[The Inconvenient Matches series is comprised entirely of stand alone novels that can be read in any order]
Forced into marriage by duty and obligation, The Duke and Duchess of Rothbury parted ways a week after saying their vows under the explicit u...
She should have never come here, Seraphina let out a despaired moan that was immediately swallowed up by the pillow she had buried her face under in an attempt to not cry. And then she thought about her sweet little Caelan coming home from his lessons to find their father unconscious on the kitchen floor and cried some more. How selfish she had been in agreeing to Lady Eleanor's invitation unable to resist the lure of traveling, having always loved the countryside since she was a child growing up on the family farm in Scotland. She hadn't seen proper open skies in so long, and her only respite from the putrid air of London were the three days of the week she went to the estate owned by Lady Eleanor that served as the headquarters for The Sanctuary. And now, all she could think about was the fact that while she had been talking walks in Lady Rothbury's garden and mooning after the most handsome man she'd had the misfortune of meeting, her father had been getting sicker.
She took another fitful toss in the bed in a fruitless bid for sleep, before letting out a frustrated yell and finally giving up. Perhaps she ought to get a book, because if she indulged in one of her late-night walks, she would just feel guilty. Her body thrummed with the desire to go for a ride, but she wasn't fool enough to indulge that impulse in the dead of night and end up with a broken neck. She slid out of the large bed and felt around in the dark for her slippers. She reached for a robe, tied her hair into a hasty braid, and set out on her quest for a book, hoping she would be able to find her way to the library in the absolute massive manor. Lady Rothbury had given them a tour, but whether she could find her way on her own remained to be seen.
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As it turned out, she never did make it to the library, for the second she reached the main foyer that connected the guest wing to the rest of the building, her senses pricked with an awareness that she was not alone. She whirled in the darkness, her years of training enabling her to assume a defensive position with barely a conscious thought.
'Who is there?! Reveal yourself!' She hissed into the dark.
'Seraphina?' Came a pained whisper from somewhere in the dark. Near the staircase that connected to the eastern wing, her eyes made out a shadowy figure hunched over.
'Your Grace?!' Seraphina hurried her steps, her heart beating hard in a panicked rhythm. 'Good heavens, are you alright?! Shall I rouse some servants to fetch the physician?'
The Duchess took a deep breath and shook her head. Seraphina's eyes had adjusted to the dark well enough to make out her tortured expression. 'It will pass in but a moment.'
'You are on the floor! Surely we must-'
'Seraphina.' The Duchess smiled at her weakly. 'I know it is not polite to speak of bodily functions, but I see no other way to reassure you. My courses are always accompanied by terrible cramping the first day or two, it will pass in just a moment.'
Seraphina's neck pricked with embarrassment over her overreaction.
