Richard as proprietor of Thompson’s and all that went with it. He needed it as a basis for his own power. If I had insisted, he would have given it up, but he must see that we were both safer with the company behind us rather than with no protection at all. He had let me in to every aspect of his life now, nothing hidden from me. I had to honour that and take him as he was, not as I might wish he would be. He wasn’t a country squire, he was the heir to one of the principal peerages in the country, sophisticated, powerful, and he would never be any different. I would have to learn how to be the best wife I could be to him, in public and in private. Private was easier.

This was the end of my life as a spinster sister in rural Devonshire. I wasn’t sure what lay ahead, but I knew one thing. Richard was the centre of it. He always would be.

About the Author

Winner of two EPPIEs, Lynne Connolly is the best-selling author of sensuous romance, including the Triple Countess series, the Secrets trilogy and the Richard and Rose series. Lynne fell in love with the Georgian era at primary school, and never fell out of it, visiting historical sites, towns, battlefields and houses in her home country of England.

Lynne writes sensuous historical romance, and gives the reader a real flavour of what it was like to live and love in the eighteenth century. But she likes the twenty-first century fine, and she also writes paranormal romance set in bustling, modern cities. She lives in England with her family and her Muse, a cat called Jack. She writes surrounded by the doll’s houses she enjoys making and filling.

She has a website at www.lynneconnolly.com and a blog at www.lynneconnolly.blogspot.com. She’d love to hear from you—write to her at lynne_connolly@yahoo.co.uk

Look for these titles by Lynne Connolly

Now Available:

Triple Countess Trilogy

Last Chance, My Love

A Chance to Dream

Met by Chance

Secrets Trilogy

Alluring Secrets

Seductive Secrets

Richard and Rose series

Yorkshire

Devonshire

Coming Soon:

Secrets Trilogy

Tantalizing Secrets

Richard and Rose series

Venice

Harley Street

Eyton

Darkwater

To survive, she’ll have to trust him with all