A Bride for Lord Redfield
by
Arabella Sheen
A risqué regency romp enjoyed by both servants and masters as love and passion is discovered―above and below stairs―in his lordship’s household.
Chapter 1 - Emily
EXCERPT 3
Redfield House was an old stone building of good proportions. And for a town house, compared to some places in Tunbridge Wells, it was well-situated and within easy walking distance of amenities. Lord Redfield was fortunate enough to have stables close by in the mews. The local church, which Lady Redfield attended most Sundays, was also within striking distance.
Lifting the long skirts of her dress and climbing the servants’ stairs at the back of the house, Emily stopped halfway on the landing. Looking out of the window, she could see down into the garden. It was small in size, laid mostly to lawn, and around the borders a few shrubs and bushes had been planted. Hidden behind the tall, box hedge was a pathway that led to a gate in the wall. The servants tended to use this entrance when coming and going, and from where Emily stood, she had a clear view over the hedge and could see Ruby approaching. Ruby had a spring in her step. Swinging the basket she was carrying, she disappeared from sight, entering the building through the kitchen door.
“What are you doing loitering here, girl? Get a move on.”
“Yes, Mrs. Clements. The bedchambers at the front of the house are ready for Mrs. Whitaker and Mr. and Mrs. Greenwood to use. I’m now on my way to make up Miss Rosalinda’s bed. I was airing her sheets in the linen cupboard again to make certain they were dry. Lady Redfield gave strict instructions and was very particular. She said everything had to be perfect for Miss Rosalinda’s room. And I was even told to put pink roses in there and not white ones.”
Mrs. Clements tilted her nose high. “I believe pink is Miss Rosalinda’s favorite color. But stop chattering, Emily. You have work to do. Go and make the bed. And make sure the window is closed and the chamber pot is beneath the four-poster.”
“Yes, Mrs. Clements.” Emily curtsied and moved off.
Reaching the bedchamber, she set about dusting the furniture and making the bed up in readiness.
A soft mattress and fresh linen was always nice, and it was a luxury Emily had yet to experience. The beds in the servants’ quarters were hard and prickly. A mattress stuffed with horse hair was anything but soft, and a change of sheets…well, that didn’t happen very often. She rarely had time to finish her chores, let alone look after her own needs. At night, exhausted from her duties, more often than not she just felt thankful for a place to rest her head and sleep.
Struggling to put the pillows inside their cases, Emily eventually managed the task and then started straightening the sheets and placing the blankets on the four-poster bed.
She thought that one blanket and the padded patchwork quilt ought to be enough. The weather was warm, and Miss Rosalinda could always find an extra blanket in the linen chest at the foot of the bed if she needed to.
Emily was tucking the last corner of the quilt into place when she heard a light tap on the door. She had left the door ajar. A head peered around the opening, and in an instant she saw that it was Robert.
“What are you doing up here?” she whispered. “You ought to be downstairs helping Mr. Henderson get the music room ready for tonight.”
The music room, quite large in size, was to be stripped of furniture and rugs, leaving only two chaise-longues and the barest amount of chairs around the edges of the room for people to sit on. The musicians, a violist and cellist from Pembury, were to be placed near the window, giving ample room for the guests to dance―if they so wished.
“We have unfinished business,” Robert said with a grin. And stepping further into the room, he closed the door behind him.
“You can’t. We can’t.” She laughed excitedly. “You shouldn’t be here. If Mr. Henderson were to catch you, you’d lose your job. We’d lose our jobs.”
“Then we will just have to make sure he doesn’t catch us, won’t we? Anyway, he thinks I’m still buying candles from the candle maker and charging them to Lord Redfield’s account. He’s afraid we’ll run out of them tonight and he’ll have to send me off to get some more. I told him it would take me at least half an hour, and old Henderson seemed happy with that.”
“Then you ought to go and buy them, not stand here talking to me.”
“I’ve already bought them. I left them downstairs near the pantry.”
“But won’t Mr. Henderson want you to do other things? He’ll want the silver polished and―”
“I doubt I’ll be missed,” Robert said with confidence. “Henderson’s got too much to keep him busy to notice I’m not back.”
“But that does not mean―”
“Emily…shut up and give me a kiss. It’s the least you can do after all the trouble I’ve been through to see you.”
Robert pulled her close to him. Emily could feel his warm breath catch against her cheek, and when his lips found hers, she didn’t resist. She couldn’t. She snuggled into him, and her senses were stirred. If truth be told, she’d always wanted him as much as he wanted her, only she dared not show her true feelings…until now.
She’d always had her eye on Robert. From the first moment she’d seen him, when he was standing at attention in the hall, waiting to open the library door for Lord Redfield, he had made an impression on her. She was sure he was destined for the finer things in life, and she wondered if she could become part of his journey. Servants weren’t supposed to see one another―not in that way. And to marry was practically unheard of. But that didn’t stop her wishing for bigger and better things―with Robert.
Robert’s hands reached for her breasts.
The low-cut neckline of her dress exposed an ample amount of cleavage, and when he squeezed, lifting her breasts upward toward him, his face came down to the deep crevice between her mounds. His lips kissed and his tongue lapped at any exposed skin he could find, and his touch, although rough, was pleasingly satisfying.
Beneath her clothing, Emily could feel her nipples swell and tighten. Cradling his head in her hands, she pulled him into her, burying his face still deeper between her breasts.
She inhaled his musky scent, and her senses were spinning.
Blindly, Robert pushed her back toward the newly made bed, and when the back of her legs touched the mattress, she buckled, falling down heavily onto the padded quilt. In an instant, he was on top of her, pressing her down into the soft bedding with his weight. And when his fingers slipped hurriedly beneath the neckline of her dress, it was so they could tug on the strings of her chemise and free her breasts.
A Bride for Lord Redfield
Copyright © 2019, Arabella Sheen
ISBN: 9781949300277
Publisher: Beachwalk Press, Inc.
Electronic Publication: February 2019
Editor: Lynne Sully
Cover: Fantasia Frog Designs
eBooks are not transferable. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
About Arabella Sheen
Arabella Sheen is a British author of contemporary romance and likes nothing more than the challenge of starting a new novel with fresh ideas and inspiring characters.
One of the many things Arabella loves to do is to read. And when she’s not researching or writing about romance, she is either on her allotment sowing and planting with the seasons or she is curled on the sofa with a book, while pandering to the demands of her attention seeking cat.
Having lived and worked in the Netherlands as a theatre nurse for nearly twenty years, she now lives in the south west of England with her family.
Arabella hopes her readers have as much pleasure from her romance stories as she has in writing them.
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Website: http://www.arabellasheen.co.uk/
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A Bride for Lord Redfield
Book Blurb: A Bride for Lord Redfield
A risqué regency romp enjoyed by both servants and masters as love and passion is discovered―above and below stairs―in his lordship’s household.
At Redfield House, everyone is busy with preparations for a ball, and rumor is rife in the servants’ quarters that the master is about to propose.
Lord Thomas Redfield realizes the time has come for him to take a wife and that this duty can no longer be delayed. The only trouble is…he isn’t sure the desire he once felt for Catherine, the woman he was previously betrothed to, is over and a new life with Rosalinda can begin.
Can Lord Redfield take Miss Rosalinda Mills for his wife, and will she agree to an engagement knowing he could still be in love with Catherine?
As the weekend unfolds and the fun begins, a bevy of illicit encounters are enjoyed between maids, footmen, grooms, and guests, while his lordship inwardly struggles with the problem of finding a wife.
Content Warning: contains passionate, sensual love scenes
UNIVERSAL BUY LINKS: https://books2read.com/u/bzvgwD
Arabella Sheen Website: http://www.arabellasheen.co.uk/
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