A Wild Pursuit Read Online Free PDF Page A

silence sometimes inspired interesting confidences.
    â€œIf she weren’t in my bed,” the countess continued, “who would be there? I think of her as a necessary evil. A nuisance because everyone is so aware of her presence. Along the lines of a bed warmer.”
    Bea choked. She had just discovered why the notoriously proper Countess Godwin was friends with the equally notoriously im proper Lady Rawlings. “A bed warmer?”
    The countess nodded, looking as serene as a dowager discussing a baptism.
    Bea could see her point. If Lady Godwin didn’t want to bed her husband, the opera singer might as well do the chore for her. But all the world knew that Lady Godwin lived in her mother’s house, rather than in her husband’s house on Rothsfeld Square.
    â€œThat’s not equitable,” she pointed out. “You should be able to sleep in your own house. You are married to the man.”
    The countess cast her a sardonic glance. “Have you found that life is fair to females, then, Lady Beatrix? I think we would both sum it up as deplorable.”
    Until then, Bea hadn’t been quite sure whether the countess remembered her scandalous past. “I don’t consider my situation a deplorable one.”
    â€œIf my memory serves, you were caught in an indiscretion with Sandhurst. His reputation was untouched by the scandal; yours was ruined. You were forced out of your childhood home, and”—she paused, looking for the right word—“ostracized by a great many people you once knew.”
    â€œBut I didn’t want to marry Sandhurst,” Bea pointed out. “Had I married the man, I suppose it would have all blown over. I refused him.”
    â€œI admit, I thought the offer had not been made,” the countess admitted. Then, after a moment, she added, “Why didn’t you wish to marry him?”
    â€œI didn’t like him very much.”
    The countess swirled her sherry, then drank it in one gulp. “You are wiser by far than I, Lady Beatrix. I didn’t discover a similar dislike until I was already married.”
    Bea smiled at her. “They should outlaw Gretna Green weddings, perhaps.”
    â€œPerhaps. Do you really think that you’ll never marry?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œAnd did you always feel that way?”
    Presumably the countess knew as well as Bea did that no respectable man would wish to marry a person like her. Bea didn’t say anything.
    â€œOf course you thought to marry,” the countess said to herself. “Otherwise, you never would have refused Sandhurst’s offer. I’m sorry.”
    Bea shrugged. “This is a case where dreams have been supplanted by reality. I could not tolerate a husband such as yours, my lady. I’d probably take to him with a blunt instrument. Truly, I am better off in my position.”
    Lady Godwin was grinning. Bea was surprised to find how enlivened her face was by humor. She didn’t look boringly medieval anymore, but sparkling and quite lovely, in a slender kind of way.
    â€œAnd just what would you do to my husband?” she asked with some curiosity. “And by the way, you must call me Helene. This is one of the most intimate conversations I’ve ever had with a complete stranger, after all.” In fact, Helene was surprised at herself. There was something about Beatrix Lennox, some sort of mischievous sparkle, that reminded her of Esme. Which must explain why she, Helene, was being so uncharacteristically indiscreet.
    â€œI would love to, as long as you call me Bea. I gather that you do not wish for your husband to…play an active role in your life,” Bea said, trying for a delicate tone. Subtlety wasn’t exactly her strong point.
    Helene laughed, a short, rather bristly laugh. “No.”
    â€œI would make him sorry, then. I would make him very, very sorry that he ever thought to leave my bed. At the same time that I made