AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Admittedly, he was not heartbroken since his heart had not been engaged. He liked Mildred, enjoyed her company. She was witty and charming and had been raised to be a nobleman’s wife. Somehow during her lessons, her governesses and tutors had skipped over the part about holding onto one’s virtue.
But love her? No. He had no intention of getting that involved in this marriage, and what he’d just witnessed proved he’d been correct. Truth be known, he’d only agreed to the engagement to appease his mother. She hadn’t stopped badgering him about duty to his title for years.
He strode to the mews behind the row of townhouses where the Walsh family lived and tossed a coin to the groom to retrieve his horse. Still stunned at what had just happened, he decided a brandy—or two—followed by comfortable clothes and an evening sitting in his study in front of the fireplace contemplating his life was in order.
Later, doing exactly that, Alex swirled the dark amber liquid in his snifter and thought back to the scene with Mildred. He was grateful he’d seen what he had. With their wedding only a few weeks away he could have easily been trapped into a marriage where he would never be able to trust his wife.
A typicaltonmarriage she’d proposed. He shook his head. He’d seen enough of those types of marriages to know it was not something that would suit him. Marriage vows were forever and not to be broken. He placed his empty glass alongside his chair on the small, dark-wood table and stood, tightening the belt of his brown and white print banyan.
Tomorrow he would travel to his country estate and go over ledgers with his steward. About twenty years before, his father had had the foresight to see the way things were going and began a top-notch horse breeding business on their estate. Many of the large manors were in trouble because those who could not find a wealthy American heiress to marry, and no longer had numerous tenants to support them, floundered. Alex’s domain, thanks to his late pater, was doing well.
He had planned to take Mildred to Ireland for their wedding trip where he could acquire some of the best horseflesh in the world. Mayhap he would go directly from his country home to Ireland and make it appear to the gossips that Mildred had broken the engagement and he was out of town licking his wounds.
Ha! Licking his wounds. He was jumping for joy for not getting trapped in a marriage that would have made his life miserable.
* * *
Three months later
Office of Dr. Rayne Stevens
“Natalie,where are the clean cloths? You have rearranged everything again, and now I can’t find anything.” Dr. Rayne Stevens stood with her hands on her hips and viewed her sister with irritation.
“Oh, my apologies, Sister. I had plans to make labels for all the cabinets so we could find things faster. But I got busy with sewing up little Amy’s cut on her forehead.” Natalie wiped her wet hands on her apron after sending the little girl off with her mother and a sweet treat they kept in the office for crying children.
“I will do that right now.” She opened a drawer and pulled out the cloths and handed them to her sister.
Natalie’s sister, Dr. Rayne, actually Lady Sterling since she had married Edwin, was a woman before her time. Despite running her infirmary, she was also a wonderful wife, sister, and mother. Natalie admired her and was thrilled after she and her daughter, Annalise, were offered a home with Rayne and Edwin after Natalie’s husband died.
Rayne took her under her wing and trained her to be her nursing assistant. It helped Natalie feel productive, as if she was paying her way instead of Rayne and Edwin supporting her and her little girl.
After stuffing the cloths in her satchel, Rayne waved her goodbye at Natalie as she headed out the door to check on her expectant mothers. Natalie took on the job of labeling all the drawers and cabinets with the supplies they used on a regular basis.
She hummed as she did her work and counted on her fingers, realizing that she and Annalise had been with her sister and brother-in-law for two years. At first it had been awkward because she didn’t want to talk about her marriage but knew—if she were to be content here—her sister had the right to know what had happened.
One night, after Rayne had performed her nightly ritual of reading to her four-year-old son, Arthur, Annalise, and two-year-old Melissa after their nanny had fed them dinner, bathed them, and settled them into bed, she and Natalie sat on the back patio of the Sterling townhouse and Natalie poured out her heart to her sister over cups of tea. Thankfully the subject never came up again, which made things much more pleasant for Natalie. She didn’t want to remember her marriage, nor did she wish to ever repeat so-called wedded bliss.
Her attention was caught by the front door opening and Annalise racing in, out of breath, as always. She smiled at her little girl.
“Mama, Mr. Brooks scolded us today for not doing our homework.”
Natalie frowned. “What do you mean? You do your homework every night.” She placed her hand on Annalise’s shoulder and led her to the kitchen where she had milk and biscuits waiting for her daughter’s arrival from school.
“Oh, not me. He mentioned that I and the rest of the girls—and Johnny McIntyre and Steven Clark—weren’t the miscreants.” She took a biscuit from the plate on the table. “What does that mean?”
Natalie smiled at the girl, always full of energy. “It means someone who is not doing what they are supposed to do. Why don’t you take a deep breath and eat your biscuits and drink your milk.”
At the sound of the front door opening, Natalie said, “Finish your snack and start your homework.” She headed from the kitchen and almost ran into Lord Sterling.
“Edwin, what brings you here?”
“I’m looking for my wife.”
“Expectant mother calls.”
“Ah.” He placed his hands on his hips. “While I’m here, I might as well look at her ledgers.”
Natalie always thought it was odd, but nice, that Lord Sterling took care of Rayne’s books. When they first met he was her patient, and, while recovering, he offered to help with her ledgers and was appalled that so many people had not paid for her services. He’d also discovered that her suppliers of food and medicines had been overcharging her.
