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Surprise.
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2021-02-28 22:31:57Jasper legged it up to the studio. He slammed the door behind him and threw himself onto the red velvet couch. It was old and falling to bits, but it was where he thought things through, and right now, he had a great deal to think about.
The past week had been a nightmare; it certainly wasn't how he had expected things to go with Ellie. Now she had this mad idea that he didn't love her and thought he was playing with her. Well, it wasn't right. He loved so many things about her; the way she looked and how she dressed; she would never wear dresses like Georgie; thank God, Ellie was far more conservative, and she left a lot more to the imagination.
He loved her innocence not just in the bedroom but in other ways. He loved the way she always looked for the best in people; even after her first run-in with Tom months ago, she had said that it was just the w
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Jasper knew he had to get this over with. It was quite clear this awful woman wasn't going to go quietly. He looked at the mug of tea in his hand; Ellie's mug, her unique mug she always used for her tea. She said tea always tasted better out of bone china. He loved her little quips and foibles; she made him laugh with the silly things she said sometimes. It was all part of her innocence and why he loved her. He looked up again at the woman in front of him; her perfect figure was dressed in Chanel. Her face immaculately made up, elegant cheekbones and soft pink shimmering pouting lips. He shuddered inside."Let me take this, and I'll be back," he said, not waiting to answer as he went up the stairs. He stood outside the study door, taking breaths, trying to slow his heartbeat down. He gulped and opened the door."Here you go, love." He said to Ellie, "You might get something worthwhile out of her when she has had her tea." he told Molly."Oh, you are an angel." Ellie s
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Ellie picked the phone up; she was a bit nervous about calling Veronica. Jasper hadn't said anything other than that; she suddenly received a call and had to dash off. Ellie hoped everything was ok, and that Gracie was fine. Knowing Veronica, though, she must have come for a reason, that woman didn't do anything by halves.Ellie pressed Veronica's name and waited for her to answer. "Yes, Ellie?" Veronica's voice sounded sharp as if Ellie had done something wrong."Roni, are you ok? Jasper said, you had a call and had to dash off. I hope everything is alright? Is Gracie ok?"There was a few seconds of silence while Veronica registered that Jasper had kept his mouth shut about her demands. Did she wonder why? Indeed if she was him, the first thing he would have told Ellie was that her sister in law was a demanding bitch."I'm fine, er… yeah sorry I had to go, it was nothing important, and Gracie is fine.""Oh, that's good," Ellie said, feeling rel
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The police were quick to respond to Jasper's call, and they arrived at the house before Jasper got back. They were waiting for them in the sitting room. Rosslyn and Kylie were holding the fort, serving coffee and comforting Ellie's mum. Veronica was talking to Gracie, and they were looking after Suki.Kylie heard the front door slam and feet pounding up the stairs. She was so glad that Richie was back. She had held it together so far, but she had this awful feeling that some of this was her fault. She had been Grant'sgirlfriend, and if she hadn't left him for Richie, maybe this might not havehappened. She wanted to be held and comforted, wanted to pour outall her misgivings seek consolation.
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Kylie ran down the road. She could see the top of Grant's hoodie in the distance. He was walking faster than usual, and there were a few people in between them. A group of about five Asian tourists were right in front of her, then a gap and a couple pushing a child in a buggy, then one chap with a briefcase and then Grant. Kylie was about to move past the tourists when she felt a hand on her arm."Just hang on; you don't want him to see you if he looks this way." Sandra White said. "We're ok here. Have you any idea where he's going?"Kylie shook her head. "No, as far as I know, he's never lived round here. I once saw him here before, on the day that I made friends with Ellie when Suki fell over. We were crossing the road, and he was tagging onto a bunch of tourists walking past their house." "So what do you think he's doing over here?""I have no idea, watching Jasper, I expect, he wouldn't have any idea that Suki or I would be here." Grant turned his head
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Francis Braxton glanced around the sitting room; everyone had gone down to the kitchen to make a meal for Ellie when she got back.There was just Rosslyn standing over by the windows watching for her son's car. Francis went to stand next to her."They shouldn't be too long, not in that car anyway."Rosslyn turned to look behind her and, seeing that everyone had vanished, sneaked her hand into his. Francis squeezed it gently."Everything will be alright now, my love. Don't worry. Ellie is a strong girl, and Jasper has everything sorted."Oh, I do hope so." She held his hand up against her heart. "As soon as this wedding is over, my love, we are going to tell them about us. Jasper will be married, and he will want to live at the manor, especially when children come along. It's their turn to look after it all now, Ellie will be the duchess, and we can go and live in the Dower house and do our own thing. ""I'm sure it will all be fine, darling. I'm surpris
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Before Jasper could reply, Francis jumped in. "Maybe you should introduce your new wife and duchess to your committee's. I think only the mayor was invited to the wedding, so making a special point of taking Ellie, it would be a treat for them, get them on your side too, I dare say." Francis smiled, "I'm sure even Mrs Troutbridge would get the idea that you are very happy newly-weds if you turned up together.""Oh, what a good idea, kill two birds with one stone." Rosslyn said meaningfully, "Now who wants pudding?"Ellie watched Lotte purse her lips together in annoyance. She would thank Francis later for his timely intervention."I'll help Mary with the clearing up," Ellie said as the rest of them went back up to the drawing-room with their coffee.Lottie looked cheerful at having Jasper to herself for a while, "Where are all the staff? I remember when there were lots of staff here.""We still have lots of staff, but they are allowed time off, espec
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"Ellie, come and get warm," Rosslyn said, getting up to greet her. She put her arms around her daughter in law and gave her a hug, "Goodness, you're frozen. Come and sit here next to the fire. Jasper, be love and make some more tea. I think Mary has gone for her afternoon nap, and Francis is sorting something out for me."Jasper glanced at Ellie. He knew she'd been crying. Why the hell did she think he didn't want her? She was the one who had disappeared from their bed, not him. He went down to the kitchen to make the tea and was determined to get this sorted out before bedtime.Jasper could hear the landline phone ringing just as he got to the drawing-room door with the tray of tea, and as he opened the door, he listened to his mother talking sympathetically."Of course you must come. You certainly can't stay in a frozen and darkened house over Christmas. No, of course, he won't mind. I'm sure he would love to see you." Rosslyn listened for a few moments. "
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It was the day before Christmas Eve, and the past two weeks had been the worst of Ellie's life. She and Jasper had said only about a dozen words to each other since their friends had been to see them on that fateful afternoon. The only good thing about this dreadful performance was that Jasper was sleeping in his dressing room, which meant that she could at least get up and be sick if she felt like it without hiding it from him. However, Ellie was sure he would be more impressed if she were pregnant with a herd of elephants rather than with his child. He was furious that she had gone behind his back and sent that text to Ronnie, but this was her family, and she cared a great deal about Gareth.They had not shared a bed for almost two weeks, and this so hurt Ellie. It had only come about by accident, and now neither of them would give in to the other. They were just as stubborn as each other.
