The Sherbrooke Bride Read Free

“Yes, you’re right about their visit. I heard them speaking about the Marquess of Dacre’s eldest daughter, Juliette, a diamond of the first order, Aunt Mildred was saying, and just perfect for you.”
    Douglas looked sardonic and remained silent as a stone.
    â€œGod grant you long life, Douglas,” Ryder said with fervor. “I respect you and am grateful to my toes that you are the eldest son and thus the Fourth Earl of Northcliffe, the Sixth Viscount Hammersmith, the Ninth Baron Sanderleigh, and therefore the target of all their cannon.”
    â€œI respect you too, Douglas,” Tysen said. “You make a fine earl, viscount, and baron, and I’m certain Uncle Albert and Aunt Mildred think so too. All the familyagree if only you’d marry and—”
    â€œOh God, not you too, Tysen! Well, there’s no hope for it,” Douglas added as he rose from his chair. “Ah, Tysen, your gratitude will make me endure, no doubt. Pray for me, little brother. Our meeting for this quarter is adjourned, Ryder. I believe I’ll speak to your valet, Tinker, and see if he can’t sew your randy sex into your breeches.”
    â€œPoor Tinker would be appalled to be assigned such a service.”
    â€œWell, I can’t ask one of the maids. That surely would defeat the purpose. I vow you would break our pact if one of the younger ones did the task.”
    â€œPoor Douglas,” Ryder said as his brother left the room.
    â€œWhat did Douglas mean about your pact?” Ryder asked.
    â€œOh, we have both vowed that any female in our employ is not to be touched. When you are safely out of love, and thus your wits are yours again, we will gain your assurances as well.”
    Tysen decided not to argue with his brother. He was above that. He would be a vicar; his thoughts and deeds would be spiritual. Also, to the best of his memory, he’d never won an argument with either brother, and thus said, “This girl they’re going to batter at him about is supposedly quite wonderful.”
    â€œThey’re all wonderful with pillow sheets over their heads,” Ryder said and walked out of the estate room.
    Leaning against a dark mahogany Spanish table was Sinjun, her arms crossed, looking as negligent and indifferent as a potato, and whistling. She stopped when she saw that Ryder saw her, and said with a wonderfully bland voice, “So, how went the meeting?”
    â€œKeep your tongue behind your teeth, brat.”
    â€œNow, Ryder, I’m young, true, but I’m not stupid.”
    â€œForget it, Sinjun.”
    â€œHow are all your Beloved Ones?”
    â€œThey all do very well, thank you.”
    â€œI’m silent as a soap dish,” she said, grinned at him, blew him a kiss, and walked toward the kitchen, whistling again, like a boy.

CHAPTER
2
    T HE EARL WASN ’ T frowning. He was anxious and he felt in his innards that something was going to happen, something he wasn’t going to like. He hated such feelings because they made him feel helpless and vulnerable; on the other hand he knew it would be stupid to ignore them. Because the government was in disarray, and that damned fool Addington was dithering about like a headless cock, he thought that this anxiety in his innards must spring from his fear of Napoleon.
    Like all Englishmen who lived on the southern coast of England, he worried about an invasion. It didn’t seem likely, since the English ruled the Channel, but then again, only a fool would disregard a man of Napoleon’s military genius and his commitment to the destruction of the English.
    Douglas dismounted from his stallion, Garth, and strode to the cliff edge. Surf pounded at the rocks at the base of the cliff, spewing plumes of white-foamed water thirty feet into the air. He sucked the salt air into his lungs, felt it gritty and wet against his face. The wind was strong and sharp, blowing his hair about his head, making his