Come Near Me Read Online Free PDF

the
sunlight pouring down on a freshly turned field.
    He’d never smell fresh earth, feel the sun, see
another spring, without remembering how it felt to walk the
perimeter of this field with his lovely, delicious, fairy-tale
princess. He had gone mad, insane. And he didn’t want sanity if it
didn’t include her.
    “As you’ve deduced that I am the marquess, madam,”
he said, feeling foolishly formal as the sunlight found her hair,
turning it into a halo of reddish gold that all but brought tears
to his eyes, “perhaps you’ll be so kind as to tell me your name?
Mrs. Forrest would undoubtedly say that, at least, was proper.”
    “Yes, I suppose I should. I’m Charlotte Victor, my
lord. My father and I are leasing the cottage to the west of your
lands, and have done so for almost the last year. Precisely in the
direction we’re now walking, just beyond the next line of trees.
Mama died, you see, and Papa wished to get away from our home for a
while. Away from the memories. At least that’s what he tells
people. Personally, I believe he’s here for the hunting. The man
does dearly love the hunt.”
    “My condolences on your loss,” Adam offered
automatically, picturing Frame Cottage in his mind’s eyes, and
recalling that the term “cottage” had always seemed rather too
quaint for a fourteen-room structure. Even if the owner had thought
it the height of ingenuity to top the slates with a picturesque
layer of thatch.
    Her grin surprised him. “No, no, you mustn’t. You’re
very kind, but I find it impossible to tell Papa’s lie to you, my
lord. You’ll keep our secret, won’t you?”
    “Secret?” He was having trouble hearing her, for the
blood pounding in his ears. What a pretty mouth she had. If he
wasn’t actually lying back there in the stream, dreaming, drowning,
perhaps Charlotte Victor was in reality a Gypsy, and she had cast a
spell over him. There had to be something to explain how he felt.
Because he felt as if his life, at the supposedly quite respectable
age of thirty, had somehow just begun. He was filled with that
life. Fit to bursting.
    “Yes, our secret. Mama isn’t dead, you see. Not
really. She’s just gone missing. Well, she’s not precisely missing. She’s gone away. With one Henry Carpenter.
Wonderful man. It has all been a bit of a scandal at home, which is
why Papa packed the two of us up and took us away. Once he noticed
Mama was gone, that is. It was fox-hunting season, and he’s rather
fully occupied in fox-hunting season.”
    “I suppose your papa isn’t the only gentleman to
have misplaced his wife during fox-hunting season.” Adam felt a
tickle of laughter building low in his throat. He bit his bottom
lip as his eyes began to water. Charlotte Victor was beautiful.
Charming. Innocent. And he was enjoying her so much he could just
eat her up, as he would a sugarplum.
    She tipped her head slightly, looking at him. “Mama
writes quite often, so I’m not upset, and it’s not as if I’m not
fully grown and able to take care of myself. She deserves a little
happiness. Losing your husband’s affection to a pack of hounds and
a scrap of vermin isn’t something a well-bred woman of any
sensibility takes lightly. At least that’s what Mama said. I,
myself, have no experience in the area, but I imagine she’s right.
What’s this? You’re laughing, aren’t you? Don’t try to stifle it—go
on, laugh. It’s funny.”
    Adam, having been given permission of sorts, threw
back his head and roared. “Oh, thank you, Miss Victor. I don’t
remember the last time I’ve heard such refreshing honesty,” he said
once he’d recovered. “London is full of lies, you know.”
    “Really? Well, that is a pity. I’m sure I shouldn’t
know how to be anything but honest. And you’re welcome. I’m glad to
have been of service, I suppose, although I’ve also betrayed myself
quite completely as being nothing but a silly country miss,” she
said, beginning to skip along, her