The Lady Forfeits Read Online Free PDF Page A

apologies for not having told her of the betrothal himself, and insisting that it was his parents who had pushed for this other marriage rather than himself, and that, in spite of everything, it was still Diana that he loved.
    Diana could perhaps have forgiven Malcolm if he had found himself smitten with love for another woman, but to hear from his own lips that he was only marrying this other wealthy young woman because his parents wished it was beyond enduring. A jellyfish, indeed! And one that she knew she could inwardly congratulate herself on being well rid of.
    Except Malcolm’s defection had left her pride in tatters and made her the object of pitying looks every time she so much as ventured out into the village. So she had decided, with her usual air of practicality, that the perfect way in which to dispel such gossip would be if she were to accept, after all, the offer of marriage from Lord Gabriel Faulkner, seventh Earl of Westbourne. Marriage to any man—even taking into account that past scandal connected to Gabriel, which Diana’s neighbours had hinted at, but never openly discussed—surely had to be better than everyone believing she had been passed over for the daughter of a retired tradesman!
    ‘Am I correct in thinking that the dissolution of your previous engagement is the only reason you have nowdecided to accept my own offer of marriage?’ that taunting earl now prompted irritatingly.
    How could Diana have known, when she so sensibly made her decision to accept his lordship’s offer, how wickedly handsome he was? How tall and muscular? How fashionably elegant?
    How irritatingly perceptive to have guessed within minutes of her announcing her acceptance of his offer as to the real reason for her change of mind!
    ‘It was made more than clear that one of us must accept your offer if we wished to continue living at Shoreley Park,’ she informed him defensively.
    Gabriel frowned darkly. ‘Made clear by whom, exactly?’
    ‘Mr Johnston, of course.’
    Gabriel could see no ‘of course’ about it. ‘Explain, if you please.’
    She gave an impatient huff. ‘Your lawyer stated on his last visit to us that, if we all continued to refuse your offer, we might find ourselves not only penniless, but also asked to remove ourselves from our home.’
    Gabriel’s jaw tensed and he felt that nerve once again pulsing in his cheek. ‘Those are the exact words he used when speaking with you?’
    Diana gave a haughty inclination of her golden-red head. ‘I am not in the habit of lying, my lord.’
    If that truly were the case—and Gabriel had no reason to believe that it was not—then William Johnston had far exceeded his authority. It was not the fault of the Copeland sisters that they had no brother to inherit the title and estates, or that their father had notseen fit to secure their futures himself in the event of his death.
    Damn it, Gabriel had only made his offer of marriage at all out of a sense of fairness, appreciating that, but for fickle fate, one of the Copeland sisters’ own cousins would have inherited the title rather than a complete stranger. A cousin, one would hope, who would have treated the previous earl’s daughters as fairly as Gabriel was attempting to do.
    His mouth thinned. ‘I have no intention of asking you or your sisters to leave your home, either now or in the future.’
    Diana looked confused. ‘But Mr Johnston was very precise concerning—’
    ‘Mr Johnston obviously spoke out of turn.’ Gabriel’s expression was grim as he anticipated his next conversation with the pompous little upstart who had so obviously put the fear of God into the Copeland sisters that they had felt as trapped as cornered animals. ‘This is the reason your two sisters have run away?’
    ‘I believe it was…the catalyst, yes.’
    Gabriel eyed her curiously. ‘But only the catalyst?’
    Diana grimaced. ‘My sisters have found life at Shoreley Park somewhat limiting these past few years. Do not