Rogue Countess Read Online Free PDF Page B

wealth, not even beauty to recommend her. But Jude’s father had insisted on the marriage, and there had been no moving the old earl when honor and duty were at stake.
    Jude rode over the ancient stone bridge that signaled his crossing onto the expansive Blackbourne property in Essex. The countryside around him had changed, trees had grown taller, new farmland had been created and freshly built homes could be seen in the distance. But it was all still familiar to him in a way that reinforced his decision to return. This was home to him no matter how long he had been away. He only wished he could better enjoy the moment, but his thoughts were darkened by the constant shadow of unresolved business.
    The second he stepped foot in England, he had begun the process of dissolving his marriage, which involved locating the deceitful woman he had been forced to marry. The task had proven to be frustratingly difficult. His many discreet inquiries for information on the Countess of Blackbourne had been met with dubious responses. Some people seemed to assume he meant his mother and would give the address of his father’s old townhouse, but since he had gone there first, he knew for a fact the place was vacant. Some of his queries were met with a blank look as if the question wasn’t quite comprehended.
    It had baffled him before and now it infuriated him. Because it had allowed her to approach him unawares. She had claimed the upper hand, and for a woman like that to have any advantage was dangerous and unsettling. In recent years he had begun to hope her wicked actions had been the product of childish selfishness. But their encounter at the ball forced him to acknowledge that he had been foolish to expect anything less than deception and trickery.
    The depth of fury that had burgeoned within his heart the moment she announced her identity shocked him. He had thought himself well beyond such intense emotions over something that had happened so long ago. Yet his bright anger did not dissipate by the next morning. More than anything now, he wanted to bring a final end to the nasty business of his unwanted marriage. But there was a certain wisdom in allowing himself some time to cool the flare of righteous temper that had been roused by his perfidious wife.
    She would have to be dealt with, but he was in no rush to see her again now. Not until he could be assured he had control over the passions she roused in his blood.
    His mother, on the other hand, had become a more pressing matter. She must have learned that aside from Lady Marquart’s costumed ball, he hadn’t attended a single one of the events from her list. She had fired off several furious letters, demanding to know if he intended to shame their family any further with his disrespectful and scandalous behavior.
    Her fit of temper would escalate if he didn’t deal with it head on.
    So it was that two days after the masquerade, Jude arrived at Silverly. He entered the large Jacobean house by way of the garden that separated the house from the stables. Memories filled his senses as he walked through the home where he had grown up. He couldn’t escape how different his life would be had he been allowed to marry the girl of his choice, and he had to remind himself that dwelling on things said and done did not get you where you wanted to be.
    “Judy!”
    Jude involuntarily cringed at the nickname his mother had given him when he had still been a baby. She stood in the doorway of the morning room, her hands planted on her narrow hips as she pinned him with a look of supreme dissatisfaction.
    “What are you doing here?” she questioned abruptly. “You need to be in London.”
    “Hello, Mother,” Jude replied with a calm and unconcerned smile. Though it had been a lifetime since he had been subjected to one of his mother’s critical tirades, he easily recalled that arguing against her only fueled her fire. He walked toward her and planted a brief kiss on her thin cheek. “You