Never Less Than a Lady Read Online Free PDF

best. I assumed my father would pick me a good husband.” Her smile was wintry. “My betrothed was young and good-looking and charming. I was quite pleased.”
    “But…?”
    “My handsome, wellborn, eminently suitable husband was a monster.” Though her voice was flat, her body betrayed her by shuddering.
    Making an informed guess, Randall said, “Violent and abusive?”
    “Yes.” She pulled even further into herself.
    Randall clamped down on his rage at that unknown husband. “Did you have to kill him to save your own life?”
    Wearily she brushed a wisp of soft chestnut hair from her face. “At first, the violence was rare and he would apologize very earnestly. But the marriage went from bad to worse. He was jealous and accused me of wanting to lie with every man I met, so he kept me in the country and made sure I had only female servants. Gradually I realized that hurting me aroused him.” Her voice broke. “How was I to know how to deal with such a man? I was a child, raised to be dutiful!”
    “It is not a woman’s duty to allow a man to hurt her.” Now Randall understood why she was so self-effacing, and why she flinched every time he came near her. She didn’t trust men, and justly so. “How did it end?”
    “After about a year, I found that I was with child. I prayed for a boy so my husband would have his heir, and told him I wanted to live apart until after the birth.” Her gray eyes were stark. “He went berserk. He swore he’d never let me go, that I belonged to him, all while giving me the worst beating yet. I was sure he was going to kill me. I shoved him while frantically trying to get away from his riding whip. He had been drinking and his balance was off. He…he fell and smashed his head into the edge of the fireplace. He died instantly, I think.”
    Randall winced. A riding whip? “So it wasn’t murder, but an accident that happened when you were defending yourself.” He forced his voice to stay level. If he allowed his anger to show, she might bolt into the night. “And the child?”
    “I miscarried that same night.” Her breathing was swift and ragged. “My husband kicked me. Repeatedly.”
    He winced again. He would give a great deal to draw her into his arms to offer comfort, but he doubted she could bear a man’s touch at the moment. “How in the name of heaven could anyone accuse you of murder under such circumstances?”
    “Crockett, the man who kidnapped me, was my husband’s companion and acolyte. They had a strange, intense relationship.” She gazed at the fire, her expression remote. “Crockett was the one who found my husband’s body, with me bleeding beside it. He acted swiftly to cover up what happened so there would be no scandal.”
    “So no one knew the real story?”
    “There was an inquest. The official verdict was death by misadventure, but Crockett told my father-in-law I’d murdered his son. Naturally he was devastated by the death of his only son. He had to blame someone, so he blamed me. Ever since that day, he has wanted me dead.”
    “He was the one who arranged your kidnapping?”
    “Yes.” She closed her eyes briefly. “I don’t know what he had planned for me, but I doubt I would have survived.”
    Randall thought about what she had said, and what had not been said. “Surely your own family is powerful. Couldn’t they offer you protection?”
    She laughed, unable to control her bitterness. “As soon as I could stumble from my sickbed, I fled to my father. My father-in-law had written to say I’d murdered my husband. They were old cronies, so my father chose to believe him rather than me. He disowned me. Said I was a disgrace to the family name. After that, I was fair game for my father-in-law.”
    Julia fell silent again, her mind caught in the past. Randall asked, “What then?”
    “I faked my own death. I was near the sea, so I went to the shore and wrote a note saying how distraught I was at my husband’s death. I took what