Summerset Abbey: Spring Awakening (Summerset Abbey Trilogy) Read Free Page B
Author: T. J. Brown
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little in common with the music now pulsing out of the gramophone’s lily-shaped speaker. Ragtime’s primal rhythms filled her with a restlessness that pulled on her heart and tugged low in her belly. Music that made her think of stolen hours spent in a London hotel room with a man she could never have and would never forget.
The room, already warm, seemed unbearably stuffy, and the dark softness of Summerset’s manicured grounds looked cool and inviting. Restless, Rowena snatched up her light lawn dressing gown and, after tying the ribbon at her throat, padded across the room in her bare feet. Once she’d made sure the coast was clear, she hurried like a wraith down the dim, deserted hallway, her pulse racing. She hadn’t felt this good since the last time she’d taken her plane in the air. Slipping out through the conservatory,she ran across the lawn, her nightclothes billowing out behind her.
She ran past the rose garden her father had redesigned as a young man and through a gap in the hedge that boxed in the kitchen garden and the cutting garden. Out of the sight of the house, she slowed, catching her breath. The grass pathway was velvety soft beneath her feet, and the scent of fresh flowers perfumed the air. She followed the footpath past the massive kitchen garden, which provided the family and the staff of Summerset Abbey with fresh fruits and vegetables during the spring and summer and root vegetables during the autumn.
Taking a right, she moved away from the garden toward the lily pond. The frogs croaked a summer’s hymn in the night, and a sense of peace washed over her as she took a seat on a small knoll overlooking the inky, moon-splashed water.
Chilled, she pulled her legs up under her nightgown and rested her arms on her knees. Purposefully, she kept her mind away from Jonathon and focused on Sebastian, whom she would be marrying in weeks. They had originally planned to wed the first of July, but had moved the date to mid-September to make sure Victoria had recovered enough to be Rowena’s attendant.
She’d avoided thinking about the wedding, even though everyone around her could talk of little else. To escape, she’d employed tricks such as staring off into the distance as if considering something important and then agreeing to everything with a little “Mhmm.” This led to her having orange blossoms in her hair instead of her father’s favorite lilies, six bridesmaids instead of three, and beef Wellington for her wedding supper instead of the game hen that was her and Sebastian’s favorite.
She let herself be carried upon the wedding wave because the less she thought of it, the less real it seemed. Now she brought itinto sharp focus. Not the wedding. She could not care any less about the actual ceremony; it was the marriage she needed to think about.
Marriage to Sebastian. Not Jonathon. Her chest ached and she clenched her fist. Sebastian. She pushed the image of Jonathon away and let Sebastian fill her mind. Sebastian, who was so handsome and kind. When gossip about Rowena’s behavior with Jonathon reached her aunt, Lady Summerset had automatically assumed the man in question was Sebastian. Sebastian gallantly agreed to go along with a false engagement to save Rowena’s reputation. He was a good man with heartache of his own, and when he asked her to make their engagement a real one, there was no reason not to. After all, Jonathon wasn’t coming back. Her uncle had stolen land from Jonathon’s family, thereby setting into motion the events partially responsible for the death of his father. Her name and her fortune and everything that they implied were, in the end, too much for Jonathon.
But she had neglected to think about giving herself to Sebastian the way she had given herself to Jonathon. Could she do that?
A warm breeze ruffled her hair and she closed her eyes imagining what it would be like to kiss Sebastian the way she had Jonathon.
“Rowena,” a man’s voice said
The room, already warm, seemed unbearably stuffy, and the dark softness of Summerset’s manicured grounds looked cool and inviting. Restless, Rowena snatched up her light lawn dressing gown and, after tying the ribbon at her throat, padded across the room in her bare feet. Once she’d made sure the coast was clear, she hurried like a wraith down the dim, deserted hallway, her pulse racing. She hadn’t felt this good since the last time she’d taken her plane in the air. Slipping out through the conservatory,she ran across the lawn, her nightclothes billowing out behind her.
She ran past the rose garden her father had redesigned as a young man and through a gap in the hedge that boxed in the kitchen garden and the cutting garden. Out of the sight of the house, she slowed, catching her breath. The grass pathway was velvety soft beneath her feet, and the scent of fresh flowers perfumed the air. She followed the footpath past the massive kitchen garden, which provided the family and the staff of Summerset Abbey with fresh fruits and vegetables during the spring and summer and root vegetables during the autumn.
Taking a right, she moved away from the garden toward the lily pond. The frogs croaked a summer’s hymn in the night, and a sense of peace washed over her as she took a seat on a small knoll overlooking the inky, moon-splashed water.
Chilled, she pulled her legs up under her nightgown and rested her arms on her knees. Purposefully, she kept her mind away from Jonathon and focused on Sebastian, whom she would be marrying in weeks. They had originally planned to wed the first of July, but had moved the date to mid-September to make sure Victoria had recovered enough to be Rowena’s attendant.
She’d avoided thinking about the wedding, even though everyone around her could talk of little else. To escape, she’d employed tricks such as staring off into the distance as if considering something important and then agreeing to everything with a little “Mhmm.” This led to her having orange blossoms in her hair instead of her father’s favorite lilies, six bridesmaids instead of three, and beef Wellington for her wedding supper instead of the game hen that was her and Sebastian’s favorite.
She let herself be carried upon the wedding wave because the less she thought of it, the less real it seemed. Now she brought itinto sharp focus. Not the wedding. She could not care any less about the actual ceremony; it was the marriage she needed to think about.
Marriage to Sebastian. Not Jonathon. Her chest ached and she clenched her fist. Sebastian. She pushed the image of Jonathon away and let Sebastian fill her mind. Sebastian, who was so handsome and kind. When gossip about Rowena’s behavior with Jonathon reached her aunt, Lady Summerset had automatically assumed the man in question was Sebastian. Sebastian gallantly agreed to go along with a false engagement to save Rowena’s reputation. He was a good man with heartache of his own, and when he asked her to make their engagement a real one, there was no reason not to. After all, Jonathon wasn’t coming back. Her uncle had stolen land from Jonathon’s family, thereby setting into motion the events partially responsible for the death of his father. Her name and her fortune and everything that they implied were, in the end, too much for Jonathon.
But she had neglected to think about giving herself to Sebastian the way she had given herself to Jonathon. Could she do that?
A warm breeze ruffled her hair and she closed her eyes imagining what it would be like to kiss Sebastian the way she had Jonathon.
“Rowena,” a man’s voice said