Lilly Read Free Page A

also bedded, but accepted it.  A wife however could be a threat, so they strengthened their callousness and spread their vile tales.
    They assumed this wife could ruin their feathered nests, so they spread every rumor that might make the intended bride appear more ridiculous, just to be sure.  When they finished with their fables, no lady with any pride would dare show her face in London.
    Two weeks later the name of Reece’s future bride leaked out, she was Lady Lilly Castleford.  The mistresses changed it to Lilly Brown Mouse and soon everyone was repeating the title with sneers.
     
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    Lord Castleford Manor
    Residence of Viscount Castleford
    Suffolk, England
     
    Lady Lilly Castleford, secluded and removed, knew nothing of these vile happenings taking place in London.  She followed her two aunts suggestions, carried out her daily rounds of caring for the manor, visiting the sick in the village, riding her horse Midnight, and thinking about the pleasant contents of her letters from Lord Randall.
    He wrote in an amusing fashion.  He appeared young for five and thirty, filling the pages with sometimes silly stories of him self and his brother.  He talked a lot about horses, one of Lilly’s favorite subjects.  He sometimes mentioned more personal notes of his longing to have a bride and his desire for a partner and companion, a mother for his children and a pleasant future together.  Sometimes vague, at other times strangely detailed, these letters filled Lilly’s mind and heart.  By the end of a month’s worth of messages, Lilly had convinced herself marriage to this earl of Suffolk would be an answer to her prayers and offered a future filled with contentment, sweetness, security, and love.  She couldn’t wait to see him in person.
    Her aunts would never guess how many times Lilly reread the earl’s letters.  She’d run her hand lightly over the page s, thinking of how he’d touched them too.  She pressed them all in books, laid dried flowers over each one, and slept with it under her pillow.  Lilly’s heart was softer and more delicate than anyone knew, her desire for a grand passion was the light that inspired her very existence.
    Lilly looked into the mirror and smiled.  She thought herself much improved.  Her new gowns, tailored perfectly with the help of a corset, displayed her curvaceous figure in a pleasing manner.  Her hair amassed high and curled, and her kind, happy nature shining in her coffee rich, brown eyes added a sparkle, the village ladies said.  She was like a rare brown petal lily with a vibrant yellow center, its shining depths budding deep inside, lighting up her wonderful spirit.
    Lilly was well loved in her area.  Always close by to lend a hand, help a less fortunate person, forever saving animals, and enjoyable to be around.  She could inspire a chuckle from the glummest of workmen, danced freely with the farmer’s children, and never acted the superior lady.  Lilly took such tender care of her father and aunts that public opinion thought Lady Lilly a wonderful woman and wished her only the best.
    There were servants from Earl Randall’s Hillside Park that visited the same village and heard the rumors of their master marrying such a paragon and they were surprised.  Why would such a glorious lady marry their despicable lord?  How had he deceived her?  They wondered, whispered, and went back to the Park telling everyone something sinister was brewing.
     
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    Randall Town House
    Residence of the Earl of Suffolk
    Berkley Square
    London, England
     
    “You caused t hese terrible rumors to surface you ass, telling those cats of yours about Lady Castleford,” Robert Randall shouted.  “She can never come to town without hearing them and being humiliated.”
    “I don’t want her in town,” Reece answered.
    “You have done some despicable things, you support a crowd of lay-a-bouts, whores, and gamblers, you do nothing productive, but this