The Forbidden Lord Read Free Page A

all that nonsense about my reputation being undeserved?”
    “Of course I meant it.” She seemed bewildered by his reaction. “Why would you think otherwise?”
    He stretched an arm out along the seat back. Surely the woman couldn’t be so naive, given what she’d heard of him. “Because when a beautiful widow defends me in my hearing, she generally means to impress me.”
    “A widow? You think I’m a widow?” Flipping out her fan, she worked it in agitated motions. “Oh, dear, so that’s why you came along with me so easily. Because you thought…I mean, you assumed—”
    “That you were a widow eager for a little company. Yes.” A sense of impending doom descended on him. “Tell me I wasn’t mistaken.”
    “But you were! This is all a terrible error! I’m not a widow. I’m in mourning for my mother, who died last year.”
    The sense of doom roared in his head. She wasn’ta widow. She was probably some squire’s virginal daughter. And he’d carried her off in his carriage without regard for who might see them.
    No, he couldn’t be that stupid. “You’re joking. This is some sort of game.”
    “Not at all! I’m telling the truth!”
    “Am I to understand that you’re unmarried?” His stomach began to churn.
    Her head bobbed furiously.
    “And pure as the driven snow, I suppose.” Anger exploded in his brain. How could he have acted so heedlessly? “You’re right, madam. This is indeed a terrible error.”
    “You must take me back at once, now that you see I’m not the sort of woman you thought. The longer you keep me out here, the more my reputation suffers. Besides, my cousin will be looking for me.”
    That brought him up short. Her cousin would be looking for her. And who else; her eager father? Her scheming aunt? What if she’d lied about mistaking him for her cousin? Overzealous mamas had laid traps for him before. It was one reason he’d always given a wide berth to unmarried young women.
    And what about the way she’d defended him so adamantly? What young woman would have done so if not to make an impression upon him? She must have known he was eavesdropping. She hadn’t acted at all surprised to find him standing there.
    Cold anger settled in his gut like a bad meal. “I suspect your cousin knows exactly where you are right now.”
    She dropped her fan into her lap. “What do you mean?”
    He interpreted her wary expression as more indication of her guilt. “You know exactly what I mean. This was all a little plot, wasn’t it? If I return to the ball, I’ll find a host of people awaiting us, ready to force me into ‘fixing’ my indiscretion. Well, let me tell you something. If you think I shall let some clever virgin trap me into marriage—”
    “Trap you into marriage! You don’t think that I…that this…” She sputtered to a halt, then drew a shaky breath. “You think I purposely did this? Made you take me out in a carriage unchaperoned at the risk to my reputation?”
    “What else am I to think? You defended me when you surely realized I was standing there listening. All that nonsense about mistaking me for your cousin—”
    “Why, you insolent, presuming blackguard! I see that I misjudged Sophie’s information entirely! Obviously, you know only one sort of woman, which explains why you don’t recognize a decent woman when you meet one!”
    “Oh, I recognize decent women quite well,” he snapped, his ancient fear rearing its ugly head. “They play games like this to catch themselves prominent, rich husbands. They want money, position, and the chance to run a man’s life into the ground, and they’ll use anything to get it.”
    When she gave a choked gasp, he added with deliberate coarseness, “Indecent women, on the other hand, are honest in what they expect for the pleasures they provide. They’re easy to manage, take little time away from important pursuits, and don’t ask for more than a man can give. Oh, yes, I recognize the difference. And I