Her husband had every right to turn away whomever he wished from his door, while she, as she'd come to learn, had few to no rights at al in this marriage. Grace snatched up a hairbrush and began to drag it through her hair before saying, 'What good would it have done?' He wouldn't have appreciated being sent away like some sort of undesirable. He was like family, the big brother she'd never had. Robert, the only son and heir, had grown up with her and her sisters. The Langley estate bordered her childhood home, Madison Manor. 'I can imagine,' Christiana said with a sigh as the dress dropped to cover her body. As she began to help her don it, she added, 'And I can tel you Lord Langley didn't like it the first time, but was absolutely livid the second. ' Grace turned away to trade the nightdress for a pale blue gown that matched Christiana's eyes. 'Lady Beckett, Lady Gower, Lord Ol ivet and Lord Langley. 'Who?' Her horror and surprise came muffled from inside the cloth of her nightdress as the maid dragged it off over her head.

'Dicky wouldn't send them away,' Christiana said with surprise, and then tacked on an uncertain, 'Would he?' If you're quick we can have you dressed and downstairs before your husband sends them away. 'That was my thought when I saw them getting out of the carriage,' Grace admitted as Christiana got out of bed. 'And here at this hour? There must be some sort of emergency for them to be cal ing so early. 'What? My sisters in London?' Christiana rol ed over, thrusting the blankets and linens away to sit up. ' Those four words and the urgency behind them brought her other eye open at once.

She merely opened one eye to peer at the older woman bent over her. Christiana remained curled on her side in her cocoon of blankets.

The Countess by Lynsay Sands