The Mad Lord's Daughter Read Online Free PDF

otherworldly. “She actually seems amazingly normal, then, considering.”
    “Yes, but I don’t think we’ve yet discovered all the effects of this confinement. You have noticed she doesn’t like to be touched.”
    John remembered her odd reaction to his hand. “Yes, I have.”
    “That’s because my brother was convinced she would die of disease if she was touched by anyone. And I think he was equally convinced her real father would somehow do her harm. My brother went a bit mad, I think, when his wife died.”
    “Do you really think the true father would have taken steps to have an illegitimate daughter returned to him?”
    “I don’t know, but Rupert was convinced he might. But if we all protect her, perhaps we can have her safely married off before there is any possibility of discovery.”
    John drew his leg around, giving his father all his attention. “I cannot imagine anyone wanting to hurt Melissa.”
    His father shook his head slightly. “I don’t know, and I don’t want to find out. I only know that my brother asked me to protect Melissa, and I swore to him I would. I want you to be Melissa’s guardian angel until we get her safely married. Protect her from gossip, introduce her to good, gentle men who will care for her. Keep her away from anyone who offers up speculation about her birth. Help her to adjust to the real world. Can you do that for me?”
    John smiled at his father. “You can count on me, Father.”

Chapter 3
    Diane perused the Times , searching for an event at which they could ease Miss Atwell into society. She wasn’t so foolish as to think the girl was ready for a dinner or a ball—or any event in which she would have to interact a great deal with people she did not know. Melissa might appear to have all the polish of a debutante, but her lack of experience with social interaction would make even the most insignificant appearance rife with potential difficulties for her.
    Diane tapped one finger against her mouth, scanning the Times for an appropriate venue, and wondering if there was a single place where Lord Braddock could take the girl without creating unwarranted interest. It was certainly a dilemma—this need to launch her and the equal need to do so with caution. She even considered bringing Melissa to Nottinghamshire, where she would have far more sedate entertainments than in London.
    Melissa would cause a stir no matter where they brought her, Diane realized with a sigh. She was just that beautiful. And the fact that she’d never before been seen in society would cause even greater interest. How on earth could they explain why she had not been seen? Of course, Diane knew the best explanation was none at all. To react to such questions with surprise and confusion. Why has she not been introduced? My goodness, what a forward question. Diane smiled to herself, for she had used such tactics more than once in her life.
    She was about to put the paper away when she noticed an advertisement for a new Julius Benedict opera debuting at the Covent Garden Theatre. She slowly smiled. The opera would be perfect, as they were unlikely to encounter anyone who would demand an introduction. She didn’t know whether Lord Braddock had a box at the opera house and was about to go find him when he walked by the small sitting room.
    “Lord Braddock, a word if you please.”
    As always, when Lord Braddock walked toward her—or even looked at her, for that matter—her heart sped up a notch. She couldn’t stop it any more than she could stop his look of complete boredom. That thought nearly made her smile, but she stopped herself just in time, because each time she smiled, Braddock gave her the oddest look.
    He was a formidable-looking man with broad shoulders and a physique that had yet to show his age. She’d wondered more than once through the years how a man who had to be in his fifth decade could appear so well formed when so many men had gone to fat or were forced to wear girdles to