Lord Greyton's Fall From Grace (Lords of Avalon Novella Series) (19 page)

It was a merry party that evening at dinner
.
All were in high spirits except
Owen
and Grace
.
It seemed they both dread
ed
their parting the following morning.

“Lord Sharpham,
it is a pity you are not going to
Italy
,
” Lady Tuesday
commented
.

“I would like to go, however,
my
affairs
in Town
do not allow me to leave England at this time,” Harry informed her
.
“I will leave tomorrow to stop at Eveleigh Park for a day then I’m on to Glas
tonbury for
several
days
.
Then I must return to London.
I wish I were going
to Italy
.”

“You will miss
the dig of the century, I fear,
” Micah
said.

“Indeed, for I p
lan to find the Temple of Venus,
” Lyon said with a mischievous grin
.

“There is much to be found, I for one shall be happy unearthing a city
.
Can you imagine what
great wonders
we shall find?” Charlie smiled happily
.

“And we shall spend some time in Rome as well and see the sites.” Jack glanced at Lady Tuesday and
noted
his remark caught her attention
.
She
appeared to be
ignoring him since their dance
the previous evening
and
for some unexplainable reason
that
bothered
him
.

“I am jealous that all of you get to go to Rome,” Tuesday said glumly
.
“I would so love to see it
.”

“Perhaps someday your brother can take you to Rome,” Jack posed
with a smile
.

Tuesday returned his smile. Jack gave her a nod
.
He savored his small victory
.

Charlie grimaced, “There’s not enough money in the world
that
someone could pay me to take my two bratty little sisters to Rome for holiday.” Charlie grinned mischievously at each one of them, “You will have to wait until you find husbands and hoodwink them into taking you to Rome!”
He
smiled broadly and gave his sisters a wink
.
He
leveled a more meaningful look at Jack
.

The mention of the word
husband
silenced Jack
quite effectively
.

Again Lady Wednesday played
the pianoforte
after dinner and they danced
.
The men who were not so inclined disappeared into the billiard room.
Jack was the first to
leave their party to
play at billiards
.

The ladies retired and after a brief meeting in the library, the men did as well
.

Grace
remained
awake when Owen entered the Viscountess’ room.

“I’ve thought about you the entire
afternoon
, Grace,
” Owen whispered huskily into her ear after he undressed and joined her in the bed
.
He gathered her
naked body
in his arms and kissed her deeply
.
Within minutes
he was inside her
.
T
hey
made
love
slowly and passionately
;
both determined to make the
ir last
night
together stretch as long as
it possibly could. They shared their love for one another
nearly
the entire night
through, taking time to doze in one another’s arms only long enough for passion to reclaim them
.

In the hour before dawn,
after a very fast and furious bout of
love-making
,
Owen had to leave her, for his servants would enter his room at any moment to prepare his bath and finish his packing
.

“Look at me Grace.” Owen lifted her chin
with his fingers
.
He wiped the tear from her cheek with his
thumb
.
“I love you, Grace Brackenridge
.
I will return to you
.
We will marry upon my return
.
Tell me you believe that.”

Grace
nodded, “I do believe you Owen.
I do
.
I know it is silly, but I just feel so sad at your leaving…I can’t explain it.” Anot
her tear rolled down her cheek.

“Grace, I can’t wait to
make
you my wife.” Owen kissed her lingeringly
.
When he heard footsteps in the hall he kissed her one last time and moved to the connecting door
.

“I shall see you off!” Grace threw back the covers
.

“I would prefer you did not, Grace, for I would be tempted to touch you and kiss you
.
I do not wish to mar your reputation
.
Now that we’ve been intimate, Grace, I can’t trust myself when we’re in public
.
Please stay in your bed
.
Let our last kiss
and our lov
emaking
be
how we remember
our
parting
,
my
dearest
.
It’s only three months, Grace
.
I love you
.
I will write to you as soon as I arrive in Italy.
”

Grace gave him a trembling smile as he slid into his room and closed the door
.
Only three months!

The first week she
did
not receive
a letter from Owen, Grace was
not alarmed
.
When the second week passed, she
felt
discouraged, but was certain
she would
receive one the third week
.

The fourth week after Owen left her in the Viscountess’ bed to leave for Italy, Grace called upon Libby
.
She asked for Owen’s address in Italy
.

Libby seemed perplexed but gave the address to her
.
Libby
proceeded to tell her of
the three letters they
had
received from
Owen
.

The next morning Grace mailed a letter to Owen, certain she would receive a response within a week’s time
.

She did not. Nor did she receive a response the week after
.

Eight weeks after Owen left, Grace realized she
carried his
child
.
She sent a letter to Owen
.
Followed by four
more
.
By the tenth week
, having received no response at all from Owen, she had to admit to herself something was wrong
.
Encouraged by the fact Owen was due home in two we
eks
, Grace tried to remain positive
.

She spent most of her time indoors
.
Occasionally she walked in the garden
and along the woodland path
.

The eleventh week came and
she rode to the secret glen in the wood where she and Owen had made love
.
She cried for hours
.
Something was terribly wrong
.
Had Owen forsaken her
? 
In her heart she jus
t couldn’t believe that. She had been
certain he loved her.
Could
she
have
been so in love with him s
he was blind
to the truth
? 
She didn’t think so.
She could not understand wh
y he did not write
.

The next morning she rode along the Quay
with the intention of finding Libby and was successful.

“How are you Grace?”

Grace noted
Libby
’s
nervous
ness
as she
sp
o
k
e
to her
.

“I – I suppose I am all
well enough
.”
Grace pursed her lips and asked, “
Libby, I must know, have you heard from Owen?
”

“We receive two letters a week
from him since he departed from Devon
, Grace.” Libby knew her father received private letters from Owen
in addition to the letters she mentioned
.
Their father
had asked her
several times
if she had seen
or spoken to
Grace. Owen’s letters to her were merely about how he
spent
his
days
in Italy
, yet he
did not seem
his usual
happy
self
.
Libby
suspected it had something to do with Grace. She wanted to ask Grace if Owen had written her
.
Perhaps they had quarreled
? 
She was unsure what to do.
So she said nothing about Owen
and did not ask any questions
.

“Oh.” Grace
bit her lip to keep from crying
.

Libby noted the crestfallen look on Grace’s face and it
looked as if
she was
about to cry
.

“Thank you, Libby
.”

Libby saw Grace visibly pale and begin to tremble. “Grace
,
are you
ill
? 
Ride with me back to Roseland, we can call the doctor
.
You don’t look well.”

“No
!
I wish to go
home
!”
There were far t
oo many
painful
memories
at Roseland. She did not want to see a Doctor yet
.
No one could know her secret until Owen returned.
“I
must
g
et back to Radley
, thank you, Libby
.
Good day to you.” Grace turned her mare about and raced toward home, tears streaming down her cheeks as she did
.

The next morning Grace was ecstatic when her father handed her a letter from Italy
.
It was from Owen!
He had not forsaken her.
Her heart soared
.
She hastened to her room and tore open the letter once her door
clicked shut behind her
.

Dearest Grace,

We keep very busy here in Italy
.
I regret to inform you that we must stay an extra two months
.
I look forward to speaking with you immediately upon my return
.
If you would be so kind, it would be good to hear
some
news from you.

Greyton

The coldness of his letter cut her like a knife
.
Her fingers trembled
.
She felt ill. She had written him every week since she received his address from Libby
.
She had given him news. News that he was
to be a father
!
Did he not care
? 
He mentioned nothing about her being with child in his letter.
He wanted to speak to her immediately upon his return
.
About what?
What did he mean
when he said it would be good to hear
some
news
from her
?
And he signed it Greyton
.
She had never called him Greyton.