Lord Greyton's Fall From Grace (Lords of Avalon Novella Series) (22 page)

Owen watched
as
Grace lean
ed
heavily
against the wall
for support
.
She trembled, she sobbed. She looked about ready to collapse
.
She looked abo
ut as heart-broken as he felt
.
He forced himself to let go of the pity he felt for her
.
H
e reasoned
it
was more than likely
guilt
she was feeling
.
H
e had surprised her
.
That much was evident.

Instinctively he reached out to
assist
her.

“Lady Marston
!”
Marston’s sister Lady Doherty
rushed up to them
. “Lord Greyton, Lady Marston has been unwell
.
How dare you upset her so.”

“It was not me
who upset
her
, Lady Doherty
.
I merely
…
” Owen ruffled his fingers through his hair
.
He just wanted answers
.
Obviously he wasn’t going to get anything but gibberish and tears
.
“O
h
,
B
loody
H
ell
.
Forget it. Good evening, Lady Marston, Lady Doherty
.
I am
clearly
not wanted
here
.
I shall take my leave directly
.
I am finished here.
” Owen glared at Gr
ace before he turned and left.

He
hadn’
t understood all her
nonsense
.
Why did she have to look so damned beautiful
? 
Why did he love her and want her in his arms still?
It didn’t matter
.
None of it mattered
.
Grace betrayed him
. She was
Marston
’s wife now
.
He was done with her.
Beauty or not, she made her choice.
H
e wanted nothing
more
to do with her.
Ever again.

Sterling Manor
, near Bideford, Devon
June
1834

“Let’s sing, Mama
!”

“Shall we sing your favorite, Alice?”
Grace smiled at three-year old
Lady
Alice Rose Sterling, her daughter,
when she nodded
.
They sat upon the
floor of the nursery
together.

Today, as every other day for the past eight months, she wore her widow’s weeds
.
She
never
loved her husband, nor
did
he
love
her
.
She did not
miss him
.
The only man she ever loved and still missed was Alice’s father, Owen. She could never forget him, not when she’d carried his child, nor
since
she gave birth to
Alice
.
For almost every time she lo
oked at Alice, she saw Owen. Alice
had
Owen’s
dark hair and his sapphire blue eyes
.

Grace began to sing Alice’s favorite song
.
Alice chimed in and sang along.

Tears stung her eyes as she sang with Alice
.
Today was the fourth anniversary of the day Owen left her in the Viscountess’ bed
chamber at Roseland Abbey
to go to Italy
.
She did not know why she remembered the date every year, but she did
.
Perhaps because it was the day her life changed drastically
.
It was the last day she had ever dared to dream. Oh
,
she loved her daughter
dearly
, and was
so
happy
to spend every day
with her
.
The current Lord Marston, her husband’s nephew, allowed her to live in a comfortable house on the estate.

Grace sighed
as their song ended
.
She watched Alice sing to her dolly.
She would never dream of silly things like love again
.
What was the point
? 
She had Alice
.
Her daughter was the only thing that mattered to her.

She
had seen
Owen from afar just a few times in the last four years
.
He never
made eye contact with her
.
He never looked at Alice, either
.
That hurt her more than anything
.
Was he not even curious about his own
child
?
She talked with his father once at a social gathering before he passed away. He had been polite.
She had spoken to
Owen’s
sister
,
Libby
,
several times
in Hartland and Bideford
.
Libby was always kind to her
and Alice
.

She had been so wrong about Owen Darrington, now the Earl of Fitzlewis
since his father’s death
three years ago
. She had been
completely blin
ded by love
.
S
he always told herself
she had been quite a fool
.
No gentleman wanted to marry a Lady who gave herself out of wedlock.
What more could she say?

Grace started when she heard a loud boom from downstairs
.
A gunshot
i
n her home
?
She jumped to her feet
and gathered Alice in her arms. She heard
shouting followed by
the thud of boots on the staircase
.
Grace back
ed
in
to
the corner and held on to Alice
tightly
.

“Mama
? 
Mama?” Alice looked at her in confusion
.

“Shh, quiet, sweeting.” Grace held Alice close and kissed her cheek
.

She sucked in her breath when three large men in brown coats and hats entered the nursery.

“We’ve come for the child,
”
o
ne man said as he scratched his scruffy chin
.
“Give her to us and no one else will get hurt.”

“No one is taking my child anywhere,” Grace said sternly
.

The man removed a letter from his coat pocket and left it
up
on the dresser
.
“You give this to Lord Fitzlewis, and you’ll get her back
if he does as the letter says
.”
He looked to the other two men
.
“Get her.”

The two mean pounced on her, they tried to pry her
arms away from Alice
.
Alice
scream
ed in terror
. Grace shout
ed
while
trying to kick
, hit
and claw
at
the men
.
The
last thing she
saw
was
a fist coming toward her
.
She felt
a
searing
pain
as
it
connected with her cheek
. She
heard Al
ice screaming in her ear
.
Suddenly everything
went black.

The
elderly
b
utler
, Nivens, and h
ousekeeper
, Mrs. Philpot,
were standing over her when she woke. They helped her to her feet
.
“Alice?”
Grace called out loudly.

“She’s
gone milady, those men took our
little angel they did.” Mrs.
Philpot
wiped the tears from her cheeks with her handkerchief.
“Six of them, there were
.
Three of them held us at gunpoint below stairs while they made off with Lady Alice.
”

“Prepare the carriage,
”
Grace ordered
.
She reached out to steady herself by leaning against a chair.

“My Lady, you need to
see a doctor
.
You can’t travel,
”
Mrs. Philpot protested
.

“Have
the carriage
brought around
!” Grace demanded
as she looked at Nivens
.
“I have to get my baby back
.”
She
must speak to
Owen
.
She
walked to the dresser and
picked up the letter addressed to him
.
“I’m going to Roseland
.
I shall seek help from Lord Fitzlewis.
I will find her
!
I must find her
.”

Grace was going to
speak to
Owen
.
And she didn’t care what he felt about her or Alice
.
She
would
make damn certain he did whatever he needed to do in order for her to get Alice back
.
She would get her back
!
Owen Darrington would take the responsibility he had long neglected toward Alice and do what these men asked so she could have
her baby
back
with her where she belonged
. She was certain at that moment she would sell her soul to
have Alice returned to her
. And she would see that Owen
Darrington, the Earl of Fitzlewis,
did as well if it were necessary
.
He owed her this much
.

Keep reading for an excerpt of the continuation of Owen and Grace’s story in
Lords of Honor
, book 2
of the Lords of Avalon Series.

I hope you enjoyed Owen and Grace’s
story
which
takes place
four years
before
the beginning of the Lords of Avalon series
. The rest of Owen and Grace’s story can be
found in
Lords of Honor
, Book 2
in the Lords of Avalon Series by K. R. Richards.
Lord of the Abbey
, Book 1 in the Lords of Avalon Series and Book 2,
Lords of Honor
are
both
available on Amazon.com now
.
Book 3,
Lords of Retribution
, will be released in December, 2012
/January, 2013
and the last book of the Lords of Avalon Series,
Lords of Atonement
, will be out in mid
2013
.
Look for more Lords of Avalon Series Novellas to be released in 2013
.
The next
Novella
will be
Lord Amesbury’s Last Seduction
; the
back
story of Lyon and Sophia
from
Lords of Honor
and will be out in early 2013.

Coming in
late
2013:
the first b
ook of a new
as yet unnamed
Series involving some of the still single
Avalon Society Members
as they pursue a new quest
!

Keep reading for an excerpt of Owen and Grace’s story in
Lords of Honor
.