After the Abduction Read Online Free PDF Page A

beauty, a golden angel with graceful curves and rich, honeyed hair. But now…
    Had it been only two years since she’d offered him those shy, naive smiles that had posed such a threat to his peace of mind?
    Devil take his peace of mind. She now posed a threat to something weightier—his estate and tenants, his brother’s future, his very own life. If her brother-in-law was as bent on revenge as he seemed, he could shatter everything, so Sebastian must play this out very carefully.
    Knighton was still explaining how “Morgan” had behaved in the final moments, when there came a knock at the door.
    “That must be the tea,” Uncle Lew remarked as he bade the servant to enter. “How timely. After a tale like that, I’ve got the shivers.”
    Sebastian glared at his gloating uncle, but everyone else merely watched in silence while the maid brought in the tray.
    “That’ll be all, Mary,” Sebastian said curtly.
    The maid bobbed her head and hurried off, as timid around him as his maidservants always were.
    Even after she left, no one touched the tea tray. Sebastian fixed Griff with a stony look. He wanted one particular point repeated for his deuced uncle’s sake. “You say that ‘Morgan’ did the right thing in the end. That after he gained this information he wanted, he refused to hand her over, but instead helped her escape the smugglers, thus thwarting their plans to get a ransom from you.”
    Knighton whisked a hand in the air dismissively. “Yes, but the damage was done. He’d carried Juliet alone with him over half of England day and night, if you take my meaning.”
    Sebastian certainly did, and if he was implying such an abominable thing, then Juliet had lied to the man, blast her!
    “He stole her maidenhead?” Uncle Lew’s smug humor vanished as he frowned at Sebastian.
    “No!” A wild blush stained Juliet’s cheeks. “No, he did not.”
    Sebastian’s anger ebbed. Ah, so she hadn’t lied. Thank God. He’d have a hard time explaining that to Uncle Lew.
    “But she was compromised all the same,” Knighton went on with fierce determination. “Worse yet, her other sister, Helena, and my man of affairs had gone after her and were taken by the smugglers as well. It was only through their efforts that the smugglers were completely routed. Morgan, however, vanished in the final battle.”
    “After seeing Juliet safe,” Sebastian put in.
    Knighton glared at him. “Yes—or as safe as a compromised woman can be.”
    Sebastian stifled a curse. What was this? He’d kept track of what happened after the “elopement,” and he knew she’d not been hurt by it. “So her elopement was found out, and her reputation ruined?”
    “Not at first. Since my sister-in-law Helena had wisely kept the elopement secret, my wife and I were able to preserve Juliet’s reputation upon her return.” He scowled. “Until recently, that is.”
    What the devil—

    Juliet fixed him with a blistering look. “Rumors about the elopement have surfaced in town, and the only person who knows enough to spread them is Morgan. That’s why we’re here. We want it stopped.”
    “I’m sure you do.” Sebastian leaned back, catching up the stained hunk of India rubber upon which he sometimes released his frustrations. Kneading it between leather-gloved fingers, he shook his head. “But I told you—Morgan went down with the Oceana. Someone else must have started the rumors.”
    “Isn’t it possible Morgan returned to England without your knowing?” Knighton persisted. “That he wasn’t on that ship when it went down?”
    “Even if my nephew had returned,” Uncle Lew put in, “he would never behave so abominably.” Uncle Lew might disapprove of Sebastian’s actions, but he was nonetheless loyal.
    “Morgan kidnapped her,” Knighton said dryly. “I don’t see why he’d balk at a little gossip.”
    Weren’t any of them listening, blast it? “I tell you—he’s dead,” Sebastian maintained. “So he can’t be