The Kiss of a Stranger

The Kiss of a Stranger Read Free Page B

Book: The Kiss of a Stranger Read Free
Author: Sarah M. Eden
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supposed.
    “Then would you mind telling me what it is? Or shall I wait to see it written out on the marriage license? Better yet, I’ll guess.” He made a face clearly intended to indicate deep pondering.
    “Catherine.”
    “That would have been my first guess.”
    “Really?” She didn’t believe a word of it.
    Crispin looked surprised but amused. She really needed to rein in her tongue before she pushed him too far. Uncle rarely put up with cheek—she doubted Crispin would, either.
    The door flew open, and Uncle marched in with the dyspeptic-looking vicar at his side. Two other men, obviously of the local gentry, followed close on their heels. Catherine lowered her eyes back to the floor. She heard the sound of paper being slapped onto the desk.
    “I’d prefer to dispense with the ceremony and just sign the bloody thing.” Uncle really was going to force them to do this.
    Catherine repeated Crispin’s reassurances. The marriage would be annulled, whatever that entailed. Everything would be set to rights. She would be back under Uncle’s thumb—not as reassuring a thought as she might have hoped for.
    “’Twouldn’t be legal without the ceremony.” The whiny voice could only be the vicar’s.
    “Very well,” Uncle spat.
    Crispin didn’t offer any verbal agreement nor argument. Catherine heard the scratching of a quill on parchment.
    “Miss Thorndale, you sign here,” the vicar said.
    Catherine summoned what dignity she could and strode to the desk. The vicar’s bony finger indicated the spot where her signature belonged. She took the quill in hand and steadied her breath. She felt an inexplicable need to look at Crispin, to see some kind of reassurance in his face. Any expression short of complete disgust or utter panic would be more than welcome.
    She glanced as covertly as possible. Their eyes met and she knew somehow that he understood her hesitation. He nodded calmly.
    “Sign,” Uncle snapped.
    Willing her hand to not shake, she wrote neatly across the line Catherine Adelaide Thorndale . She couldn’t even make out Crispin’s signature. That seemed the way with men—indiscernible on so many levels.
    “Get on with it, Vicar,” Uncle ordered.
    The ceremony, though everything that was legally required, proved quick, cold, and unfeeling. If Catherine hadn’t listened closely, she might have entirely missed the fact that she and Crispin had just been pronounced man and wife.
    Temporarily, she told herself.
    Uncle waved over the maid, still loyally stationed at the window. She arrived in a swish of drab, colorless skirts, not unlike the ones Catherine herself wore. “Have Lady Cavratt’s trunk brought from her previous room.”
    The woman looked thoroughly bemused. “Whose?” she asked.
    Uncle flicked his hand in Catherine’s direction. “Lady Cavratt.”
    Realization struck. She was Lady Cavratt. Catherine stole a look at Crispin, who stood in private conversation with the vicar. When the sour-faced man took his leave and Crispin turned to face her and Uncle, his eyes snapped with barely controlled temper. Catherine instinctively shrunk back.
    “Now, Cavratt.” Uncle addressed him in his usual self-assured manner. “I’d like a few moments with my niece.”
    Crispin offered a half bow and turned to go. Catherine felt her legs begin to tremble beneath her. She always avoided being alone with her uncle, especially when his mood was antagonistic.
    “I am certain I don’t need to remind you that your niece is now my wife.”
    Uncle nodded, though he looked a bit confused.
    “Whatever you wish to say to her, you can say in my presence. I will stand across the room if you wish for greater privacy, but I will not leave her alone with you.”
    “You wish to eavesdrop on a private conversation?”
    “I wish to make perfectly sure she comes to no further harm at your hands.”
    Catherine stared in shock. Was he protecting her? Why? She’d been anticipating a thorough lashing for this

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