The Unexpected Wife - Jess Michaels Page 0,1

a spinster until the marriage had been arranged with Erasmus Montgomery after the briefest of courtships. Owen had made a picture of her in his head as he rode from London to perform this horrid duty: older than her years, made haggard by life.

The woman before him was not that picture. He caught his breath at how beautiful she was. She was tall and curvaceous, with dark auburn hair, like a fire that was smoldering and waiting to explode. Her eyes were a gray-blue. They held his with question and he thought a bit of hesitance, as if she had already determined that whatever news he came with, it wasn’t good.

That dragged him from the inappropriate study of her beauty and back to reality. He was here to fulfill a duty, not to ogle the widow who didn’t yet know she was a widow.

“Good afternoon—Mr. Gregory, is it?” Lady Hendricks said as she moved toward him. “I do not think we are acquainted, nor that we had an appointment.”

“No on both accounts,” he conceded with a slight bow of his head. “And I apologize for intruding upon your hospitality in such an uncouth way. But I have urgent news for Mrs. Montgomery and I could not stand on propriety, nor wait for an appointment to deliver it.”

Mrs. Montgomery tilted her head and stepped forward. “The housekeeper, Mrs. Blythe, said that you had a message for me about my husband. I cannot imagine what it could be.”

There was a hint of disdain to her tone as she said the word husband that Owen could not help but mark. She had no warm feelings for Erasmus Montgomery, it seemed. He would not ease that tension before this day was through.

“Yes, and why would our dear Mr. Montgomery not come here with the news himself?” Lady Hendricks said, stepping closer and all but cutting off Owen’s view of Mrs. Montgomery. Lady Hendricks had clearly bestowed her daughter with those lovely gray-blue eyes, but the older woman’s version was sharp, narrow, seeking. There was little warmth within.

Owen cleared his throat and side-stepped Lady Hendricks to focus, yet again, on Mrs. Montgomery rather than her mother. “There is no easy way to say this, and I am sorry for the pain it will no doubt cause you. I have come here to…”

He drew a long breath to steady himself for what was to follow.

“Mr. Montgomery is dead, Mrs. Montgomery. And I fear that is not the worst of the news I am bound to bring to you.”

Celeste Montgomery felt the world stop turning in the moments this handsome stranger said those four words. Mr. Montgomery is dead. They hit her square in the chest like a shotgun blast, and she nearly went to her backside in front of the fire before she reached back and steadied herself on the mantel, toppling one of her mother’s little figurines. She saw Lady Hendricks’ eyes narrow at the sight of that unforgiveable indiscretion, even as she shrieked like it was her husband who was dead. Sir Timothy caught her as she slumped into an elegant heap.

Celeste had seen this kind of reaction so many times over the years, she refused to rise to the bait, but she was surprised when Mr. Gregory, the stranger who had just ripped her world out from under her, hardly reacted to it either. He continued watching her, not her mother as she heaved while she “came to” from her fit.

“Mrs. Montgomery, did you hear me?” he asked, stepping closer.

She realized she was still gripping the mantel with all her might, and released it as she stared at him. He was a very handsome man. An odd thing to think about in this moment, but facts were facts. He had brown hair that was a little too long, a well-defined jawline and a mouth that clearly smiled often, though he was certainly not doing so now. His eyes were also very fine, a pale brown that held hers steadily.

“Mrs. Montgomery?” he said again.

She shook herself. “I-I’m sorry,” she said over her mother’s hysterical weeping in the background. “I am shocked. You are telling me that Mr. Montgomery is…dead. Truly? And you are certain it is Erasmus Montgomery?”

He nodded. “I am very certain, I’m afraid.”

“How…when…?” she whispered.

His gaze lit up a fraction, as if she had said something he approved of. “In London…quite suddenly, a few days ago.”

She stepped toward him and her knees gave way unexpectedly. Mr. Gregory lunged forward and caught her