Major Wyclyff's Campaign (A Lady's Lessons, Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

wrong. I am well."
    She shook her head. "They were very clear."
    "They were wrong," he repeated. Then he smiled. "I recovered. Thanks to your promise."
    It took a few more moments of her staring at him, looking at his face, then his leg, then his entire body, but eventually she seemed to accept that he was real. That he was alive. She burst into tears.
    Tender feelings flooded his soul. Reaching out, he gently pulled her into his arms, gathering her close as he stroked her trembling shoulders. "Shhh, my lady," he whispered. "The nightmare is over. I am whole."
    She wrapped her arms around him, tightening their embrace, as if still reassuring herself of his strength. He held her quietly, caressing her arm in long strokes, allowing himself to relish every second of their reunion.
    "I could not have done it alone," he murmured against her hair. "Your promise kept me alive. You gave me hope when nothing else mattered." Her sobs were subsiding now, her body stilling as she began to compose herself. "Oh, Sophia," he whispered as he dropped a gentle kiss on her brow. "I have waited for you forever."
    She raised her head, tilting her face toward him. He helped her move, shifting her to a better position, one that allowed their mouths to touch. To kiss. But before he could claim her lips, she spoke.
    "Promise? What promise?"
    He felt his breath freeze in his body. There it was: the hard reality that Sophia did not remember their engagement. It cut at him more than the sword that had crippled his leg. More than the fever that had ravaged his body. And more than the knowledge that his entire future was now in question.
    But how could he be surprised? Looking at the dirty creature in his arms, he knew she was unbalanced. Her mind was unhinged, perhaps by the very event that had separated her from him in the first place.
    Naturally, he could understand. Upon hearing the false news that her fiance had perished, Sophia's delicate constitution became overbalanced. She was distraught. So much so that she quit the fashionable whirl for a lifetime of mourning in Staffordshire. Now the shock of his recovery was too much for her delicate sensibilities.
    All he needed to do was gently remind her of what had occurred. Of her promise to wed him. Then, her mind would naturally return to the calm demeanor which was its natural state.
    Smiling, he stroked her cheek. "You promised to marry me."
    She pulled free, out of his arms. "I most certainly did not!"
    His empty hands clenched, and his patience began to fray. "In the hospital. When I was ill. You promised to marry me."
    "But you were dying." Again she stared at him, her gaze roving over his body. He waited, allowing her the time to look her fill and assure herself that he was whole.
    "As you can see, I am recovered."
    "Well, I cannot help that," she shot back. Then, suddenly, she pushed up on her feet, straightening enough to tower over him. "In any event, what are you doing here? And how dare you interrupt my ritual!"
    He paused at the abrupt change in her tone, but he reined in his temper. Shock often sent delicate constitutions into strange mood shifts. He gestured to the yawning hole at their fleet. "What is this ritual?"
    She turned to look into the pit, and he caught a flash of reflected torchlight in her eyes. "I was sacrificing... well, you among other things."
    "Me?"
    "Yes! For arranging and planning my life like every other person has tried to do since I came of age! My word, even when you were delirious, you were ordering me to marry you. I had to agree just to silence you." Suddenly, she planted her hands on her hips. "Indeed, I should throw you back in the pit along with the rest of the constrictions and burdens. How dare you ruin my moment of symbolic relief from all of London?"
    "Relief from London? What nonsense is this?" He straightened, ignoring the bolt of agony in his knee, pulling himself tall enough to stare her in the eye. "Besides, you said I created the perfect ending for