The Last of Lady Lansdown Read Online Free PDF

and in all ways content, young lady who loved her life and looked forward to the future. Now she could hardly contain her growing bitterness.
    Try to think of the bright side. My sacrifice was worth it. Just to see the lines of anxiety leave Mama’s face. Just to see Granny Harriet content again, fortified by her nightly little nip of gin ...
    He headed to the bed.
    At least this whole, sad affair would not take long. No doubt the same old scene would repeat itself. He would try desperately—despite her gloomy mood, she almost had to giggle—to “get it up,” as Granny said. Nearly every time he tried, he failed miserably, his precious member remaining limp and flaccid, refusing to cooperate no matter how much he grunted, turned red in the face, cursed, and worked up a sweat. To her surprise, last week he had managed a half-hard effort, but such moments were rare. The worst of it was that after exhausting himself and giving up, he inevitably blamed her. He would heap abuse upon her head, reminding her that with his first wife he had never had a problem, that if he died without issue, Jane was to blame and he would curse her for eternity.
    He warned her not to tell. If she did, both she and her family would find themselves penniless on the streets. He was certainly safe on that score. Pride alone prevented her from breathing a word regarding her husband’s unfortunate performance in the bed chamber.
    “ Take a look , my dear!”
    Arthur strutted toward the bed, completely naked. She raised her head off the pillow. Oh, my Lord . Never had she seen such a sight. Her married friends hinted what a man with a full erection looked like, but even they declared she would really have to see for herself. Just huge , was all she could think.
    His lordship placed his hands on his hips and tilted his pelvis forward, thus forcing his engorged member to even greater prominence. “How about this? Have you ever seen the like? It is hard as an oak branch.”
    “It is ... quite impressive, m’lord.”
    He greeted her remark with delighted laughter. “All the more to pleasure you with, my dear.” He paraded toward the bed and had almost reached it when he suddenly stopped. A peculiar, sort of questioning expression crossed his face.
    “Is something wrong?”
    “Not a thing.” He took a step toward the bed then stopped again. He threw his head back. “Ahhhhhhhhh!” came a guttural cry from deep down in his throat—a weird, downright frightening sound, one she never heard before. His face distorted. He clutched at his chest. “Ahhhhhhhhh!” Before she could even begin to grasp what was happening, he crashed to the floor.
    “M’lord!” She leaped from the bed and knelt beside him. He lay on the floor, face up, eyes staring at the ceiling. Oh, God, was he dead? She placed two fingers at the side of his neck and felt for a pulse. Nothing. She recoiled and slapped her hand over her mouth. She had never seen anybody dead before, but somehow she knew for a certainty that her husband had expired.
    She must get help. She grabbed the red velvet robe and slipped it on. She went to the bell pull and was about to give it a tug when she suddenly thought, what was she going to tell everyone? The earl died while about to do that ? How undignified! How embarrassed he would be. To save his dignity she had best make up some story. They were sitting, enjoying a glass of wine when suddenly ... She glanced toward the earl.
    Dear God in heaven!
    It had not shrunk. His member still stood at full mast, still resembling that branch of oak. Her heart sank. How could they conceal it in the casket? She had no idea.
    Griggs ! She grasped the bell pull and tugged with all her might. Pray God the perfect butler would know what to do.

 
    Chapter 4
     
    Jane spent the next two days after her husband’s death in a daze. Nothing seemed real except for her grateful awareness that never again would she be obliged to perform her odious “wifely duties.” That