Disgraceful

He was charming. Just like father and mother said, he was young and handsome. He was about average height, likely a fair inches taller than her, very well dressed, she had never seen a stylish man like him in the countryside. His face glowing when he smiled. He certainly had his attractions. Yet she noticed shades of dark circles under his eyes and subtle signs of tiredness.   The formal introduction followed and Lord Roger had no difficulty to charm them with his appealing personality. He greeted her with utter respect, not lingering his gaze to her longer than proper. He lit up the room with his laughter, made mother blush with his generous compliments. The entire night was delightful, she enjoyed the dinner and the conversation very much. Glancing at Lord Roger secretly when he was explaining something to her parents, an inevitable thought occurred to her. This was too good to be true. What made a man like him, a nobleman at his best, young, handsome, unquest

For a moment, Ava was totally speechless. The next second, she stood rightaway. "You are wrong, mother! He tried to rape me. He hit my face, he called me whore!" She was thinking to tell mother he insulted her too, and Del, but she didn't want to hurt her feeling. Mother looked surprised. "Did he?" "Yes, and it was not just rough... or passionate like you just said. It was horrible, and violent, and..." she tried to find the right word. "Totally evil."   Desiree frowned at her last word and fell silent. Ava got a bad feeling that her mother didn't believe her.   "Mother" she started to pace back and forth across the room. "You should believe me. I'm not that naive that I don't know the difference between forcing and seducing. You have no idea what I've undergone just now..."   Finally, mother gave a reply. "We should tell your father. Tomorrow."   Soon after mother lef

After a long, tiring hours in the jolting and swaying carriage, a quick stop at a little town to change hackney, and a little visit to a jewelry shop to sell her engagement ring, they were finally almost at the end of the trip.    Her lips touched a mischievous grin as she recalled the wicked satisfaction she had when she sold Roger's gift. The shop owner looked at her in suspicion, but took the ring anyway. He must have thought she was a discarded mistress or sort of that. She didn't care, the ring made an adequate sum of money she would need for the coming days. She was glad she had tamped the irresistible urge to throw it out of the window that night.   Across her seat, Polly was snoring loudly, left her alone with her thoughts. Despite her confidence in what she was doing, Ava was in a quandary. She knew she would always be haunted by Roger, forever bound to him by the unbreakable contract.

Ava blushed at the way he praised her beauty. All her life, she had had more than plenty compliments to indulge her vanity, but never she felt like this before. Just a little words could make her warm as if she had caught a fever.   Struggling to keep her mind clear, she thought about what he just told her. He said he had been living here all his life. So he was a country man like she guessed.   "Where do you live, sir?" She would find out more. She braced herself to see him.   "Magnus" he gave her the winsome smile again. "Just call me Magnus."   His name was unique. "Magnus" she repeated, loving the sound of his name in her voice.   "Where do you live, miss?"   "Berry Lane near the hill." She completely forgot that he didn't answer her previous question.   "You live with your parents?"   "No, I've been living with m

"You didn't know who he is?!!!" Lady Byrne screeched frantically. Magnus had escaped shortly after a little polite talk, leaving Ava to cope as best she might on her own.   "My goodness! He is Lord Magnus Hyde, his family has owned this land for hundred of years. The ruling duke is his cousin. Lord Magnus is third-in-line of this little empire." The lady continued in bold enthusiasm.   "Theirs are one of the leading noble families in England. They are possessors of many estates and rich farming lands. They are incredibly wealthy. My dear Ava, you have caught a prince and you didn't even know it!"   With every word tumbling from the lady's mouth, Ava felt her heart sank. She didn't want a prince, an heir, a nobleman with all the glorious grandeur. She wanted Magnus as a man, either a farmer, a soldier, or another commoner... a man she could lay her hope on, a man she could make her own. Now that she found that he was actu