The Elusive Wife Read Online Free PDF Page A

you leave. As your closest friend, I feel it’s my duty to notify the physician and have the bandages ready.” Drake gave him a slap on the shoulder. “I’m off to find Lady Elyse for the next dance.”
    Jason regarded Drake as he made his way across the ballroom and bent over the hand of a young debutante. He shuddered, in some way grateful to Lady Jane for freeing him from the claws of marriage-minded young ladies. Nodding at various acquaintances and dodging Lady Belford heading in his direction dragging her youngest daughter, he turned and strolled toward the gaming room.

    Hours later, riding home in his carriage, Jason loosened his cravat, and tried to picture the wedding he barely remembered. It startled him to realize he couldn’t even remember Lady Coventry’s face. He recalled nothing about her, except that she had dark hair and came up to his shoulder.
    For some unexplained reason, a pair of unusual-colored eyes, awash with tears, kept hovering in the back of his mind. Had there been spectacles in front of them? He frowned and cursed his inebriated state.
    He’d been told Lady Coventry was his father’s goddaughter, but how did that relationship come about? Was the old Earl friends with her father, or mother? Were they in some vague way related? What made the woman agree to marry a stranger?
    He knew he had treated her badly, and hardly like the gentleman he’d always thought of himself. Maybe in a few weeks—or months—he’d travel back to Coventry. He ought to contact his solicitors in the meantime to make sure she had everything she needed. She may have been unwanted, but she was still his countess.
    …
    Olivia surveyed the library and realized this was her life and it would only be what she made it. If the man was not interested in her, or her company, then so be it.
    She moved to the immense desk and sat in the chair Lord Coventry should be occupying. There should be things to keep her busy. For one, the tenants to visit, even if her husband wasn’t here to introduce her. Meetings with the housekeeper, cook, and gardener would take up some time.
    The darkness and stodginess of the countess’s bedroom depressed her. She would have her things moved out of the chamber while she redecorated. Bright colors to dispense with England’s dreary weather. Cheerful wallpaper and lighter furniture would give it a look more suited to her.
    Another chore involved her father’s papers and books she’d had shipped from Italy. Over the years, he’d accumulated a vast amount of paperwork from his research. Perhaps she would take the time to go through his things, possibly put them in some order, and donate them to the University of Milan.
    Yes, her life could be full. Olivia rested her crossed arms on the desk, and laid her head on them, closing her eyes.
    Then why do I feel so discarded?
    Unwanted by the man with broad shoulders and piercing blue eyes in a remarkably handsome face. His dark hair had fallen in waves across his forehead. And he had been so foxed he could barely walk.
    Olivia stood and walked to the fireplace to stare at the licking flames. She missed her father, and thoughts of him brought a smile to her lips. He would spend hours each day on his research into the ancient Romans. Dinner had always been a lively affair, with him enthusiastically relating what he’d discovered that day. His excitement would cause Olivia and her mother to exchange amused glances.
    As a girl, Olivia had been quiet and serious until she had discovered music. When she played the pianoforte she lost herself, and as her skill grew so did her confidence. Her mother had engaged a music master who had worked with her until she had reached her eighth year, when her father, Lord Margate, had moved his family to Italy so he could continue his research. There she had resumed her musical training, studying under an Italian tutor.
    It was five years after they settled into their comfortable home on the outskirts of Rome that