His Christmas Nymph Read Online Free PDF Page B

drew her glove off, and raised her hand to his lips, pausing, he eyed her hand with a frown. “These are not the hands of a lady. You’ve been worked too hard, Caroline. You need to be saved from such a dreadful life. Accepting my offer of marriage has done that for you. As my wife you will never have to do another minute of menial labor.”
    He lowered his lips to her hand. The feeling of his warm lips against her skin gave her a start. She let out a little sigh as his lips kissed her hand and then he gently put her glove back on.
    Life with him would be comparably better than life with Gertrude. Marrying him wasn’t her only option. Her aunt would welcome her in Boston but if she did take her up on that or if she asked her aunt to come here to debut her in London, she would still feel beholden to her aunt and her aunt’s husband, and like her father, she was loathe to do that.
    Not that her aunt would expect her to repay her, she knew she wouldn’t. Her husband , on the other hand—was another story. Marrying the duke would free her from such a bothersome weight on her conscience.
    Caroline smiled as she turned away from him, and had a bit of skip in her step as his dogs shadowed her. As they approached the sight of her house, she heard the duke whistle and the dogs barked and ran back to him.
    As she turned into the lane that led up to Banbury House, she saw the figure of her father. He walked briskly to meet her. His eyes were wild with fear and was that anger?
    “I’ve worried myself half to death about you, Caroline. Where were you, child? Did I hear dogs barking? Surely, Mrs. Finch wasn’t selfish enough to keep you that long, I was about to set out after you! It’s almost dark, you could have been hurt—you could have been killed!”
    “I am sorry for worrying you, Papa. I confess, I forgot the time. I was sitting reading in the Greek Temple Folly on the stately grounds up at Whitney Park. I’m ever so sorry. Pray forgive me,” she said earnestly.
    His severe expression melted, and he brought her in close for a hug. “I couldn’t bear to lose you, Caroline,” he whispered against her ear. “Pray don’t scare me so much again. I want to know you are safe at all times, do you hear me?”
    She could hear the furious beating of his heart as her head was pressed against his chest. “Yes, Papa,” she mumbled.
    True to his word, his heart was racing. He had actually been concerned about her. The thought thrilled her to her core. After he married Gertrude, she’d almost believed that he’d lost his love for her as their relationship had become distant in the last year or so.
    “Gertrude is beside herself. I made her hold dinner for you.”
    “I don’t want any dinner, Papa. I want to go to my room and retire to bed early. I’m not hungry at all.”
    “You can’t starve yourself, my dear. You are getting frightfully thin.”
    “You only think I’m getting frightfully thin because of the way that Gertrude tucks into her meals. She eats with such gusto, it’s as if she’s been lost in the desert for days.”
    “I will allow you the pleasure of avoiding Gertrude’s company this night. You must somehow find a way to get along with her, Caroline.”
    She got her back up at that statement. “It is not that I can’t get along with Gertrude, Papa. She doesn’t like me. She hasn’t liked me since she became your wife. Her daughters despised me as well. She has made it her mission in life to make my life miserable. I am sorry that I lack the qualities that Gertrude holds dear, but she and I will never be good friends. She wants to rule my life, and she doesn’t have that right.”
    He sighed heavily as if he didn’t want to have this particular battle tonight.
    “You go and retire to your bed. I will ask Sally to bring you up some food later after we have our tea.”
    “You don’t have to do that, I’ll be fine.”
    “I’ll have her bring you up some tea, muffins and some of that damson plum