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

your ritual."
    "That was before I knew you were you!" she snapped. "Now I shall have to do an entirely new ritual with new corsets. And whalebone is terribly expensive, you know."
    He stared at her, and suddenly his temper broke. "This is insane!" he bellowed.
    "It is not!" she yelled back. "It is symbolic, and I believe you should have to buy the corsets."
    He reared back. "What?"
    "You are the one who ruined this experience. It is either a whole new ritual or you shall have to throw yourself back into the hole. Your choice." She folded her arms across her chest as if daring him to deny her.
    "I will not throw myself into your pit—"
    "Your effigy, then."
    "Absolutely not! And I will not buy you corsets. Not yet, at least. What I will do is marry you, then buy you new corsets; then I shall take you to London before we leave for India!" The words were out before he could stop them, but once said, he did not regret them. Perhaps this was no way to tell a lady they would marry, but then again, a lady did not bury innocent furniture in the middle of the night!
    Unfortunately, as the silence stretched between them, he realized that perhaps this was not the most ideal circumstance to reunite with Sophia. Especially as he was beginning to glimpse her stubborn streak. It was possible that she would be stubborn enough to cry off their engagement just to spite him.
    In fact, the more she stared at him, her mouth sagging open in shock, the more he believed he might have erred. At last she drew back, smoothing her muddy dress as if it were the most costly of court gowns.
    The motions reassured him. For the first time since this whole bizarre episode began, he recognized the Sophia he knew—despite her attire. She was cool, composed, and almost regal as she looked down at him and smiled.
    "I do not wish for any new corsets."
    And with that, she strode away, head held high, stomping most effectively on her small, bare feet.
    He watched her go, doing nothing to stop her. He was in too ill a temper to continue their conversation. And she was obviously not in an appropriate frame of mind.
    He instead busied himself with filling in her pit. It didn't take long. He moved quickly, doing the minimum necessary to ensure any wandering strangers were safe from her handiwork. Then he mounted Demon and rode toward the Rathburn home.
    It was not far to her house, and he saw her immediately, but he did not detain her. He merely wished to make sure she returned home safely. And as he watched the moonlight wash her silhouette with silver, he could not restrain a smile.
    She was magnificent. Her body was tall and slim, her carriage graceful. She was a true aristocrat, her blood nearly as blue as that of the Regent himself. Even when tiptoeing back to her manor door on bare feet, he could see the pride in her movements, the generations of breeding.
    Tonight's episode he excused as merely a temporary female aberration. After all, she had just completed her fifth London Season. She had thought her fiance dead and was now facing a lifetime spent on the shelf as too old to be marriageable. A woman on the verge of spinsterhood would certainly undergo enormous emotional distress. Her actions tonight were merely a symptom of her fears.
    She was perhaps only now realizing that her worries were at an end. He still intended to marry her, despite tonight's show of temper. Then he planned to spend the rest of his life caring for her.
    The thought gave him so much pleasure that he whistled all the way back to his room at the inn.
    * * *
    The following morning, Sophia stared at her drawer of unmentionables and frowned. They were all gone. All her stiff corsets, itchy underclothes, and even her walking boots. All buried.
    Which was exactly as she had intended. Until the major had shown up, of course, and ruined the entire thing. Now she wanted to repeat last night's ritual, except that she had nothing worthy of burying. She actually liked everything that remained.
    She