Rebel Temptress (Historical Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page B

one. You had no one to comfort you in your grief."
    Honor raised her face to Jordan. Her eyes were shining with tears. "Oh, Jordan, I will miss her so much. She was such a kind, wonderful person."
    Jordan cupped her face in his hands and looked deeply into her eyes. "You are not alone now, Honor. I am here for you."
    Tears spilled down Honor's face. "Jordan, I am so glad you are home. How long can you stay?"
    He tightened his arms about her. "I have a week's leave, and I will spend every moment I can with you."
    Her heart swelled with the love she felt for him. She felt him lift her into his arms and carry her to the couch. He sat her down and sat down beside her. Then he drew her head to rest on his shoulder. "Have you seen the doctor today?"
    "Yes, he was by early this morning."
    "What did he tell you?"
    "He said I was over the worst of it." She weakly pushed herself away from him. "Jordan, I do not want you to catch the fever from me."
    "You are not to concern yourself about that."
    "But I do. Scarlet fever can be very dangerous. I could not stand it if you caught it from me."
    "Honor, scarlet fever is not usually fatal unless you are very young, or ill to begin with, like your aunt was. Mother and Father will be very upset when they find out you have undergone such a traumatic experience without letting them know so they could be with you. They think a great deal of you, you know."
    Honor looked into Jordan's face. "You have not asked about Meagan, Jordan."
    His eyes narrowed. "I did not want to upset you unduly. Do you feel up to speaking of her?"
    Honor heard the pain in his voice and she wished she had the words to comfort him.
    "What would you like to know, Jordan?"
    He pushed her away and rose to his feet. "Why did she marry Horace Elderman, Honor? She promised she would wait for me. I had planned that we would be married while I was home on leave."
    "Jordan, I am so sorry."
    He turned to her. "Sorry for me, don't be." He sat down and buried his head in his hands. "Yes, do pity me, little one. I feel like a man who has had his whole world ripped apart."
    Honor put her arms around him, feeling his heartache in the very depths of her own heart. "Jordan, I do not know how to comfort you, but I want you to know that I think Meagan made a big mistake in marrying Mr. Elderman, and I told her so."
    He looked at her, then brushed her arm away. "That is little comfort to me, Honor. It will not bring her back to me, will it?" he said harshly.
    "No, Jordan, it will not bring her back, but I pray that you will find peace and comfort."
    He took her hand in his. "Sweet, gentle, little Honor. I do not mean to take it out on you. You could not possibly know how it feels to love someone so deeply that they become your whole life."
    She blinked the tears from her eyes, grateful that he did not know how much she loved him.
    Jordan looked at her. She was pitifully thin and drawn and hardly more than a child. He had adored her since she was a child. "Are the tears I see in your eyes for me, Honor?"
    She nodded, unable to answer.
    "We are both to be pitied, are we not, Honor? You are left with no one to look after you, and I am condemned to a life of loneliness because the woman I love was faithless and deceitful. Maybe we can comfort each other. Tell me about Horace and Meagan."
    "No, Jordan, do not ask me any questions."
    "Do you not see I have to know? How else will I ever put my life back together?"
    Honor hesitated. She could not tell him that Meagan hardly gave him a second thought before she went off with Mr. Elderman.
    "When Meagan told me and Aunt Amanda that she and Mr. Elderman were to be married, it came as a terrible shock. We did not even know she was seeing him."
    "Do you think it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing, her marrying him?"
    "No, I think Meagan thought it through very carefully."
    "Do you think she loves him?"
    Honor turned her head away. "No, I know she does not."
    "Why then? For God's sake, help me understand,"