The Mad Lord's Daughter Read Online Free PDF Page A

Curgenven. The doctor had just begun an investigation into baby farms, often operated by greedy women who purchased the babies from desperate mothers only to let the infants starve to death. Poor women, with nowhere else to turn, would give their babies to these monsters, fully believing their children would be put up for adoption. In too many cases, the children were allowed to die. It was a barbaric practice that many in Parliament were aware of but chose to ignore. Getting anyone to care about the fate of these poor children was more than difficult given the social and political climate.
    His father was a founding member of the Association for the Preservation of Infant Life, a group that had urged the elimination of baby farming. He met regularly with Dr. John Curgenven, an outspoken opponent of the current laws. He himself had sat in on several meetings and was appalled at the reports of infanticide being carried out each day in London. Now John understood his father’s commitment had much to do with his love for his brother.
    “So,” John said, drawing out the word. “She is not truly my first cousin.”
    “Don’t even think about it. She is your cousin to everyone you meet, and you know damn well that she’s off-limits, no matter her parentage.”
    John let out a laugh. “She is rather delectable, Father. You must agree.” It was a vast understatement. When he’d first laid eyes on her, he had found her ethereally beautiful—and it was more than just her eyes. It was her creamy complexion, her curling black hair, which framed her face so charmingly, the way she studied him—even the way she blushed when he’d offered her his hand. His reaction had been immediate and physical, one he had doused as soon as he learned who she was.
    “Delectable,” his father muttered. “And I must agree with nothing. However, you must agree not to look at her with anything other than brotherly disinterest.”
    John didn’t know why he would argue, except to drive his father to distraction. He certainly had no interest in the girl, no matter that she was perhaps the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen. Virgins wanted marriage, and God knew he wasn’t ready for that particular adventure. “Must I agree, Father? What if I fall madly in love with her?”
    Now, it was his father’s turn to laugh, because they both knew just how absurd that suggestion was. For one, John would never be allowed to marry a first cousin, even if such marriages were generally accepted by the upper echelons of society. His father was a long-standing member of the Royal Commission currently debating the issue, and an outspoken opponent of first-cousin marriages. He was a personal friend of Charles Darwin, a naturalist with rather radical ideas about natural order. His father believed such unions weakened the line and made it more likely that unwanted traits would be passed on. John’s father’s views were well known among the ton, which at times made for social difficulties.
    But none of that held as much weight as the absurd notion that John would fall in love. Fortunately, the two men agreed on the utter ridiculousness of love between a man and a woman. There could be lust, yes. Men lusted after women, perhaps grew fond of them, but in both their experiences the emotion most people thought was love was nothing more than an illusion. The two men believed in science, not fiction. And this thing all the poets expounded upon was pure drivel. If there was an exception, they had yet to see it. The only pure love was that of a parent for a child and a child for a parent. Everything else was nonsense.
    “All right, then, John. But I cannot express to you how important this girl is to me. My brother loved her and protected her for eighteen years from the prying eyes of outsiders. He kept that poor girl imprisoned in a suite of rooms all that time,” his father said heavily.
    “My God.” No wonder the girl seemed a bit socially awkward and almost