Realm 05 - A Touch of Mercy Read Online Free PDF Page A

last note: “I shall follow Grace to Heaven or to Hell.”
    *
    Aidan watched Crowden and Kerrington ride off together. The marquis required a special license in order to marry his Miss Nelson in a timely manner. Evidently, from Crowden’s tale, time was of the essence. Through a twist of fate, Gabriel Crowden required an heir before his next birthday or the marquis would lose a significant portion of his inheritance. “First the bride and then the babe,” Aidan muttered to the quickly retreating figures. Immediately, his thoughts had turned to Susan and his brother’s heir. “A child who should have been mine,” he said with true regret.
    “Your Lordship,” a soft voice spoke from behind him.
    Aidan turned slowly to find a red-cheeked maid. “Yes.”
    “Lady Worthing has requested for you to join the ladies in the morning room.”
    Aidan swallowed the groan, which fought to escape his lips. He certainly did not wish to spend the day listening to women twittering on about marriage clothes and what to serve for the wedding breakfast, but he had promised Kerrington he would secure the safety of Lady Worthing, who was heavy with child, and the Earl of Linworth, who had suffered from heart troubles for the past four years.
    “I entrust my most precious possessions to your capable hands,” Kerrington had declared as he waited for a groom to saddle his horse. “Make certain both my wife and my father seek their beds for recuperative rests.”
    At that moment, Aidan had “hated” James Kerrington. The man he had revered as his Captain and friend had achieved it all: parents who doted upon him, a wife who expressed her devotion with every glance and touch, an heir, and another child on the way. Everything Aidan had envisioned for his own life. Everything he had lost.
    “Inform Her Ladyship I will join her shortly.” The shy maid nodded and disappeared.
    Aidan returned his gaze to the rolling lawns. He missed his home. “At least, Lexington Arms is something of which I require no reminder. My home and that kiss.” Despite the inappropriateness of his musings, Aidan could not wipe the smile from his lips.
    When he had awakened from the long sleep caused by his injury, he could recall nothing of the past two years, but a kiss. A kiss that had made him hungry for “things he had never known.” A kiss, which had wiped away the deceit he had discovered upon his return to Cheshire.
    For some time he had assumed the kiss had come from Miss Satiné Aldridge. According to Lady Worthing, her brother Brantley Fowler, and Sir Carter Lowery, Aidan had courted Cashémere Aldridge, but the lady and her twin Satiné had exchanged places. Evidently, he had wooed the wrong lady, a truth which had eaten at his pride. But Aidan had accepted the fact the “kiss” had been the most important aspect of his brief encounter with Miss Satiné. It was the kiss, not the lady, which had given him hope.
    His memory of his time under Wellington and his service to the Realm remained in tact. It was the time since his return to England some two plus years prior, which he could not recall. Aidan was aware of the majority of the details. After all, his friends had spent countless hours relating every feature of which they were aware. He had learned of his sexual conquests, his continued role as a Realm member, and the innovations he had put into place as the master of Lexington Arms, innovations, which had eased the impact of the war and climatic devastation upon his land.
    However, it was when Fowler had arrived at Chesterfield Manor to assist his sister in Aidan’s care that Aidan had discovered the truth of the kiss, which had haunted his subconscious mind. He had asked specifically of the duke’s knowledge of Susan’s demise. “I think I know, but I need someone to confirm my suspicions. Did I cause Susan’s death?”
    An array of emotions had raced across Fowler’s countenance, and for a few brief moments, Aidan had feared his friend