Kathryn Smith - [Friends 03] Read Online Free PDF Page A

him. What would he degrade himself to next?
    "You may demand all you want, my lord, but I am mistress here and my demands are the only ones that matter."
    Ah, this was the Sophia he knew. That woman who treated him like a polite stranger was just that, a stranger. This woman, the one with eyes that glittered like the night sky and fists clenched at her sides, was the woman he had once wanted so badly he ached for her.
    This ache he felt now was just a reminder of that, nothing more.
    "And what would you have me do, Lady Aberley?" he demanded, gesturing with his hands the way he always did when his temper ran away with him. "Sit by your fire and make small talk while my sister manipulates us both?"
    Some of the tension seemed to leave her as she listened to his words. "I think you should indeed sit by my fire, Lord Wolfram, if for no other reason than to dry your clothes so you do not end up with an ague and under my roof for longer than either of us would care to suffer through."
    What a sharp-tongued little viper she was! But he had always known that. The sting of her words was heightened by the annoying fact that she was right.
    Crossing the sagging floor to the fire, Julian seated himself in an incredibly ugly chair whose black, brown and orange pattern could only be enhanced by any stain his wet clothing might leave behind.
    Sophia followed, keeping as much distance between them as was possible. This arrangement suited Julian just fine, until he noticed how she hugged her shawl around her shoulders.
    "Come sit where it is warm," he instructed. "I promise not to bite." Not yet, at any rate.
    She surprised him by taking the chair across from him. "You should take your boots off so they will dry faster."
    She was right, of course, and Julian complied without speaking. He set the battered Hessians on their sides, with the tops facing the fire so the insides would dry quickly.
    Turning his chair to directly face the fire, he propped his feet up on the ottoman that matched his homely seat and sighed as the fire set about driving the chill from his bones.
    They sat in a silence that was eerily comfortable. Occasionally rain spattered down the chimney, drawing a sharp hiss out of the fire, but other than that there was no other hint of aggression in the room. It was as though Letitia, and the fact that they were both cold, had formed some kind of truce between them.
    Refusing to allow himself to be lulled by this feeling of contentment, Julian took the opportunity to study his surroundings, looking to find some indication that Sophia was the harridan he wanted her to be. He found very little. What he did find piqued his curiosity.
    Sophia lived in the dowager house on her late husband's estate, as was proper, but her abode was not what he expected. Instead of the rich opulence he equated with Sophia, he found comfortable yet shabby furnishings, wallpaper several decades out of date and floors in need of refinishing. Even Sophia herself, as lovely as she was, wore a gown that could hardly be described as the height of fashion, although it would have been, last year or the year before. Why?
    Her husband had been a wealthy man. Surely he had left his widow enough blunt to live properly? Her circumstances couldn't possibly be this reduced, could they?
    It was none of his business. As soon as he and Letitia were able to leave, he would put as much distance as possible between himself and Sophia Morelle, and then he would do everything in his power to forget having seen her again.
    And to forget that, as of this moment, it was almost nice to be with her.
    "If there is going to be much of a delay in repairing my carriage, might it be possible for me to beg loan of one of yours?" he asked, wiggling his toes in front of the fire. His stockings were almost dry.
    "You will have to inquire at the great house, I am afraid, my lord," she replied softly. "There are no stables here."
    Horses weren't a problem. He had horses. "All I need is a