When It's Perfect by Adele Ashworth Read Free Book Online

felt the strain and unease emanating from him, his hard, masculine features

    controlled now as he waited for her to speak. In that instant, she felt something else between them that she couldn’t explain or begin to put into words. Friendship? Common longing? But as uncomfortable as it was, it was there, drawing her in, forcing her to accept the inevitable.
    “I’m not sure I can do anything—”
    “Please.”
    She needed no more convincing.
    “I think I would start by speaking with the vicar,” she murmured through a sigh. “Your sister met with him several times in her final days.”
    He said nothing for a moment, just held her gaze with a fierceness that made her grow warm.
    “We’ll do so together, Miss Marsh,” he replied with a brief nod. “I’ll arrange it.”
    She wrapped her arms around her waist. “Is there anything else?”
    His eyes narrowed. “How long can you stay?”
    For some reason his question seemed remarkably intimate, though she attempted to shrug off such an absurd notion. “I’ll stay as long as you think I’m needed. It shouldn’t be unseemly since my late mother and yours were longtime friends and I wasn’t expected back in London until July at the earliest.”
    His eyes opened just wide enough for her to realize he’d never thought of the propriety of her staying. But he didn’t comment on it.
    “Thank you,” was his rather curt reply.
    The awkwardness had returned and she didn’t know how to respond.
    “I shall speak with Lady Renn,” he added. “I’m sure she’ll be happy to have you remain at Baybridge House.”
    It was a dismissal, and she was glad for it.
    “Very well, my lord.”
    He stood watching her, his hands still behind his back, a sudden, curious frown crossing his dark brows. And then it vanished.
    “Please let me know if you think of anything else of importance, Miss Marsh.”
    “I will.”
    “Good day, then.”
    She curtsied slightly. “Good day, Lord Renn.”
    Then she turned away from him and gracefully walked to the study door, all the while feeling his eyes on her back as she tried to ignore the

    foreboding deep within.

Chapter 3
    « ^ »
    Baybridge House
    28 July 1854

    … I’ve been feeling tired of late. I know you think I spend far too much effort on trivialities, but honestly, dear brother, I’ve been so busy! My wedding is still nearly a year away and already tensions are rising between Viscount Exeter and Mother.
    Baudwin wants one thing, Mother wants another. Sometimes I feel nobody ever listens to me …

    B audwin Fife, Viscount Exeter dismissed his valet, then stared at his figure in the full length mirror beside his wardrobe. He wasn’t a tall man, but his muscled chest and arms made up for his lack of height.
    Truthfully it didn’t matter much to him. He was handsome and knew it, and so did the ladies, who tended to be shorter than he was anyway.
    He’d never had trouble appealing to women and hoped it wouldn’t stop now. And it shouldn’t. That his betrothed had recently died made matters complicated, to say the least, but after an official period of mourning, he would find someone else. People died, life went on, and he needed a wife to bear him an heir who would carry on his good name. He was nearly twenty-six, and ready to marry. It’s what his parents would have wanted, and certainly what they’d expected of him.
    He missed Christine, though, and it was true her death had shocked him. She’d been so vibrant and healthy. It was hard to believe she’d died like that, so suddenly, the result of such a very bizarre and ill-timed accident. But then he’d noticed over the course of her final few days how strange and erratic her behavior had become. Naturally she chose not to discuss her concerns with him, which had probably been for the best, since he wouldn’t have understood her female problems anyway.

    Baudwin exhaled a long breath and reached for the freshly poured glass of his favorite expensive whiskey that sat