A Pretend Betrothal by Lana Williams EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Lana Williams
- Language: English
- Genre: Victorian Historical Romance
- Format:PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
One week later
Michael Shaw strode into the drawing room, unsurprised to find
it empty. A glance out the window at the fine morning was all it took to
determine where his mother would be—in the garden, tending her beloved
roses.
He’d been home just over a month after being gone much of the past
decade, serving in the 50th Regiment of the British Army. The last several
years had been spent in New Zealand during the Land Wars. His final post
had been a brief stay in Sydney, Australia.
Seeing so many parts of the world had been thrilling, from the Taj
Mahal to the Himalayas to Victoria Falls. But military life was not easy. He
had endured more than he’d thought himself capable of and much of that
had left a mark on his soul, if not his body.
He was pleased to be home. Mostly.
Michael glanced around the room, still amazed by how little had
changed in his absence. The house was the same. His mother and
grandmother were certainly older but much the same. Even his rooms had
remained untouched. In truth, the lack of change was disconcerting.
Especially since he wasn’t the same person as the young man who’d
left.
Michael shook off his dark thoughts, not wanting to dwell on what he’d
survived during his years away.
The time had come to turn over a new leaf.
Make a fresh start.
Begin anew.
But doing what?
That answer had yet to come to him. He was accustomed to having a
purpose and though his mother, grandmother, and older brother, Markus,
insisted he take time to relax and enjoy life after his years of duty, having
this much free time was driving him crazy.
As the second son, it had been a natural path for him to enter the
military and one he’d welcomed. He never would’ve guessed that leaving
behind his duties in the army would be quite so challenging. Military life
was far from pleasurable, though perhaps small moments of those days had
been.
The sense of purpose was what he’d appreciated the most. Knowing that
what he did mattered.
Whereas at home, whether he rose from bed each day didn’t. He was
left rudderless on the rolling sea of life.
Michael scoffed at his ridiculous thoughts. He’d started a hobby, hadn’t
he?
Botany was something Markus, his now married brother, the Earl of
Trafford, had suggested. Michael had thought it a promising idea, and his
mother had been thrilled given her love of flowers and gardening.
It was too soon to determine whether he enjoyed the activity. For now, it
held his interest.
He’d been poring through a copy of Principles of Scientific Botany that
Markus had presented to him. At least the text gave him something to read
in the middle of the night when sleep eluded him, as it so often did. There
was still much to learn, and the experiments he was doing would take time
to yield results.
Unfortunately, patience wasn’t one of his strong suits. He hoped his new
hobby might help him gain the virtue.
He walked quickly out of habit rather than need, which tended to startle
For More Read Download This Book
EPUB
