Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
We strolled, coming to the edge of the property. I stared across the barren land, shaking my head.
“It is so overgrown,” she said with a frown. “Your land puts it to shame. Who does it belong to?”
I sat on a large rock, drawing her beside me. “Me now. I won it back from your father.”
She turned to me. “Oh?”
I sighed, unsure how to explain. “That part of the land was my mother’s favorite spot. We would ride and play there. I loved her dearly. She was an incredible mother. Warm and loving. She even made my father smile.”
“What happened?”
“She held such affection for that piece of earth that my father purchased and gifted it to her from the original owner of Milton Manor. It was quite barren aside from the orchard. She added gardens, trees, and she planted and shared her crops with the village. She was so loved by so many,” I explained.
Maddie slipped her hand into mine, and I held it to my chest.
“One day we were there—over in the orchard.” I indicated the remains of what had once been a large planting of trees. “She climbed too high, trying to get the apples she saw. She fell out of the tree and broke her neck.”
“Alexander!” she gasped. “How horrible!”
“My father went wild. Burned down the orchard and crops. Built a fence that has long since fallen over. Gave the land to your father over a card game.” I lifted her hand to my mouth and kissed it. “He never got over her death. He stopped living. Stopped being my father. He drank and gambled. Put us in debt. Sold pieces of this estate that were not entailed and other land he had purchased himself. Then he died, and I inherited the mess he left.”
“And you won the land back.”
I nodded. “I had a head for figures and farming. I always loved the endeavors. Both of them. I worked and toiled along with my tenants. Slowly made back the monies he lost. Bought back the missing land, piece by piece. I couldn’t care less about the town house in the city, but I have had it refurbished, although I spend little time there. I prefer it here.”
“Your other land?”
“I sold some of the unentailed. Bought back others. Gave my farmers a chance for a good life. This estate brings in a tidy sum monthly. Others do as well. I have invested in the future. No son of ours will have to toil to get back what he inherits.”
There was silence, and I realized what I had said.
“Does that shock you, Maddie? Thinking of children with me?”
“It fills me with joy,” she stated quietly. “I have little knowledge of the workings of such things…” She trailed off, only to speak again. “I know of animals.”
I smiled at her hesitant confession. “I will teach you, Maddie. We will do this slowly, and you will learn. I do promise you it is far more enjoyable than…animals,” I teased.
I was rewarded with her blush.
“What is it you wish to do with the land?” she asked, refusing to meet my eyes.
“Bring it back the way my mother loved. Your father ignored it. Refused to sell it to me. It was only through the card game I was able to get it back.”
“What if you did not win?” she asked, her eyes wide. “He cheats! I know this for a fact.”
I laughed at her candor. “I was aware. We had someone in his house who told us how. We fixed it.”
“So you cheated as well?”
I shrugged. “I did. Once he informed me he wanted me to take you, I knew I had to win. I wanted you out of there.”
“Why?”
Her question caught me off guard. “I do not know,” I admitted. “I kept catching sight of you, and I was intrigued. When I saw you fully, I was shocked. Horrified. Intrigued.”
“Because I was ugly?”
I shook my head. “No. Because you were the most beautiful, sad thing I had ever seen. I had to act uninterested because of your father. But I was desperate to help you. The distress in your eyes reminded me of someone I knew when I was younger, and I wanted to stop that fear.”
“He thought to complete his vendetta against me—for whatever it was. To have you ruin me.”
“I know. I have—” I drew in a deep breath. “I have a reputation as a cold, unfeeling man. A rake, if you will. But as soon as I saw you, I could not do that.”
“Why?” she asked again.
“Because somewhere deep inside, I knew instinctively you needed me. And perhaps I needed you as well.”
“Thank you.”
I bent low and kissed her, pleased when she kissed me back with no hesitation.
“Thank you,” I murmured against her lips.
CHAPTER 14
ALEXANDER
Iclimbed the steps, feeling tired. Another problem had pulled me from Maddie, and I had missed dinner. Mrs. Dougall informed me Maddie had taken a tray in her room and offered to send up one for me, but I refused. The hour was late, and I wanted only to see my wife’s face and hear her voice. The day had been an emotional one for her, and I was worried.