The Husband Trap Read Online Free PDF

a mesmerizingly complex knot. A pair of gleaming Hessians on his feet.
    Sophisticated, refined, breathtaking.
    She swallowed and fought another minor skirmish for composure.
    He was so beautiful, she thought, far too beautiful for her. What on earth did she think she was doing?
    “Ready at last, my dear.” Adrian approached to take her hand.
    Tell him or not?
she dithered. This was her very, very last chance to be honest.
    Then she smiled as she thought Jeannette would, wide and full of confidence. She struck a small pose to show off her finery, holding her arms out to her sides. “And was it worth it, your Grace?” She shifted her hips to make her skirts sway.
    He raked his eyes over her, smiled, long and slow. He bent to kiss her hand. “Most decidedly, my dear. Most decidedly.”

 
    Chapter Three
    The well-sprung coach bowled along the southwest road away from London at an impressive speed, the elegant team of four that pulled it some of the finest horseflesh to be found in all of England. Inside, Adrian Winter, Duke of Raeburn, relaxed his long legs against the satin-covered seats and watched his new wife sleep.
    She was exhausted. There had been no hiding that fact once they had been waved away from the reception hall by the cheers and congratulations of their family and friends. The rhythm of the coach and the stress of the day had soon combined, her hands growing limp in her lap, her eyelids heavy as leaden weights, until she had been helpless to deny the lure of Morpheus’s command.
    Adrian had been observing her for nearly half an hour now. Wondering if he had done the right thing. Knowing it was too late for regrets if he had not. As the vows said, he and Jeannette were married for life, for better or for worse, until death do them part. A sobering realization indeed.
    She had surprised him today, especially at the reception, behaving in a far quieter, more reserved manner than he had ever seen her exhibit before. She had even listened with patient interest while his perpetually tongue-tied cousin Bertram took a full five minutes to stutter out best wishes on their nuptials. Most people began fidgeting the moment poor Bertie opened his mouth. Their eyes would wander, their full attention drifting away after no more than a minute or two at most.
    Yet today Jeannette had been nothing but gracious politeness, pleasant consideration, to everyone she encountered. Perhaps the gravity of the step the two of them had taken today had acted as a sobering reminder for her as well.
    He could but hope.
    Lately, over the past few months of their engagement, he had been racked with doubts as to the wisdom of his choice of bride, finding her behavior annoyingly childish on occasion, such as the day she spent pouting when thunderstorms had ruined an intended picnic. And another time when she refused to join him for a ride in the park because the new matching bonnet for her favorite carriage dress had not arrived from the milliner’s shop. Added to that was her all-consuming adoration of parties and entertainments. Once he had rendered her speechless by suggesting they cancel plans to attend a masquerade and spend a quiet evening together instead. He’d never bothered to make such a suggestion again.
    Of a far more serious nature, Adrian had begun to suspect she was seeing another man. But although he had tried, he had never been able to catch her or even procure any tangible evidence. As he well knew, suspicions were not proof. A gentleman, no matter his reservations, did not call off an engagement with anything less than rock-solid proof demonstrating a grave indiscretion.
    While they were courting, Jeannette had seemed so sweetly vivacious. Although, as he reconsidered the matter, her mother had left them little time alone. It was only after their engagement had been announced that he had begun to observe her other side.
    Most particularly he recalled last week when he broke it to her that their much anticipated tour of