A Chance Encounter Read Online Free PDF Page B

am at last cognizant of the grave disservice that I have done you this evening,” he said gravely. He reached across the table to take her hand.
    Joan felt her pulse begin to hammer in her throat. She had not often had such attention paid to her, and it was disconcerting.
    “I hope that you may find it in your heart to forgive me, ma’am,” he said.
    Joan felt tears start to her eyes. She blinked once or twice to clear her sight. So as not to give offense, she ever so gently withdrew her fingers from his light clasp. She knew that it was silly to think so, but when his lordship regarded her just so, with that steady quiet in his eyes, and she felt the warmth of his hand about hers, she could almost believe that he actually cared something for her.
    She attempted to make light of the startling things she was feeling. “It has been a rare experience, indeed, my lord. Of course I must forgive you. You have obviously not been quite yourself,” she said.
    “You are kind, Miss Chadwick, kinder than I deserve,” Lord Humphrey said with a twisted smile. He settled back in his chair, his gaze still on her quiet expression.
    “I was drunk as a wheelbarrow and I suspect a bit mad as well. I can offer no further excuse for my outrageous conduct. That is done with and cannot be recalled. But the consequences are not,” he said. “I have brought ruin upon your head, Miss Chadwick, and for that there can be only one solution. Miss Chadwick, I am obliged to wed you and I hold myself ready to do so at your earliest convenience.”
    Joan was at once amazed and dismayed, most especially at the sudden leap of her heart into her throat. She stared at the viscount, searching his face for sign of inebriation, but his expression, though frowning, was sincere and his gaze clear and steady.
    At last she found her voice. “My lord, we have already discussed this very topic to exhaustion. You have a duty toward Miss Ratcliffe, as you have admitted to me. I do not think the case altered to any degree and—”
    “On the contrary, Miss Chadwick,” interrupted Lord Humphrey. “Before, you were perfectly correct in your argument. Also, your advice to me that I should not wed the first female to cross my path in order to escape an obligation that I disclosed to you to be an onerous one was quite pertinent at the time. You see, I recall perfectly every word of our conversation. A pity that I did not heed you.’’ He laughed but with little real amusement. “My judgment was clouded, Miss Chadwick. I knew only that I wished to escape and you were fortuitously at hand to serve the purpose.”
    “My lord—”
    He brushed aside her attempt to interrupt him. “I see now that I acted in an utterly selfish manner, without regard to anyone’s wishes but my own, with the result that I have placed myself under a deeper obligation and one that most closely speaks to my honor.”
    Joan felt her heart beating very fast. “And what is that exactly, my lord?” she asked in a low voice. Her fingers were trembling and she clasped her hands firmly in her lap where the tremor could not be seen.
    Lord Humphrey filled his wineglass. He set aside the bottle and picked up the glass between his long fingers. Swirling the dark wine, he frowned down into it. “You have already spent several hours alone in my company, ma’am. Surely you must realize what that means in the eyes of the world.’’
    He looked up to meet her eyes and he saw that she did know. He said quietly, “I cannot allow you to bear the dishonor that would be yours were I simply to return you to your friends in the middle of the night, without acceptable explanation. I doubt very much that your friends would be as understanding as you or I would wish.”
    Miss Chadwick knew that what his lordship said was true. She could not explain away the lost hours. Even if she was believed by the Percys, there would always be that stray doubt that must cloud their perception of her.
    Her reputation would