(Midwinter Manor)Poacher's Fall (7 page)

Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;

Two hundred to adore each breast,

But thirty thousand to the rest;

An age at least to every part,

And the last age should show your heart.

For, lady, you deserve this state,

Nor would I love at lower rate.

But at my back I always hear

Time’s winged chariot hurrying near;

And yonder all before us lie

Deserts of vast eternity.

Thy beauty shall no more be found,

Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound

My echoing song; then worms shall try

That long preserv’d virginity,

And your quaint honour turn to dust,

And into ashes all my lust.

The grave’s a fine and private place,

But none I think do there embrace.

Now therefore, while the youthful hue

Sits on thy skin like morning dew,

And while thy willing soul transpires

At every pore with instant fires,

Now let us sport us while we may;

And now, like am’rous birds of prey,

Rather at once our time devour,

Than languish in his slow-chapp’d power.

Let us roll all our strength, and all

Our sweetness, up into one ball;

And tear our pleasures with rough strife

Thorough the iron gates of life.

Thus, though we cannot make our sun

Stand still, yet we will make him run.

“To his Coy Mistress”
by Andrew Marvell

Other lines are taken from “The Garden” by Andrew Marvell and
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens.

About the Author

JL M
ERROW
is that rare beast, an English person who refuses to drink tea. She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again.

Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne.

She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance and the paranormal, and is frequently accused of humor. Her novella
Muscling Through
is a 2013 EPIC ebook Award finalist. JL Merrow is a member of the UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet organizing team.

Find JL Merrow online at: www.jlmerrow.com, on Twitter as @jlmerrow, and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ jl.merrow.

By JL M
ERROW

M
IDWINTER
M
ANOR
S
ERIES

Poacher’s Fall

Keeper’s Pledge

N
OVELLAS

Dulce et Decorum Est

Snared

Published by D
REAMSPINNER
P
RESS

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

M
IDWINTER
M
ANOR
S
ERIES
Book Two

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

More Historical Romance by
JL M
ERROW

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Paranormal Romance by
JL M
ERROW

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Copyright

Poacher’s Fall ©Copyright JL Merrow, 2013

Published by

Dreamspinner Press

5032 Capital Circle SW

Ste 2, PMB# 279

Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886  USA

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover Art by L.C. Chase

http://www.lcchase.com

This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the Publisher. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press at: 5032 Capital Circle SW Ste 2, PMB# 279  Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

Released in the United States of America

January 2013

Previously published as short story Pleasures With Rough Strife in December 2009 by Dreamspinner Press.

eBook Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-62380-327-8

Table of Contents

Title page

About the Author

Midwinter Manor Series Book Two

More Historical Romance by JL Merrow

Paranormal Romance by JL Merrow

Copyright