A Kiss from the Heart Read Online Free

from his chair.
    He made his way to his father’s study and glanced at the piles of correspondence on the desk. The secretary was nowhere to be seen, but he could glimpse evidence of her handiwork in every corner of the room.
    A large ledger rested on a chair and he picked it up. Flicking through the pages, he could see it was a record of salaries paid to the estate workers.
    He sighed and closed it with a snap.
    â€˜Perhaps Mama will take care of all this,’ he said to himself. ‘And the secretary will know what to do with the general correspondence.’
    In his mind he was already managing to abdicate his new responsibilities to others. After all was there not always someone else to take them off his shoulders?
    He stretched up to the ceiling and wondered how he might occupy himself.
    â€˜Perhaps a ride,’ he muttered, before realising how heartless that might appear to the estate workers.
    Although the degree of mourning advocated by the Queen after the death of her beloved husband, Albert, was no longer considered at all fashionable, Society still expected certain rituals to be observed. Frowning deeply, the Earl tutted to himself at the prospect of confining himself to the Hall for the next few months.
    Had he not seen enough misery during the Afghan War? There may have been splendid balls and parties most nights, but death had always been around the next corner tainting his enjoyment of such frivolity.
    The truth was that he was a somewhat selfish young man. How could he be anything but? He had been spoilt and indulged by his father and now that the yoke of responsibility had been placed around his neck, it chafed him sorely.
    Gloomily he left the study in search of Emmeline or Alicia. But he was told by one of the footmen that both ladies were confined to their rooms.
    â€œAnd my brother Alec?”
    â€œHe is visiting the tenant farmers, my Lord. He expressed a wish to visit them personally to tell them the terrible news about his Lordship.”
    Robert nodded his head and felt a stab of guilt. As the eldest son, that should have been his task. However, if Alec chose to do it, he had no argument with that – yawning, he passed his hand through his hair.
    â€˜How to while away the time?’ he mused.
    He had been used to being issued with orders and following them, but now he was just like a rudderless ship, wafting through the rooms at Ledbury Hall aimlessly.
    With the day being so fine, it was not long before he found himself outside in the garden. A gentle breeze caressed his skin as the sun shone down pleasantly on him.
    Looking around at the familiar scenes he now noticed that every servant was either wearing a black suit or, in the case of the women, stiff black dresses. Even the gardeners and all the stable boys were wearing black armbands out of respect.
    Seeing their bowed heads and obvious grief brought a lump to his throat. Walking quickly back to his rooms, he bolted the door and let the torrent of emotion that he had been bottling up inside him erupt.
    *
    The funeral was indeed a grand affair.
    Although they were not graced with the presence of the Queen herself, the Prince of Wales attended and made a great fuss of Emmeline and Alicia before he left Worcester Cathedral.
    Throughout the service, the Earl stood emotionless and dry-eyed while his mother and sisters wept bitterly.
    Afterwards he stood outside the Cathedral door to shake everyone’s hands and receive their condolences.
    â€œMake your father proud!” they exhorted him, one after the other.
    He wanted to shout at them and tell them to mind their own business, but instead he just gritted his teeth and mulled over what he would do next.
    â€˜The rural life is not for me,’ he told himself firmly. ‘After the funeral I will proceed to London and decide what I will do next.’
    And so a few days after the funeral, unable to stand the gloomy atmosphere at Ledbury Hall, he commanded Monkhouse to