I recently had the opportunity to read another wonderful book and thought I would take a moment to share some of it with you. The book is called, My Dearest Friend, by author Hazel Statham. Here is an excerpt:
MY DEAREST FRIEND EXCERPT:
Their arrival at the inn that night went quite unnoticed, the sound of the horses' hooves clattering over the cobbled yard exciting no more interest than had done their predecessors during the day. Once they were halted, the duke hurried Hannah and the sleeping Sophie from the vehicle and into the private parlor. He had hoped to find Jane within, but the room was deserted and he knew a moment's disappointment. Just as he was about to go in search of her, Eaves pushed open the door and stopped in some surprise.
"Your grace," he beamed coming into the room. "We had given up hope of you arriving today."
"Where is Miss Chandler?" the duke demanded, making toward the door.
Eave's countenance sobered. "She's with the major, sir. I am afraid he took a turn this morning and she has not left his side since. The doctor has been called and says that despite it being but a momentary setback we must delay our return journey for a few days. Shall I fetch her for you, sir?"
"No need, I will go to her directly," the duke said. "However, I would be grateful if you would arrange suitable accommodation for my ward and her nurse and make sure they are well nourished before they retire. It has been a very long and tiring day."
With that, he strode from the room and took the stairs two at a time to the second landing. Eagerly pacing its length, he came to a sudden halt just as Jane stepped out of Harry's room and quietly closed the door behind her. In the dimness of the corridor, she did not immediately perceive him standing but a short distance away, awaiting her notice, and was startled when he softly called her name from the shadows.
"Robert," she cried, involuntarily pressing her hand to her throat, unable to move, as a new shyness overcame her.
For an instant, they stood thus until the duke moved forward into the pool of moonlight that filtered through a small window and slowly opened his arms to her. She did not hesitate but ran to him and buried her face in his neck. Words were not necessary for the moment as they both rejoiced in their reunion. Indeed, if she had tried to speak she would have found her words crushed into oblivion as, bending his head, he fiercely kissed her, demanding a response. Finding in herself no resistance to his embrace, she welcomed it as if to be loved by him was the most natural occurrence in the world.
Eventually pulling apart and capturing her hands in his the duke gave a low chuckle, "I see you have missed me as much as I have you, my love."
"That is unkind of you, sir," she replied dropping her eyes before his fiery scrutiny, thankful that the shadows hid the warm glow his embrace brought to her cheeks. "But oh, how I have longed for you, my dear friend."
He smiled mischievously, once more drawing her to him, the better to study her features. "So, you will still insist on calling me your dear friend, sweetheart. I had hoped for something more."
"You will always be my dearest friend," she replied meeting his gaze openly. "Whatever else you may become, you will still be my friend."
"Tell me then, my little friend, do friends marry?"
"Of course they do," she replied without hesitation. "Who else would tend me when I am nauseous and become a burden?"
He laughed, his green eyes dancing with delight, his face transformed. "If that is to be my role in life, then I must bear it with what fortitude I can muster, imp. Then sobering slightly, "Does it matter to you that we have known each other so short a time, for to me it seems an eternity?"
"Not a whit," she replied cradling his hand against her cheek. "For me the seed was set when you so obstinately refused to desert me to my fates on The Mistral. It showed an unparalleled fortitude and a kindness I will never forget."
"I wish you would, my dear," he said, attempting to hide his smile, "for I can see you regaling our grandchildren with it in years to come and it will do nothing to enhance the superior image that I would cultivate."
"I assure you your image is quite safe, sir, for will I not tell them what a true and faithful friend you are and how I have come to love you?"
He would have taken her in his arms once more but the sound of a door opening at the further end of the corridor drove them guiltily apart and instead, he clasped her fingers securely in his and led her to the stairs.
"In my eagerness I have become remiss in my duties," he said. "You are no doubt impatient to know the results of my journey and to see the babe, and you must tell me of Harry and what is to be done. We have so much to arrange. I must warn you, however, that we are increased in numbers. When we set out on the journey we were two, anticipated four, and now we become six. We will present quite a cavalcade on our return."
She smiled, returning the pressure of his fingers. "I care not however many we become as long as I have my dear friend, for without him I am desolate."
This did not go unrewarded and having achieved the first landing, he found it necessary to quickly catch her to him.
"My love, I can see you will be an enchanting wife," he chuckled before briefly kissing her upturned face. "It is well that we need not be separated again, forswear I could not bear it. Now come and meet our babe. She is named Sophie and is a delight. You will love her I'm sure."
~ * ~
Jane did indeed love this golden child, this child so full of sunshine, and over the next few days divided her time between getting to know her and tending to Harry. The repaired coach arrived bringing the much-needed boxes and for the next two weeks, they settled into a routine, which, although leaving little time for intimacy, drew the lovers even closer together. The duke showed himself ever ready to be involved in Harry's care whenever necessary, feeling it not as a burden. Hannah soon became an invaluable and capable addition to the party, proving herself a quite able nursemaid and one who doted on her charge.
As the days passed, Robert found it increasingly difficult to distance himself from Jane when they shared only too brief moments of privacy. She delighted him with her response to his caresses, which only served to inflame his desire for her, and a chance meeting at the end of the second week almost proved his undoing.
Harry had passed a restless day, one in which he complained continually of his discomfiture and it was seen that Jane was sorely worn. She had retired to her chamber some time earlier when the duke bethought himself to check on Harry before he too sought his rest.
So late was the hour that the inn appeared deserted when he climbed to the second storey landing and he trod quietly so as not to disturb its sleeping occupants.
He was about to enter the invalid's room when the door opened and Jane, clad only in a satin wrap, emerged and came into the shadows of the landing. She gave a visible start at finding Robert on the point of entry but raising her finger to her lips, pushed him back into the corridor. "He sleeps at last," she whispered when the door had fully closed behind her. "Eaves could not settle him and came to me."
Robert placed his arm about her waist. "Poor girl," he sympathized, dropping a kiss on her brow. "You should have called for me. You have borne enough this day."
She raised her hands and pulled his head down, lightly brushing her lips against his. "You don't know how grateful I am for your strength and support," she whispered. "I don't know how I would cope without you," and she nestled against him, her curls caressing his cheek and chin. Holding her to him Robert made the heady discovery that beneath her silk wrap, she wore naught but a lawn nightgown and his senses reeled. Without thinking, he raised his hands and with a few deft movements released her luxuriant tresses from the pins that held them so decorously, and they fell to her waist. With a growl deep within his chest he buried his hands in their depths and bringing his head down he possessed her lips with a hungry passion that demanded her response.
Arching her body against his, Jane wound her arms about his neck as if wishing to draw him even closer, knowing only that he awoke desires in her that she could not comprehend, generating a need for him. His hands traced the contours of her waist and hips, pulling her further into him whilst his lips roamed freely over her face and neck, the darkness of the landing only adding to the intimacy of the moment, both lost in their desires.
Only when the realization came to him that he was in imminent danger of forgetting all caution and gathering her up into his arms to seek his bedchamber did Robert, with a groan akin to a sob, finally tear his lips from her soft skin.
She gave a small cry of protest, appearing bewildered as if she awoke from a dream, bereft at his desertion.
His breathing appeared labored as he sought to contain his passion. "You must leave me sweetheart," he said hoarsely, gently putting her from him. "You drive me beyond endurance and I cannot guarantee my control. Come, I will take you to your door then I must go. Knowing the temptation, I love you too well to remain."
Jane gave no answer; she could not, her emotions at that moment betraying her. Instead, taking his hand briefly to her cheek in understanding, she allowed him to lead her to her chamber. When she disappeared inside her room, closing the door quietly behind her, he leant his brow against the cooling plaster of the wall, balling his hands into fists. Silently calling curses down on his own head knowing he had been but a breath away from seducing his beloved Jane. The consequences of the encounter drove the duke to desert the inn some two days later when he received news that the British Ambassador would be passing close to Elvas. Telling no one the nature of his business, he left shortly after taking a hasty breakfast, to return some ten hours later.
When Jane attempted to question him on his absence, he brushed the matter aside demanding instead to know of her day, feeling the time was not right to divulge his secret to her. He dared not, lest his plans should not come to fruition; he needed yet another element for their completion. Guilt of his apparent deception drove him to make light of the outing, teasing her back to good humor when she appeared wounded by his reluctance to explain his absence.
*******
To find out more about My Dearest Friend or Hazel Statham, please visit her website. http://www.hazel-statham.co.uk/ And don't forget, you can find her blog, as well as many other talented author's blogs, here in my list of links. Hope you all enjoy the book; I'm currently reading it and hope to post a review soon.
