The north hearth was still warm, though James had banked the fire hours before. Champagne flutes and wine glasses were drying on both sides of the double sink, and a few unopened bottles sat on the large oak table. He had sent Mrs. Cates off to bed just after midnight, ignoring her protestations, insisting that she needed her rest and that she was ( Read more... )

In this entire big place, this castle, there was one room which belonged to her. When she first agreed to move in here, into his home, that was her one stipulation: she must have one room that was hers and hers alone. “That’s fine, love,” he had said, grinning, “You’ll see I have plenty of rooms to choose from.”
So in this castle-she had thought him ( Read more... )