A Moment Of Madness – Barbara Allister

“Have there been any more pains?” “No. Oh, no. As soon as she relaxed, they stopped,” Mrs. Thomas assured him. She sighed. “She seems so unhappy.” “How long ago did her husband die?” “I am not certain.” He looked at her in surprise. “I joined Mrs. Carrington in London. Her sister hired me to be her companion during her sister’s mourning.” “What is she doing in Harrogate?

She does not need to drink the waters, although some medical men of my acquaintance would disown me to hear me saying it.” “She needs to be with her family,” Mrs. Thomas said firmly, her lips firmly pursed together. “But that cannot be.” Dr. Mackensie looked at her, his confusion evident.

Realizing that she had already said more than was wise, Mrs. Thomas explained. “She is here because of her husband’s will. Apparently he did not trust her family.” “Did he know of the child?” “I doubt it.” Mrs. Thomas drew herself up, squaring her shoulders. “And from what little she says about him, I doubt if that would have changed his mind.” “Not a happy marriage, then?”

the doctor asked. Embarrassed by what she had said, Mrs. Thomas blushed. “I have said too much already,” she whispered, wishing she could call back the words. “Nonsense. I am the lady’s doctor. Her emotions are as much my concern as her physical health,” he said soothingly. “But I do not understand why you sent for me today?” “A friend of hers came to see her today, and he wanted to know if you would allow her to come downstairs if someone carried her,” Mrs. Thomas said in a rush.

Then she waited for his response, holding her breath. “Hmmm. A friend you say?” She nodded. “A good friend, I suppose?” She nodded again, this time more hesitantly. “And do you have a strong footman who could do this?”

Once upon a time Georgiana Carrington had been an ugly duckling, a tall and gangling girl stumbling awkwardly through her first London season. Now time had passed, and Georgiana had grown to be an enchanting beauty. Once upon a lime Georgiana had trembled in Charles’s arms as this dashing gentleman dutifully led her through the paces of a dance before going off to pursue more interesting pleasures.

Now she trembled in his arms again, but this time it was not duty but desire that inspired his embrace. Georgiana long had dreamed of this moment. But was it worth her honor and so much more to make that dream come true… ? ************************************************************** **** NO MISTAKE The door closed behind them.

Her head on Charles’s shoulder, her eyes closed, Georgiana gave herself up to her emotions. Her heart was pounding so fast she could hardly breathe. Charles smiled at her and lowered her to the floor, letting her body slide down his. Even through her dress and petticoat she could feel him. Her eyes opened wide. Her hand closed over his shoulder.

As soon as her feet touched the floor, he tilted her head up and kissed her, scorching her with his heat. Georgiana knew that Charles was making a terrible mistake, thinking that she was a married woman eager for a dalliance. And she knew that she would be perpetuating a grave error if she allowed him to persist in this folly.

But even if Georgiana could stop Charles from making so foolish a mistake . . . what could she do about her own foolish heart. . . ? ****************************************************************** Chapter 1 GEORGIANA Carrington sat up in bed, her heart pounding, hoping that she had just been dreaming. Then she heard it again. “Fire!” Trained by weeks of helping her sister care for sick children, Georgiana moved quickly.

Almost as soon as her feet had touched the floor, she put on her slippers and slipped into her blue dressing gown. Stumbling over the small case holding her jewels and money, she picked it up and grabbed her traveling cloak. Opening the door to the hallway, she threw her cloak over her shoulders and inspected the corridor. Someone was still shouting a warning about fire, but although the sound of his voice was clear and seemed close at hand, no one was in sight.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 36e0d34174b599cc
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 896,708 bytes (0.855 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 228
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 356.65 minutes
• Total Words: 71,331
• Total Characters: 391,106
• Average Words per Page: 312.86
• Average Characters per Page: 1715.38

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