In every sense of the word.
This wasn’t the part that was supposed to occupy her thoughts.
She ought to be making plans for expanding her father’s fortune.Her fortune.His legacy and the proof that she deserved that honor had been her goal all along.It was where she needed to focus.
But instead, she found herself daydreaming about the feel of his hands, the taste of his lips, the way his muscles had flexed under her palm.
And when she wasn’t considering that…
She was thinking about how he filled her with breathless excitement.How his voice made her warm and his touch made her comfortable and…
She laid her head on her hands as she stared out at the glowing sun rising over the buildings of London.
Despite her best attempt not to, she was falling in love.
Was it really so bad to love one’s husband?
Her lips pressed together.Perhaps not.As long as those feelings didn’t compromise what she’d always meant to accomplish, they could both exist.Couldn’t they?
She rose, pulling on her dressing gown and making her way to her mother’s adjoining room.
She quietly opened the door so as not to wake her mother as she entered.
The countess had struggled to sleep, which the doctor assured them was actually a sign the ribs were healing.
But Priscilla didn’t wish to wake her now.Just watch her sleep.
She slipped into the large room, wrapping the dressing gown tighter about herself as she crossed the thickly carpeted floor to stoke the fire.
“You’re up early,” her mother called from the voluminous bed.
“So are you,” she said with a smile as she poked the embers and then added another log.“You should be asleep.”
“Please,” her mother waved her hand.“I’m fit as a fiddle and ready to face the day.”
Priscilla straightened, turning back to her mother.“If you’re angling to attend the wedding, you know you’re supposed to stay in bed.”
Her mother clucked her tongue.“I’m the mother here.”
Priscilla crossed to the bed, dropping a kiss on her mother’s cheek.She sat in the chair she’d left next to her mother’s side.“And I’m the daughter who knows her mother loves her and wishes to protect that mother by keeping her in bed as she recovers.”
Her mother slowly sat up straighter, gingerly moving.“Don’t be silly.I’m coming.Ralph will help me.”
Ralph had also visited her mother daily.Priscilla had even overheard him confess to her mother that his own mother had passed in childbirth.
And while she was surprised Ralph was so invested in her mother, Priscilla was glad to see them getting on so well.It felt almost as though they were forming a new family.
“Well, fortunately for you, Wyatt has arranged for the ceremony to take place in the garden so Ralph can, in fact, bring you down to celebrate with us.”
Her mother gave her a glowing smile.“Will all of Clara’s family be joining us as well?”
Her brows crinkled.“Clara’s family?”
“Isn’t Clara related to Viscount Ware?”
Priscilla’s eyes widened.She’d all but forgotten the lie.“No.Only Clara and a few of my other friends.It’s such short notice and we’ll have a small gathering to not overtax you.”
Her mother nodded as Priscilla inwardly cringed.She should tell her mother the truth about the ad.But perhaps now was not the time and besides, it had all worked out so well.
