The Delicate Matter of Lady Blayne Read Online Free PDF

himself and now a renewed vexation at the whole situation, he turned to face her, but seeing her genuine distress, he softened. He understood his aunt. Far better than she knew. Yes, he could even  sympathize with her, as no one else possibly could. She wanted Sunny whole and healthy. Sunny, whom she had handpicked for all her remarkable qualities.
    However, he refused to believe all of Frances’ motives to be based on love and friendship alone. She had never wanted to have to relinquish her power to any strong-willed, well-connected, well-dowered daughter-in-law.
    Sunny, groomed her whole life to be obedient, with no dowry, with her common-born, though well-educated and genteel, poor and money-hungry parents, had been the perfect bride for Freddy.
    Wasn’t that why you wanted her? You wanted her sparkling brilliance, her kindness, her sweet, biddable nature? They denied her a season, her own personhood. Would you have done better?
    He pushed the uncomfortable thoughts down and narrowed his stare at Frances. “Why France? She will have no one there but this doctor and her servants.”
    He recalled that disquieting exchange in the garden between Sunny and her—her what? Her keeper?
    Frances’ gaze lit with determination. “My grandmother left me a mansion there. It is a grand place in the country, with large floor-to-ceiling windows! Vividly painted frescoes on most of the ceilings, so lifelike you feel you’ve stepped back in time! And the grounds! Miles and miles with a wood and a stream. You know how Sunny loves the country. We would send servants to tend to her every need. I have two widowed cousins who have been living there, they will love her. They will cosset her as though she were their own daughter.” She stopped and gulped for several breaths. “She will heal there, James. She will come back to us whole and healthy, and things will be as they were before.”
    “This doctor, he really thinks this is necessary?” James asked, unable to ignore the growing uneasiness in his stomach.
    “Yes, absolutely vital to her recovery.”
    “You trust this man?”
    She released his arm and put her hand to her collar. “Of course I do! He is a very learned physician, and he came highly recommended—the highest recommendations we could find. And he will go there with her, do not forget that part. He will be constantly by her side.”
    “I suppose he will want a blood—” James caught himself before the vulgar word slipped out completely. “I suppose he’ll want a fortune.”
    Aunt Frances looked shocked. “He will be hers exclusively. Available to care for her round the clock. Of course he must be compensated for that.”
    James compressed his lips and turned to the window. He stared at the growing dusk, at the evening traffic of fine carriages with brass lanterns and glossy painted exteriors, taking their finely dressed occupants to suppers, balls and routs. Uneasiness churned his insides.
    “Well, Jamie?” Aunt Frances said in a softened tone.
    Ah, Jamie was it now? How many times had she had a soft word for him? He might have laughed had he not begun to feel so miserable. “Send for Meeker. I want to hear what he has to say before I make any decisions.”
     
    * * * *
     
    They had left her alone.
    Sunny lay on her bed, naked but for the towel wrapped about her damp hair. She had stripped away the coverlet and now she rolled on the sheets, luxuriating the crispness of the fresh linen against her skin. Savoring the lavender scent.
    Dr. Meeker would not approve of such sensual abandon.
    She pictured him, dressed in his physician’s dark suit, gazing down at her with disdain. His gnarled hands, corpse-white with prominent blue veins. Ice blue. As though he had no hot, red blood in his body.
    A shudder of pure horror wracked her. Briefly. It couldn’t overpower the other feelings. The deep relaxation of the warm bath, the caress of the fabric on her breasts, her belly…her nipples began to tighten. Warmth